3 Hot Growth Stocks to Buy Now

• (0:30) - Where Should You Be Looking For Top Performing Growth Stocks?
• (9:50) - Using A Stock Screener To Find Zacks Rank #1 Stocks
• (16:30) - Tracey's Top Stock Picks For Your Watchlist
• (36:40) - Episode Roundup: CRDO, STRL, VLO
• [email protected]

Welcome to Episode #483 of the Zacks Market Edge Podcast.

Every week, host and Zacks stock strategist, Tracey Ryniec, will be joined by guests to discuss the hottest investing topics in stocks, bonds, and ETFs and how it impacts your life.

With the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ busting out to new record highs again in Apr 2026, it’s time to look for some top growth stocks.

What industries are hot right now?

AI Infrastructure and Energy are in the Spotlight

It shouldn’t be a surprise that the AI infrastructure stocks have big-time growth. But energy companies, including oil producers and refiners, are seeing a surge in earnings as oil prices have spiked during the Iran War.

Analysts are racing to catch up in both industries. That’s why there are many earnings estimates being revised higher, even before the companies release their first quarter earnings.

Screening for Top Growth Stocks

You don’t have to get fancy when screening for top growth stocks. Tracey used a Zacks Premium Screen called “Zacks #1 Rank Growth Stocks.”

Sounds simple enough. This screen looks for stocks that are Zacks #1 Rank Strong Buys, which is the highest Zacks Rank. Currently, there are only 212 Zacks Rank #1 stocks, out of over 4,000 stocks that Zacks covers with the Rank. This is an exclusive group.

The company must also have a minimum 20% historical growth EPS rate and a 20% or more projected growth rate. 

This screen returned 44 stocks.

There were some AI infrastructure stocks, oil producers, oil refiners, fertilizers, semiconductors, and retailers.

3 Hot Growth Stocks to Buy Now

1. Credo Technology Group Holding Ltd. (CRDO)

Credo Technology provides high speed connectivity at scale through fast, reliable, and energy-efficient system solutions. This is an AI infrastructure stock. In the fiscal third quarter 2026, Credo Technology had record results, with revenue rising 201.5% year-over-year.

Shares of Credo Technology have soared 303% in the last year. But earnings growth has been stellar as well. Earnings are expected to grow 371% in fiscal 2026 and another 42.1% in fiscal 2027.

Credo Technology is a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stock.

Should Credo Technology be on your growth stock short list?

2. Sterling Infrastructure, Inc. (STRL)

Sterling Infrastructure is a leader in E-Infrastructure, Transportation, and Building Solutions in the United States, primarily across the Southern, Northeastern, Mid-Atlantic and Rocky Mountain regions and the Pacific Islands.

This is an AI infrastructure winner. Sterling grew earnings by 78.4% in 2025 and is expected to grow them another 26.5% in 2026. Shares of Sterling Infrastructure are up 244.7% over the last year.

Sterling Infrastructure is a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) but it hasn’t even reported first quarter earnings yet. It’s expected to report earnings on May 4, 2026.

Should Sterling Infrastructure be on your short list?

Vertiv is up 1,267% over the last 5 years and is hitting new all-time highs this week.

Could Vertiv be the Cisco of this decade?

3. Valero Energy Corp. (VLO)

Valero is a multinational manufacturer and marketer of petroleum-based and low-carbon liquid transportation fuels and petrochemical products. It operates 14 oil refineries located in the US, Canada, and the United Kingdom with a combined capacity of about 3 million barrels a day. Valero is also a joint venture member in Diamond Green Diesel Holdings LLC, which produces low-carbon fuels including renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel.

Valero reported first quarter 2026 results on Apr 30, 2026, and beat the Zacks Consensus by $1.15, reporting $4.22 per share versus the consensus of $3.07.

Earnings jumped 25.1% in 2025 and are expected to climb another 117.2% in 2026.

Shares of Valero were already on the move higher before oil prices spiked in the Iran War. It has gained 117.6% in the last year.

Valero is a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stock.

If you’re looking for a growth stock outside of the AI infrastructure plays, should Valero Energy be on your short list?

What Else Should You Know About Screening for Top Growth Stocks?  

Tune into this week’s podcast to find out more.

[In full disclosure, Tracey owns shares of STRL in Zacks Value Investor and her own personal portfolio.]

Radical New Technology Could Hand Investors Huge Gains

Quantum Computing is the next technological revolution, and it could be even more advanced than AI.

While some believed the technology was years away, it is already present and moving fast. Large hyperscalers, such as Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Oracle, and even Meta and Tesla, are scrambling to integrate quantum computing into their infrastructure.

Senior Stock Strategist Kevin Cook reveals 7 carefully selected stocks poised to dominate the quantum computing landscape in his report, Beyond AI: The Quantum Leap in Computing Power.

Kevin was among the early experts who recognized NVIDIA's enormous potential back in 2016. Now, he has keyed in on what could be "the next big thing" in quantum computing supremacy. Today, you have a rare chance to position your portfolio at the forefront of this opportunity.

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

Zacks Investment Research

Source Zacks-com