As Market Defies Logic, I'm Focusing on These 2 Stocks

Wall Street Lead (RD 101525)

The market remains remarkably resilient. I keep returning to this theme, because I find it so intriguing. Let's take a look at the contrast between the market and the economic news:

Oil is approaching $100 on the WTI for the first time since mid-2022, when the consumer price index peaked at 9.1% in June of that year. There is also no end in sight yet to the conflict in the Middle East. Important supplies of nitrogen, phosphate, aluminum and other metals and chemicals are being shut out by the almost complete closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Financials are off to their worst start of the year since 2020 on growing worries around the private credit markets. Large national job losses were recorded in February and Oracle (ORCL) and Meta Platforms (META) are on the cusp of adding significantly to that tally. Interest and mortgage rates are rising, despite Chairman Powell taking down the Fed Funds rate by a cumulative one and three-quarters percentage point since September 2024.

And those are the investor concerns I can recite off the top of my head. I didn’t even mention worries around a potential AI bubble. And despite all of this, the S&P 500 is off less than 2% in 2026 after posting big gains in 2023, 2024, and 2025. There has been considerable sector rotation across the markets year to date. That said, I consider the index holding up to this degree, given the litany of current economic challenges, quite impressive. Whether equities can continue to be this steadfast given the current news flow is something we will find out together in the coming weeks and months.

And there are still some relative bargains in a market I still consider overbought. Today, I will circle back on a couple of names I have mentioned before in these columns that have seen some positive news recently.

Let’s start with Upstart Holdings, Inc. (UPST) , which I last touched on in November. The company operates an AI powered lending platform that focuses on providing personal, auto, and home equity loans. The stock is down by a third this year as financials are off to their worse start to a new year since 2020. Upstart also was hurt after guidance raised fears over funding execution after reporting better than expected fourth-quarter results in the first half of February.

The company took advantage of the fall in share price to buy back $100 million of its own stock a week later. Management sold off a $333 million loan portfolio to shore off its balance sheet and also is planning to apply for a national bank charter. This triggered an upgrade of the stock at BTIG this week to a "Buy." Management recently guided it expects to grow revenues at a 35% compound annual growth rate through fiscal 2028. The stock is too cheap at just over 12-times forward earnings. The shares do seem to have found a bottom and are starting to move up.

LifeMD, Inc. (LFMD) is a name I last highlighted in August, and I was too early buying the dip in this small cap stock. That said, I added to my position via covered-call orders as the shares continued to fall. That patience is finally paying off as the shares are finally going in the right direction, rising some 30% in 2026 year to date. The company easily beat top and bottom-line expectations with its Q4 numbers earlier this month. Management also provided encouraging forward guidance and just appointed a well-regarded CFO.

At the time of publication, Jensen was long LFMD and UPST.