Editor's Note: Tech legend Jeff Brown picked Nvidia in 2016 before it jumped 23,000% higher. Today, he’s recommending another explosive opportunity. While everyone has been focusing on Nvidia and other popular AI stocks, he believes a little-known company with a virtual monopoly in a key “AI metal” could hold the key to the $100 trillion AI boom. Click here for details or read more below.
Dear Reader,
As you can see in the picture below…
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I recently traveled to a ghost town in the middle of an American desert…
And what I found there will blow your mind.
Click here to see the details, because this could be the biggest technology story of this decade.
In short, I believe what I’m holding in my hand below…
Is the key to the $100 trillion AI boom…
And only one company here in the U.S. can mine this obscure metal.
Click here, and I’ll give you all the details on this virtual monopoly.
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Regards,
Jeff Brown
Founder & CEO, Brownstone Research
The Next Market Leaders? 5 Growth Stocks to Watch in 2026
Author: Ryan Hasson. Date Posted: 1/12/2026.
Article Highlights
- Growth and mid-cap stocks with real earnings power and improving fundamentals tend to outperform when market leadership broadens beyond mega-caps.
- DLO, PGY, ZETA, PATH, and NBIS each combine strong secular tailwinds with constructive technical setups heading into 2026.
- If execution continues and key support levels hold, these names could emerge as next-cycle growth leaders rather than short-term trades.
Growth and mid-cap stocks often occupy similar corners of the market. They are typically past the fragile early stages that define many speculative small caps, yet still early enough in their lifecycle to deliver outsized upside if execution continues. These companies frequently sit at the intersection of innovation, revenue scaling, and market expansion, though they also carry higher volatility and sentiment-driven swings than established large-cap, blue-chip leaders.
Not all growth stocks are created equal. Some rely heavily on narratives or major themes, while others are quietly building durable businesses with improving margins, real earnings power, and long-term competitive advantages. The latter group tends to outperform across multi-year cycles, particularly when market leadership rotates away from mega-cap dominance.
NEW LAW: Congress Approves Setup For Digital Dollar? (Ad)
Trump Ally Says Congress Approved the Setup for a Digital Dollar 2.0
But according to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green, it's a bill that contains "the entire setup, groundwork and infrastructure to move from cash to digital currency."
With 2026 underway, many investors are focused on where the next wave of leadership and themes may emerge. Here are five growth and mid-cap stocks that demonstrate compelling setups, improving fundamentals, and the potential to outperform over the year ahead.
DLocal: Emerging Market Fintech
DLocal (NASDAQ: DLO) remains one of the more compelling fintech growth stories tied to emerging markets. The Uruguay-based payments company enables global merchants to accept local payment methods across Latin America, Africa, and Asia, solving a key friction point in cross-border commerce.
After a volatile period following its IPO, DLocal has rebuilt confidence and executed a successful turnaround. The stock has stabilized technically and is supported by consistently strong operational performance. Revenue growth has remained impressive, driven by expanding merchant adoption and rising transaction volumes across core regions. In its most recent Q3 earnings report, the company beat both sales and earnings estimates, and earnings are expected to grow by more than 21% this year.
Fundamentally, DLocal trades at a valuation that looks increasingly reasonable for its growth profile. With a forward P/E of 16.6, the stock sits at a notable discount to many fintech peers despite delivering faster top-line growth. Analysts back this view: their consensus price target implies nearly 14% upside potential from its previous close.
Technically, the stock has held key support near $12 and continues to form higher lows, suggesting accumulation rather than distribution. If emerging markets benefit from dollar weakness and global diversification flows, DLocal could remain a beneficiary of that broader theme this year.
Pagaya Technologies: AI Underwriting Gaining Institutional Traction
Pagaya Technologies (NASDAQ: PGY) occupies a more sophisticated corner of fintech, focused on AI-driven credit underwriting rather than consumer-facing apps. The company partners with banks and financial institutions to improve loan approval rates while managing risk through machine-learning models trained on large datasets.
The stock has delivered exceptional returns, surging over 160% in the prior 12 months. Given its mid-cap size—about a $2 billion market capitalization—it has experienced volatility and is currently about 42% off its 52-week high. Still, Pagaya has continued to impress operationally, topping estimates in each of its last three quarters. In its Q3 results announced on Nov. 10, 2025, the company beat EPS estimates by roughly 9% and sales estimates by 3.5%.
