The Best "Strong Buy" Stocks to Buy Now and Heading into September

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq dropped on Tuesday. Wall Street used headlines about Iran and rising bond yields as reasons to start taking profits on the array of stocks that had skyrocketed off their late-July lows.

Both the benchmark and the tech-heavy index are trading just below their all-time highs after Wall Street bulls bought up all things AI following the second healthy recalibration of 2026.

The market might face more near-term selling pressure after the rapid comeback, especially if retail results are underwhelming or, worse yet, the U.S.-Iran conflict ratchets up again. There is no point speculating on what's next in the Middle East, much less how the market will react.

Instead, investors should remember that July inflation came in as expected and that the earnings picture surged after a strong second-quarter reporting cycle.

The total S&P 500 earnings outlook for 2026 has improved since Q2 earnings season began. Plus, earnings and revenue are projected to continue to expand in 2027 and 2028.

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This backdrop makes it difficult to be anything but a bull. Now let’s explore how investors can use a Zacks screen to help find some of the best Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks out of over 200 highly-ranked stocks to consider buying right now and heading into September.

Zacks Rank Basics

Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks outperform the market in good and bad times. However, there are over 200 stocks that earn a Zacks Rank #1 at any given time.

Therefore, it’s helpful to understand how to apply filters to the Zacks Rank in order to narrow the list down to a more manageable and tradable set of stocks.

Best "Strong Buy" Stock Screen Parameters

There are only three items on this screen. But together, these three filters can result in some impressive returns.

• Zacks Rank equal to 1

Starting with a Zacks Rank #1 is often a strong jumping off point because it boasts an average annual return of roughly 24.4% per year since 1988.

• % Change (Q1) Est. over 4 Weeks greater than 0

Positive current quarter estimate revisions over the last four weeks.

• % Broker Rating Change over 4 Week equal to Top # 5

Top 5 stocks with the best average broker rating changes over the last four weeks.

This strategy comes loaded with the Research Wizard and is called bt_sow_filtered zacks rank5. It can be found in the SoW (Screen of the Week) folder.

Here is one of the five stocks that qualified for the Filtered Zacks Rank 5 strategy today…

Buy Oilfield Equipment Stock FET for Huge Earnings Growth and Long-Term Upside

Forum Energy Technologies, Inc. FET is a global oilfield products and equipment maker posting massive earnings growth and strong sales expansion as its FET 2030 strategic vision takes shape.

FET’s growing portfolio is utilized across drilling, subsea, completions, and other segments of the oil and gas industry. It operates across two segments, Drilling & Completions and Artificial Lift & Downhole, and it’s growing both organically and through acquisitions.

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Forum Energy Technologies’ FET 2030 vision is to roughly double revenue, quadruple EBITDA, and triple free cash flow by gaining share in high-growth markets and leveraging a capital-light model as global energy demand soars. The oil and gas equipment maker swung from an adjusted loss of -$0.10 a share to +$1.16 per share in Q2, crushing our estimate by 104%.

FET raised its 2026 outlook after its Q2 release on July 30. Its consensus earnings estimate has soared 83% for 2026 and 74% for 2027 since its report, earning the stock a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). The company is projected to grow its adjusted earnings by 527% from $0.63 a share in the year-ago period to $3.95 a share in 2026 and then soar all the way to $4.81 a share in 2027.

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The oil and gas products and equipment stock has ripped 125% in 2026 and 400% in the past two years. Despite the climb, FET stock is down ~90% from its 2014 highs and 77% in the last 10 years. This means investors looking for near-term and long-term upside might want to buy the resurgent Forum Energy Technologies stock now. 

Get the rest of the stocks on this list and start looking for the newest companies that fit these criteria. It's easy to do. And it could help you find your next big winner. Start screening for these companies today with a free trial to the Research Wizard. You can do it.

Click here to sign up for a free trial to the Research Wizard today.

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Disclosure: Officers, directors and/or employees of Zacks Investment Research may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material. An affiliated investment advisory firm may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material. 

Disclosure: Performance information for Zacks’ portfolios and strategies are available at: www.zacks.com/performance_disclosure

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