HSBC lists 11 potential U.S. outperformers heading into earnings

Investing.com -- HSBC has identified 11 U.S. stocks that could outperform as the fourth-quarter earnings season begins, highlighting companies with strong competitive positions, improving fundamentals and exposure to long-term themes.

Analyst Nicole Inui said the bank’s coverage is focused on the “sustainability of 2026 outlook, margin pressures, and AI capex,” adding that the selected names span consumer sectors, healthcare and technology.

AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV) is one of HSBC’s top Buy-rated ideas, with the firm citing “solid growth and execution with large moat of long patent life.” Inui wrote that the market is still not fully reflecting the company’s “potential for operational gearing.”

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) also makes the list, with HSBC pointing to “accelerating growth and favourable exposure to immunology and oncology.”

In technology, Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) stands out after ending the year with “over USD500bn of backlog, almost 10x the company’s FY25 total revenue,” which HSBC argues provides strong visibility into future growth.

Salesforce (NYSE: CRM) is also included, with HSBC noting the company’s “strategic position between the customer and the sales channel.”

HSBC sees opportunity in power generation and data-center demand through Bloom Energy (NYSE: BE), calling it a “pure play on natural gas-fuelled power generation equipment for AI data centers.”

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE: TMO) is identified as a leader in Life Sciences tools that should “lead recovery trends in 2026.”

Other names on the list include Booking (NASDAQ: BNKG), Monster Beverage (NASDAQ: MNST), PNC Financial (NYSE: PNC), Royal Caribbean (NYSE: RCL), and Walmart (NYSE: WMT), which HSBC says continues to gain market share across income groups with strong value perception.

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