One of Pagaya's strengths is scalability: as more partners integrate its platform, incremental volume can flow through with relatively modest cost increases, creating operating leverage. Management has consistently raised guidance, signaling confidence in demand and execution.
Valuation has come down materially after the recent pullback. With a forward P/E of 16.23, the stock now trades at levels that better reflect its growth-adjusted potential. Technically, Pagaya has been attempting to build a base near longer-term moving averages around $25. If a higher low confirms, the stock could be setting up for another leg higher. Based on 10 analyst ratings, the stock carries a consensus price target of $37.25, representing over 40% upside from its previous close on Friday, Jan. 9.
Zeta Global: Data-Driven Marketing at Scale
Zeta Global (NYSE: ZETA) has steadily emerged as an underappreciated growth story in the data and marketing-technology space. The company provides AI-powered customer intelligence and marketing automation tools that help enterprises acquire, retain, and monetize customers more effectively across digital channels.
What sets Zeta apart is its focus on first-party data and deterministic identity—an increasingly valuable asset as privacy regulations tighten and third-party cookies fade. That positioning has helped Zeta win larger enterprise contracts while expanding wallet share among existing clients.
Financially, the company has delivered consistent revenue growth with steadily improving margins. In its two most recent quarters, Zeta posted consecutive earnings and sales beats. In Q3 (reported Nov. 4, 2025), it topped EPS estimates by 10% and sales estimates by nearly 3%. For the full year, sales are expected to grow as much as 36%, according to company guidance and some analysts.
Technically, the stock recently broke out of a lengthy consolidation, setting up a potential bull run. If the $20 breakout level holds and the stock consolidates at higher levels, Zeta could surprise the market with meaningful upside this year.
UiPath: Automation Reaccelerates With AI Integration
UiPath (NYSE: PATH) sits at the center of a theme that could lead markets this year: agentic AI. The company's mission is "shaping the future of agentic automation." The UiPath platform brings together AI agents, robots, people, and machine-learning models to collaborate across an organization—from front-office workflows to complex back-office operations—providing an end-to-end automation ecosystem to build, run, manage, and govern high-scale automation.
While the company's RPA platform remains a core strength, momentum has accelerated around its AI-agent orchestration strategy. UiPath recently reported that more than 950 companies are building AI agents on its platform, and its Maestro product has orchestrated over 365,000 processes.
Fundamentally, UiPath has made significant strides, particularly in profitability and cash-flow discipline. In Q3 2025 (announced Dec. 3, 2025), the company beat EPS estimates by $0.02 and reported revenue of $411 million, up 15.9% year over year.
From a technical perspective, momentum is building. PATH has formed a bullish base with higher lows and higher highs in recent months. For a major breakout to be confirmed, the stock would need to clear resistance at $18, followed by its 52-week high near $20.
Nebius Group: AI Infrastructure With Explosive Growth Potential
Nebius Group (NASDAQ: NBIS) may be the most recognizable name on this list, thanks to exceptional momentum in 2025 and several high-profile deals, including one with Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT). The company operates a diversified ecosystem that includes AI cloud computing, data labeling via Toloka, autonomous-vehicle technology, and technical education platforms.
The core of the bull case is Nebius' AI cloud business, which delivers high-performance infrastructure optimized for AI workloads. Demand for compute continues to surge as enterprises and developers scale models, and Nebius has positioned itself as a credible alternative in a capacity-constrained market.
Growth expectations are aggressive but supported by long-term contracts and growing institutional interest. Analysts note a rapidly increasing revenue run rate and meaningful upside if management executes on expansion plans. The stock carries a Buy consensus and a $144.7 consensus price target, implying almost 50% upside potential.
The shares have already delivered substantial gains—up more than 200% in the past 12 months. If management's projection of ARR reaching $7–$9 billion in 2026 proves accurate, the stock may still offer an attractive valuation. Technically, NBIS has shown relative strength, consistently attracting buyers on pullbacks. If AI infrastructure spending remains a dominant theme in 2026, Nebius could continue to emerge as a leading mid-cap growth story and, over time, an eventual large-cap company.
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