Oppenheimer names 'best of the best' smid-cap stocks
Alumis has had the best year-to-date performance of the companies on the list, more than doubling already in 2026 / Photo: Nasdaq.com
Oppenheimer has listed 30 small- or mid-cap stocks that it rates as "outperform" and could be set up for strong rallies, as reported by CNBC. The list includes biotechs Alumis and Nurix Therapeutics, as well as cloud computing company DigitalOcean.
Alumis
Alumis shares have gained nearly 220% over the last year: in early trading on Wednesday, they were up more than 5% at about $23.10 per share. The stock has delivered the strongest performance among the 30 small-cap names that, according to Oppenheimer, could post significant gains in the spring. Analysts set a target price of $55 per share, implying 150% upside to the Tuesday closing price.
Oppenheimer analyst Jeff Jones says his optimism is driven by recent successful trials of envudeucitinib for plaque psoriasis, a chronic autoimmune skin disease, CNBC writes. As he noted, “we see envu’s demonstration of biologic-like efficacy in a pivotal trial, along with a safety profile devoid of signals that have hampered adoption of the 1st-generation deucra,” a Bristol-Myers Squibb drug, “as highly encouraging.”
Wall Street shares Jones’s view: the stock has 11 analyst ratings, all “buy.” The average target price is $38.40 per share, implying 74.5% upside.
Nurix Therapeutics
Nurix shares made the “best of the best” list thanks to the company’s portfolio of drugs targeting cancer and autoimmune diseases, CNBC writes. Oppenheimer analyst Matthew Biegler set a target price of $28 per share, implying nearly 81% upside to the Tuesday close. In early trading on Wednesday, the stock was down about 0.1% at $15.50 per share.
Year to date, the company’s shares have declined by more than 17%. However, Wall Street remains sanguine on the stock: 17 analysts recommend "buy" versus not a single "sell." The average target price is $30 per share, implying nearly 94% upside.
DigitalOcean
Oppenheimer analyst Param Singh described cloud computing company DigitalOcean as “a turnaround story that is in the early stages of a multiyear expansion,” CNBC writes. Financial performance has improved, as has momentum with both new and existing customers.
Growth in the customer base, as well as rising interest in AI, helped DigitalOcean increase revenue in the fourth quarter by 18% year over year to $242 million. The company has raised its outlook for 2026 and 2027: it expects revenue growth of 21% this year and more than 30% next year. For comparison, full-year 2025 revenue increased 15% to $901 million.
