Wall Street’s Top Analysts Favor These 3 Stocks for Long-Term Investors

Major indexes swung sharply this week as investors digested earnings from artificial intelligence companies, weighed key economic data, and reacted to the controversy surrounding Nvidia former CEO Jensen Huang. While near-term swings can pressure investor sentiment, maintaining a long-term horizon remains the prudent approach.

Investors searching for compelling long-term opportunities can follow the ratings of top Wall Street analysts, whose in-depth research into the macro and micro forces shaping individual stocks offers valuable insight.

Below are three stocks backed by some of the Street’s most respected professionals, according to TipRanks, a platform that ranks analysts on their historical performance.

Palo Alto Networks

Cybersecurity firm Palo Alto Networks is scheduled to report fiscal first-quarter results on Nov. 18. The shift to cloud computing and the rapid adoption of AI have lifted demand for the cybersecurity solutions offered by Palo Alto and its competitors. TipRanks’ KPI tool for PANW illustrates the steady rise in the company’s subscription revenue, fueled by uptake of its AI and security products and by contributions from recent acquisitions.

Heading into the report, Oppenheimer analyst Ittai Kidron reaffirmed a buy rating on the stock with a $450 price target. The five-star analyst said his channel checks point to upside from the CyberArk and Chronosphere acquisitions, alongside durability in the company’s core businesses.

Specifically, Kidron expects Palo Alto’s Q1 FY27 next-generation security annualized recurring revenue to land roughly two percentage points above the midpoint of guidance and consensus, at $9.55 billion. He also sees revenue coming in 1 to 1.5 percentage points ahead of the guided and consensus figure of $3.305 billion. In his view, management will stay conservative with FY27 guidance, raising it by no more than the size of the quarterly beat.

Kidron also noted that partner checks signaled above-plan performance during the quarter, supported by firewall-attached subscriptions and momentum in the Prisma SASE and XSIAM product lines. He expects results to benefit further from CyberArk cross-selling and from Chronosphere performing better than anticipated as OpenAI completes its migration.

“While Prisma AIRS crossed $100M in ARR last quarter, the fastest product ramp in company history, partners still view CY27 as the first real revenue year,” Kidron said.

Kidron ranks No. 638 among the more than 12,500 analysts tracked by TipRanks. His ratings have proven successful 55% of the time, generating an average return of 10.5%.

MongoDB

Also on this week’s list is database software provider MongoDB. BTIG analyst Gray Powell recently initiated coverage of MDB with a buy rating and a $417 price target. Powell estimates the company’s core addressable market currently stands near $15 billion, with multiple tailwinds positioned to drive revenue growth above 20% over the coming years.

Beyond the core document and vector businesses, Powell highlighted MongoDB’s exposure to roughly $72 billion of adjacent markets, which he projects will expand to about $121 billion within four years. Even modest share gains in those adjacent segments, the five-star analyst believes, would allow MongoDB to compound revenue at roughly 24% annually over the next three years — comfortably ahead of management’s target of more than 20% growth.

Countering the prevailing bearish narrative, Powell sees AI as an emerging tailwind, arguing that application modernization creates new workloads while making migrations faster and less expensive. He added that interviews with eight industry contacts were broadly constructive, pointing to quicker legacy migrations, rising adoption of non-relational databases, and early traction for Voyage AI and Vector Search.

Powell also anticipates upside to Atlas growth on the back of new products. “We see a meaningful product cycle led by MongoDB 9.0 and AMP, with Agent Engine and Atlas Infinite adding upside over time,” he said.

Powell ranks No. 480 among more than 12,500 analysts tracked by TipRanks. His ratings have been profitable 57% of the time, delivering an average return of 13%.

Costco

Membership-based warehouse operator Costco Wholesale recently declared a special cash dividend of $30 per share, payable Dec. 4. The company also said its board reauthorized a stock repurchase program of up to $4 billion, running through November 2030 and replacing the existing $4 billion authorization set to expire in January 2027.

After the announcement, Oppenheimer analyst Rupesh Parikh reiterated a buy rating on COST with a $1,160 price target. The five-star analyst described the special dividend as one of the key catalysts he had been awaiting since Costco joined Oppenheimer’s top-pick list in November 2025.

Parikh emphasized that the declared special dividend came in well above his estimate of roughly $20 per share, and he expects the payout to reduce the company’s interest income meaningfully.

“COST remains a top pick for us, and we still see the potential for a stock split down the road, which could represent another positive catalyst for shares, in our view,” Parikh said.

Overall, Parikh remains constructive on Costco’s long-term outlook, citing its value proposition, dominant competitive standing, and consistent record of returning capital to shareholders. He also pointed to the strength of the management team and the company’s ability to deliver top- and bottom-line growth even against a highly competitive retail backdrop.

Parikh ranks No. 324 among more than 12,500 analysts tracked by TipRanks. His ratings have been profitable 63% of the time, producing an average return of 12.7%.

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