Buy 5 High-flying Old Economy Stocks Of 2026 With More Room To Run

While the artificial intelligence (AI)-driven, astonishing bull run of U.S. stock markets from 2023 to 2025, continued into 2026, market participants benefited from other sectors, too. Several old-economy stocks from cyclical sectors have surged year to date.

Investing in these stocks with a favorable Zacks Rank should lead to profits in 2026. These old-economy stocks have transformed the ongoing rally into a broad-based one with huge opportunities for portfolio diversification. 

Here, we have narrowed our search to five old-economy stocks that have rallied more than 20% year to date. Yet, their current favorable Zacks Rank indicates more upside potential in 2026. These are: Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. ADM, Exxon Mobil Corp. XOM, Chevron Corp. CVX, Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corp. WAB and Cummins Inc. CMI.

Each of our picks currently carries either a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or 2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The chart below shows the price performance of our five picks year to date.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Archer-Daniels-Midland Co.

Zacks Rank #1 Archer-Daniels-Midland is benefiting from a rebound in its Nutrition segment. Human Nutrition is gaining traction, with the Flavors portfolio benefiting from solid North American demand, international customer wins and improved margins from a favorable mix and disciplined pricing. 

ADM continues to advance its Optimize, Drive and Grow pillars, enhancing productivity, accelerating cost savings, expanding BioSolutions and leveraging digital tools to unlock margin opportunities and strengthen customer reach.

ADM is actively managing productivity and innovation as well as aligning work to the interconnected trends in food security, health and wellbeing. The company is well-positioned for sustainable long-term profit growth across new avenues. 

ADM has been creating additional margin opportunities, opening up channels to customers, advancing digital technologies in areas like farmer needs, the extension of Regen Act programs and partnerships, and the growth of its BioSolutions platform. 

Archer-Daniels-Midland has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 5% and 26%, respectively, for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year’s earnings has improved 9.4% over the last 30 days.

Exxon Mobil Corp.

Zacks Rank #1 Exxon Mobil has high-value assets in the Permian Basin and Guyana that drive robust production growth, doubling upstream earnings since 2019. Notably, in the Permian, XOM intends production to surpass 2.5 million oil-equivalent barrels per day beyond 2030. 

On the other hand, in Guyana, XOM’s efforts have turned a 2015 oil discovery into one of the fastest-growing projects in the world. With a lower exposure to debt capital, the company supports steady cash flows, dividends, buybacks and investments in high-return projects. 

ExxonMobil has raised its dividend every year for the past 43 years, demonstrating its commitment to returning capital to shareholders. Additionally, XOM is constructing the world’s largest low-carbon hydrogen and ammonia plant in Baytown, which is expected to position it as a frontrunner in clean energy initiatives.

Exxon Mobil has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 11.2% and 42.2%, respectively, for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year’s earnings has improved 3.8% over the last seven days.

Chevron Corp.

Zacks Rank #1 Chevron is benefiting from stronger oil prices, while its Hess acquisition adds high-quality assets in Guyana, the Bakken and the Gulf of America, supporting production and cash flow growth through the decade. 

CVX is also delivering stronger free cash flow despite weaker oil prices, helped by cost cuts, efficiency gains and solid Permian performance. New Gulf projects such as Ballymore and Whale should lift output further in 2026. 

CVX continues to return large amounts of cash to its shareholders. Risks remain, including geopolitical issues in Kazakhstan and Venezuela, weaker downstream margins and a premium valuation. Even so, CVX’s balance sheet remains one of the strongest in the sector.

Chevron has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 13.2% and 71.5%, respectively, for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year’s earnings has improved 19.4% over the last seven days.

Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corp.

Zacks Rank #2 Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies is a leading global provider of equipment, systems, digital solutions and value-added services for freight and transit rail industries. Since WAB’s fortunes are tied to the broader economy, improvement of the same led by cooling inflation has led to this double-digit gain. 

Focus on new technologies to improve safety and reliability, together with restructuring and cost cutting actions are the main drivers of WAB’s strength. WAB’s strong free cash flow-generating ability ensures continuity in its dividend payments and share buybacks. WAB’s comprehensive product portfolio and strong customer relationships also augur well.

Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 10.6% and 16.3%, respectively, for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year’s earnings has improved 0.2% over the last 30 days.

Cummins Inc.

Zacks Rank #2 Cummins is seeing strong growth in its Distribution and Power Systems segments, offsetting softness in the North America truck market. Rising demand from data centers and mission-critical applications is driving these gains. 

CMI expects solid momentum in these businesses in 2026. Collaboration with Komatsu should help lower operating costs, while the First Mode acquisition will enable hybrid retrofits for mining equipment, reducing costs and emissions. CMI’s investor-friendly actions and a strong credit rating continue to build confidence. 

Cummins has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 5.6% and 9.5%, respectively, for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year’s earnings has improved 0.1% over the last 30 days.

Zacks' Research Chief Names "Stock Most Likely to Double"

Our team of experts has just released the 5 stocks with the greatest probability of gaining +100% or more in the coming months. Of those 5, Director of Research Sheraz Mian highlights the one stock set to climb highest.

This top pick is a little-known satellite-based communications firm. Space is projected to become a trillion dollar industry, and this company's customer base is growing fast. Analysts have forecasted a major revenue breakout in 2025. Of course, all our elite picks aren't winners but this one could far surpass earlier Zacks' Stocks Set to Double like Hims & Hers Health, which shot up +209%.

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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