Morgan Stanley has updated its list of the top 15 stocks for the year. Last year's picks outperformed the S&P 500.

Morgan Stanley has updated its top picks for the coming year—the “Vintage Values” stock list, which the bank’s analysts have been compiling annually for more than 15 years. The list of stocks, designed for a “buy-and-hold” strategy over the next 12 months, includes market leaders such as tech giant Alphabet and beverage maker Coca-Cola.

Last year, a similar portfolio based on Morgan Stanley analysts' "Vintage Values" list outperformed the S&P 500 in terms of returns, according to CNBC.

Morgan Stanley's final list of top picks, consisting of 15 stocks, included:

— tech giants Alphabet, Amazon, and Apple,

— Coca-Cola, the beverage manufacturer,

— securities of the Visa payment system, the brokerage firm LPL Financial, and shares of the credit reporting agency TransUnion,

— The healthcare sector is represented on the list by pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly and major drug distributor McKesson.

— In addition, analysts included Dynatrace, a software developer specializing in cloud system monitoring, in their list of top ideas for the coming year,

— Equinix, a data center operator,

— Honeywell Aerospace, a manufacturer of aviation equipment,

— Keysight Technologies, a manufacturer of measurement equipment,

— Williams Companies, a gas pipeline infrastructure operator,

— Liberty Formula One, the owner of the commercial rights to the Formula 1 racing series.

Compared to last year, 12 of the 15 companies on the Vintage Values-2027 list are new, according to CNBC—only three companies from the 2026 list remain: Amazon, McKesson, and Visa.

Overall, Morgan Stanley’s list of top picks for 2027 is skewed toward large-cap growth stocks with high-quality metrics, according to CNBC. At the same time, the Vintage Values 2027 portfolio is more expensive than the broader market based on most valuation metrics. “Vintage Values has an ‘anti-momentum’ bias—the stocks on the list were selected not because they’ve simply performed well recently, but because analysts saw strong ‘bottom-up’ fundamental growth drivers in them,”, noted Morgan Stanley equity strategist Michelle Weaver in a note.

The update to the Vintage Values portfolio followed a period of outstanding performance by the previous, similar strategy, according to StockTwits. From September 9, 2025, through September 11, 2026, the return on Morgan Stanley’s previous portfolio, which was based on the Vintage Values list, was 32.12%, compared with 18.96% for the S&P 500 Index.

To compile a list of top ideas for 2027, the bank’s strategists asked Morgan Stanley’s in-house analysts for North America to each provide one key recommendation with a one-year investment horizon. From more than 50 suggestions, the researchers selected 15.

The selection process took into account the companies' fundamental metrics, quantitative analysis, macroeconomic factors, industry positioning, valuation, and risk-return profile, Weaver explained.

Since the start of the year, the stocks of the largest companies on the updated list of analysts have shown strong performance: Apple and Coca-Cola shares have each gained nearly 25%, while Alphabet has risen 14%. Wall Street analysts are also positive about these stocks: according to MarketWatch, the average rating for these stocks is "Overweight" and "Buy."

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor