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 +32.52% 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:

Diebold Nixdorf (NYSE:DBD) is the #1 top app stock out of 237 with a Zen Rating of A. Stocks with a rating of A have had an average return of +32.52% per year. Learn more.

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

Diebold Nixdorf (NYSE:DBD) has a Due Diligence Score of 40, which is 14 points higher than the app industry average of 26.

DBD passed 13 out of 33 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Diebold Nixdorf has seen its stock return 58.79% over the past year, overperforming other app stocks by 90 percentage points.

Diebold Nixdorf has an average 1 year price target of $76.67, an upside of 11.1% from Diebold Nixdorf's current stock price of $69.01.

Diebold Nixdorf stock has a consensus Strong Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 3 analysts covering Diebold Nixdorf, 33.33% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 66.67% have issued a Buy, 0% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Ptc (NASDAQ:PTC) is the #2 top app stock out of 237 with a Zen Rating of A. Stocks with a rating of A have had an average return of +32.52% per year. Learn more.

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

Ptc (NASDAQ:PTC) has a Due Diligence Score of 48, which is 22 points higher than the app industry average of 26.

PTC passed 16 out of 33 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Ptc has seen its stock lose -18.69% over the past year, overperforming other app stocks by 13 percentage points.

Ptc has an average 1 year price target of $194.00, an upside of 24.26% from Ptc's current stock price of $156.13.

Ptc stock has a consensus Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 4 analysts covering Ptc, 25% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 25% have issued a Buy, 50% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

8x8 (NASDAQ:EGHT) is the #3 top app stock out of 237 with a Zen Rating of A. Stocks with a rating of A have had an average return of +32.52% 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: C.

8x8 (NASDAQ:EGHT) has a Due Diligence Score of 12, which is -14 points lower than the app industry average of 26. Although this number is below the industry average, our proven quant model rates EGHT as a "A".

EGHT passed 4 out of 33 due diligence checks and has weak fundamentals. 8x8 has seen its stock lose -43.54% over the past year, underperforming other app stocks by -12 percentage points.

8x8 has an average 1 year price target of $2.50, an upside of 50.6% from 8x8's current stock price of $1.66.

8x8 stock has a consensus Strong Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 1 analyst 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.

Out of 18 app stocks that have issued dividends in the past year, the 3 app stocks with the highest dividend yields are:

Mind Cti (NASDAQ:MNDO) has an annual dividend yield of 19.13%, which is 16 percentage points higher than the app industry average of 3.49%. Mind Cti's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% one times in the last 10 years. Mind Cti's dividend has not shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Mind Cti's dividend payout ratio of 169.2% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Alight (NYSE:ALIT) has an annual dividend yield of 10.46%, which is 7 percentage points higher than the app industry average of 3.49%.

Alight's dividend payout ratio of -3.9% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Upbound Group (NASDAQ:UPBD) has an annual dividend yield of 8.25%, which is 5 percentage points higher than the app industry average of 3.49%. 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 103.3% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

App stocks were down -1.54% in the last day, and down -7.47% over the last week. Unity Software was the among the top losers in the software - application industry, dropping -24.22% yesterday.

Unity Software shares are trading lower after CEO Matthew Bromberg made a post about the company and 'world models' on social media. The stock may be responding to recent news about Google's Project Genie, which may impact gaming companies.

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 43, which is 31 points higher than the app industry average of 12. It passed 3 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Open Text's stock has dropped -14.76% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the app industry by 17 percentage points.

Progress Software (NASDAQ:PRGS) 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.

Progress Software has a valuation score of 43, which is 31 points higher than the app industry average of 12. It passed 3 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Progress Software's stock has dropped -28.21% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the app industry by 3 percentage points.

Nice (NASDAQ:NICE) 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.

Nice has a valuation score of 43, which is 31 points higher than the app industry average of 12. It passed 3 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Nice's stock has dropped -35.51% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the app industry by -4 percentage points.

49.04% of app stocks rated by analysts are a strong buy right now. On average, analysts expect app stocks to rise by 55.54% over the next year.

3.45% of app stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 28.74% of app stocks are rated B (Buy), 54.02% are rated C (Hold), 8.62% are rated D (Sell), and 5.17% are rated F (Strong Sell).