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 235 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: B, 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 61.28% over the past year, overperforming other app stocks by 100 percentage points.

Diebold Nixdorf has an average 1 year price target of $76.67, an upside of 10.55% from Diebold Nixdorf's current stock price of $69.35.

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.

8x8 (NASDAQ:EGHT) is the #2 top app stock out of 235 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: B, Growth: B, Momentum: C, Sentiment: B, Safety: B, Financials: B, 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 return 1.49% over the past year, overperforming other app stocks by 40 percentage points.

8x8 has an average 1 year price target of $2.75, an upside of 0.73% from 8x8's current stock price of $2.73.

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.

Ptc (NASDAQ:PTC) is the #3 top app stock out of 235 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: B, Growth: B, Momentum: C, Sentiment: B, Safety: C, Financials: A, and AI: A.

Ptc (NASDAQ:PTC) has a Due Diligence Score of 46, which is 20 points higher than the app industry average of 26.

PTC passed 15 out of 33 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Ptc has seen its stock lose -18.88% over the past year, overperforming other app stocks by 19 percentage points.

Ptc has an average 1 year price target of $185.50, an upside of 20.5% from Ptc's current stock price of $153.94.

Ptc stock has a consensus Hold recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 6 analysts covering Ptc, 16.67% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 33.33% have issued a Buy, 33.33% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 16.67% 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 19.3%, which is 16 percentage points higher than the app industry average of 3.58%. 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 10.32%, which is 7 percentage points higher than the app industry average of 3.58%.

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

Marketwise (NASDAQ:MKTW) has an annual dividend yield of 8.6%, which is 5 percentage points higher than the app industry average of 3.58%.

Marketwise's dividend payout ratio of 65.9% indicates that its high dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

App stocks were down -2.98% in the last day, and down -10.15% over the last week. Cerence was the among the top losers in the software - application industry, dropping -29.04% yesterday.

Cerence shares are trading lower after TD Cowen lowered its price target on the stock from $13 to $12.

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 57, which is 43 points higher than the app industry average of 14. It passed 4 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Open Text's stock has dropped -25.01% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the app industry by 13 percentage points.

Wm Technology (NASDAQ:MAPS) 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.

Wm Technology has a valuation score of 57, which is 43 points higher than the app industry average of 14. It passed 4 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Wm Technology's stock has dropped -51.39% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the app industry by -13 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 29 points higher than the app industry average of 14. It passed 3 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Progress Software's stock has dropped -28.15% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the app industry by 10 percentage points.

49.68% of app stocks rated by analysts are a strong buy right now. On average, analysts expect app stocks to rise by 71.61% over the next year.

4.12% of app stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 28.24% of app stocks are rated B (Buy), 54.71% are rated C (Hold), 7.65% are rated D (Sell), and 5.29% are rated F (Strong Sell).