Investor Dan Niles shares his top 5 stock picks for 2026
Investor Dan Niles listed Cisco Systems and Apple as among his top stock picks heading into 2026. The founder and portfolio manager at Niles Investment Management joined CNBC’s “Money Movers” on Wednesday to share his top five stock picks for the new year. Niles highlighted Cisco as the only repeat stock from last year’s list of favorites. Niles applauded the stock as a way for investors to “keep riding the AI wave.” He added that AI-adjacent revenue from the big hyperscalers has boosted Cisco’s revenues from 1% growth on average for five years up to 5% for the fiscal 2025 year. Niles thinks this growth could accelerate to the high-single digits. “They’ve got these new products with silicon — one coming out — that should help them to participate in this growing AI infrastructure build, because you’re going to have to network these AI data centers together. And corporations — as that AI data starts to flow — are going to need to start upgrading their networks,” he said. Cisco shares are up more than 30% in 2025. Niles also pointed to “Magnificent Seven” titan Apple as one of his top picks. He cited the iPhone maker’s form factor changes, alongside an AI-powered Siri, as drivers going forward. “I can have a foldable phone, which is AI enabled, and them being multiple years late on AI may actually turn out to be a good thing because they can take advantage of some of these more marginal players that may need to really work with them,” Niles said. Apple had a lackluster 2025, rising 9% for the year while the S & P 500 advanced around 17%. .SPX AAPL YTD mountain AAPL in 2025 vs SPX Other top picks included Impinj , which manufacturers radio-frequency identification devices, or RFIDs. Food sellers such as Kroger’s and Walmart are beginning to adopt this technology, representing a massive opportunity. “Apparel is the main market for RFID chips today, that’s about 80 billion units a year. Market for food, you’re talking over a trillion,” Niles said. Niles also listed Boeing as a top stock pick. He highlighted the aircraft manufacturer’s growing backlog of orders, currently valued at $600 billion. Other secular tailwinds include rising defense spending, such as stemming from the proposed Golden Dome missile defense project. Niles singled out Nike as well. The apparel giant rose 5% on Wednesday after insiders disclosed stock purchases , including CEO Elliott Hill and Apple CEO and Nike director Tim Cook. Niles said he was confident that Hill can successfully lead Nike’s turnaround story. The company veteran came out of retirement to take the helm late last year . “Elliot Hill is a 32-year veteran of Nike. He’s taking it back to its roots, which is focused on sports distribution and innovation,” Niles said. Nike shares lost 15% in 2025.
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