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Investing.com -- Optimism has returned to equity markets. Despite lingering volatility as the Middle East conflict remains unresolved, U.S. stocks climbed back into positive territory in April, reversing the weak performance recorded throughout March.
For institutional investors, the March selloff proved to be a perfect entry point. Quality names with solid fundamentals got cheap, and the subsequent repositioning has paid off BIG TIME this month.
Institutional investors have long had access to sophisticated tools that spot these setups early. InvestingPro members have those same capabilities for LESS THAN $9 a month .
Much of the April move reflects anticipation ahead of earnings season, which kicked off in the U.S. this week. First-quarter 2026 earnings expectations for S&P 500 companies now point to a solid 13.2% YoY growth, and analyst sentiment has been running more optimistic than usual.
Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) is a case in point, one of our AI-select stock for April. After losing 40% in March, the restaurant chain’s stocks have surged +28% this month alone, on the back of projected EPS growth of 5% and revenue growth of 8.2% for the first quarter of 2026. The company reports earnings on April 29.
And Wingstop is far from the only standout of our AI’s list of picks for April:
- Teradyne Inc (NASDAQ:TER): +18.56% in April alone
- Evercore (NYSE:EVR): +16.35% in April alone
- Entegris Inc (NASDAQ:ENTG): +16.31% in April alone
- Lazard Ltd (NYSE:LAZ): +14.94% in April alone
- UnitedHealth (NYSE:UNH): +14.24% in April alone
Among several others...
Over the same period, the S&P 500 gained 4.73% and the Dow Jones rose 3.55%.
But if you missed this opportunity, don’t worry. Other opportunities will come soon, and our AI-powered list of stock picks is full of other winners waiting to rally - just make sure to position yourself in the best stock selection available in market.
InvestingPro members can jump straight to full list of picks here.
Still not a member? Then here’s your chance to get the full list of picks NOW:
So how did the AI identify these stocks?
By running more than 150 institutional-grade financial models across the entire market—systematically pinpointing the companies with the highest upside potential heading into the month.
That also means there may still be room for this rally to run.
It’s worth noting that InvestingPro Premium members also profited during March — a difficult month for markets overall — through AI-identified oil and gas names that went beyond the obvious picks, including:
- Par Pacific Holdings: +46.64% in March ALONE
- PBF Energy: +41.94% in March ALONE.
- ProFrac Holdings: +36.16% in March ALONE.
Building on the continued success of the AI models, even amid a volatile market, those following our list of US picks since launch in November 2023 are now up a game-changing +174.67%; that’s a massive +111.42% outperformance over the benchmark during the same period.
In fact, since our AI models hit the market globally, nearly 70% of the composed list of picks are beating their benchmark indexes, showing the massive advantage of having an investor-grade financial model live by your side.
*These are real-world returns, recorded since the launch of our premium AI-powered stock picking models.
Still nursing losses and ready to change that? See your top picks here.
How the AI Models Work
At the beginning of each month, our AI refreshes each strategy with up to 20 stock picks. These selections are based on a blend of more than 150 well-established financial models compiled by our machine learning model using over 15 years of global financial data.
Some stocks are added, others retained, and a few are removed, reflecting how the model reassesses each company’s medium-term growth potential.
To track performance, each strategy uses equal weighting across all selected stocks. While you’re not required to follow that weighting exactly, it offers a consistent benchmark to evaluate how well the model identifies opportunities across the board.
At the end of the day, stock picking is still a game of probabilities. But the key isn’t just finding winners — it’s knowing when to move on from the ones that no longer stack up.
Since launch, the model has done just that — delivering more than a few standout success stories along the way.
Disclaimer: Prices mentioned in articles are accurate at the time of publication. We regularly test different offers for our members, which may vary by region.
