Sectors & IndustriesTechnologySoftware - Application

Best App Stocks to Buy Now (2026)

Top app stocks in 2026 ranked by overall Zen Rating. "A" Rated stocks have returned an average of +28.50% per year, and are the best app stocks to buy now. Learn More.

According to Zen Ratings, our proprietary rating system that evaluates 115 factors proven to drive growth in stocks and assigns each stock in our system an overall letter grade as well as 7 individual Component Grades for Value, Growth, Momentum, Sentiment, Safety, Financials, and proprietary AI algorithms, the 3 best software stocks to buy right now are:

Riskified (NYSE:RSKD) is the #1 top app stock out of 231 with a Zen Rating of A. Stocks with a rating of A have had an average return of +28.5% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Riskified (NYSE:RSKD) is: Value: C, Growth: A, Momentum: B, Sentiment: A, Safety: C, Financials: B, and AI: B.

Riskified (NYSE:RSKD) has a Due Diligence Score of 30, which is -1 points lower than the app industry average of 31. Although this number is below the industry average, our proven quant model rates RSKD as a "A".

RSKD passed 9 out of 33 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Riskified has seen its stock return 42.45% over the past year, overperforming other app stocks by 102 percentage points.

Riskified has an average 1 year price target of $6.60, an upside of 1.38% from Riskified's current stock price of $6.51.

Riskified stock has a consensus Hold recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 5 analysts covering Riskified, 40% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 0% have issued a Buy, 40% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 20% have issued a Strong Sell.

8x8 (NASDAQ:EGHT) is the #2 top app stock out of 231 with a Zen Rating of A. Stocks with a rating of A have had an average return of +28.5% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for 8x8 (NASDAQ:EGHT) is: Value: A, Growth: B, Momentum: C, Sentiment: B, Safety: B, Financials: C, and AI: B.

8x8 (NASDAQ:EGHT) has a Due Diligence Score of 41, which is 10 points higher than the app industry average of 31.

EGHT passed 13 out of 33 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. 8x8 has seen its stock lose -4.06% over the past year, overperforming other app stocks by 56 percentage points.

8x8 has an average 1 year price target of $3.13, an upside of 65.34% from 8x8's current stock price of $1.89.

8x8 stock has a consensus Strong Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 2 analysts covering 8x8, 100% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 0% have issued a Buy, 0% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Ringcentral (NYSE:RNG) is the #3 top app stock out of 231 with a Zen Rating of A. Stocks with a rating of A have had an average return of +28.5% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Ringcentral (NYSE:RNG) is: Value: B, Growth: B, Momentum: B, Sentiment: C, Safety: B, Financials: A, and AI: C.

Ringcentral (NYSE:RNG) has a Due Diligence Score of 26, which is -5 points lower than the app industry average of 31. Although this number is below the industry average, our proven quant model rates RNG as a "A".

RNG passed 10 out of 38 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Ringcentral has seen its stock return 140.39% over the past year, overperforming other app stocks by 200 percentage points.

Ringcentral has an average 1 year price target of $61.63, a downside of -16.03% from Ringcentral's current stock price of $73.39.

Ringcentral stock has a consensus Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 8 analysts covering Ringcentral, 12.5% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 37.5% have issued a Buy, 50% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Out of 20 app stocks that have issued dividends in the past year, the 3 app stocks with the highest dividend yields are:

Marketwise (NASDAQ:MKTW) has an annual dividend yield of 9.39%, which is 7 percentage points higher than the app industry average of 2.56%.

Marketwise's dividend payout ratio of 182.8% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Yuanbao (NASDAQ:YB) has an annual dividend yield of 9.18%, which is 7 percentage points higher than the app industry average of 2.56%.

Yuanbao's dividend payout ratio of 0% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Upbound Group (NASDAQ:UPBD) has an annual dividend yield of 8.22%, which is 6 percentage points higher than the app industry average of 2.56%. Upbound Group's dividend payout is stable, having never dropped by more than 10% in the last 10 years. Upbound Group's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Upbound Group's dividend payout ratio of 99.4% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

App stocks were down -3.94% in the last day, and down -5.13% over the last week. Guidewire Software was the among the top losers in the software - application industry, dropping -19.93% yesterday.

Shares of software companies are trading lower after August's hotter-than-expected payrolls report increased expectations that the Federal Reserve could raise interest rates at its next meeting. A stronger U.S. dollar and higher rate expectations are weighing on growth stocks by reducing investor appetite for higher-risk assets.

Based on the Valuation rating, one of the 7 components of a stocks overall Zen Ratings grade, which evaluates factors including estimated earnings yield, earnings before interest and taxes/enterprise value, cash flow yield, free cash flow to price, and price-to-earnings growth (PEG ratio), the 3 most undervalued app stocks right now are:

Open Text (NASDAQ:OTEX) is the most undervalued app stock based on its Valuation Rating of A. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Open Text has a valuation score of 86, which is 62 points higher than the app industry average of 24. It passed 6 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Open Text's stock has dropped -28.44% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the app industry by 31 percentage points.

8x8 (NASDAQ:EGHT) is the second most undervalued app stock based on its Valuation Rating of A. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

8x8 has a valuation score of 71, which is 47 points higher than the app industry average of 24. It passed 5 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

8x8's stock has dropped -4.06% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the app industry by 56 percentage points.

Progress Software (NASDAQ:PRGS) is the third most undervalued app stock based on its Valuation Rating of A. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Progress Software has a valuation score of 43, which is 19 points higher than the app industry average of 24. It passed 3 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Progress Software's stock has dropped -0.29% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the app industry by 60 percentage points.

46.75% of app stocks rated by analysts are a strong buy right now. On average, analysts expect app stocks to rise by 23.15% over the next year.

5.81% of app stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 20.35% of app stocks are rated B (Buy), 58.14% are rated C (Hold), 11.63% are rated D (Sell), and 4.07% are rated F (Strong Sell).