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Best Auto Stocks to Buy Now (2026)

Top auto stocks in 2026 ranked by overall Zen Rating. "A" Rated stocks have returned an average of +32.52% per year, and are the best auto 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 car stocks to buy right now are:

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) is the #1 top auto stock out of 32 with a Zen Rating of B. Stocks with a rating of B have had an average return of +19.88% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) is: Value: A, Growth: C, Momentum: C, Sentiment: B, Safety: D, Financials: A, and AI: C.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) has a Due Diligence Score of 46, which is 24 points higher than the auto industry average of 22.

BLBD passed 15 out of 33 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Blue Bird has seen its stock return 58.75% over the past year, overperforming other auto stocks by 111 percentage points.

Blue Bird has an average 1 year price target of $67.20, an upside of 25.8% from Blue Bird's current stock price of $53.42.

Blue Bird stock has a consensus Strong Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 5 analysts covering Blue Bird, 80% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 20% have issued a Buy, 0% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Niu Technologies (NASDAQ:NIU) is the #2 top auto stock out of 32 with a Zen Rating of C. Stocks with a rating of C have had an average return of +7.53% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Niu Technologies (NASDAQ:NIU) is: Value: C, Growth: B, Momentum: C, Sentiment: B, Safety: C, Financials: C, and AI: C.

Niu Technologies (NASDAQ:NIU) has a Due Diligence Score of 31, which is 9 points higher than the auto industry average of 22.

NIU passed 10 out of 33 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Niu Technologies has seen its stock return 75.22% over the past year, overperforming other auto stocks by 128 percentage points.

General Motors Co (NYSE:GM) is the #3 top auto stock out of 32 with a Zen Rating of C. Stocks with a rating of C have had an average return of +7.53% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for General Motors Co (NYSE:GM) is: Value: A, Growth: C, Momentum: C, Sentiment: C, Safety: B, Financials: C, and AI: B.

General Motors Co (NYSE:GM) has a Due Diligence Score of 41, which is 19 points higher than the auto industry average of 22.

GM passed 15 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. General Motors Co has seen its stock return 55.84% over the past year, overperforming other auto stocks by 108 percentage points.

General Motors Co has an average 1 year price target of $94.11, an upside of 25.6% from General Motors Co's current stock price of $74.93.

General Motors Co stock has a consensus Strong Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 18 analysts covering General Motors Co, 55.56% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 22.22% have issued a Buy, 16.67% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 5.56% have issued a Strong Sell.

Out of 2 auto stocks that have issued dividends in the past year, the 2 auto stocks with the highest dividend yields are:

Ford Motor Co (NYSE:F) has an annual dividend yield of 3.68%, which is 1 percentage points higher than the auto industry average of 2.26%. Ford Motor Co's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% six times in the last 10 years. Ford Motor Co's dividend has not shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Ford Motor Co's dividend payout ratio of -36.4% indicates that its dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

General Motors Co (NYSE:GM) has an annual dividend yield of 0.84%, which is -1 percentage points lower than the auto industry average of 2.26%. General Motors Co's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% one times in the last 10 years. General Motors Co's dividend has not shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

General Motors Co's dividend payout ratio of 17.1% indicates that its dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Auto stocks were up 0.44% in the last day, and down -1.44% over the last week. Nio was the among the top gainers in the auto manufacturers industry, gaining 15.38% yesterday.

NIO shares are trading higher after the company reported better-than-expected Q4 financial results, and stronger-than-expected Q1 revenue outlook.

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 auto stocks right now are:

General Motors Co (NYSE:GM) is the most undervalued auto stock based on its Valuation Rating of A. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

General Motors Co has a valuation score of 71, which is 55 points higher than the auto industry average of 16. It passed 5 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

General Motors Co's stock has gained 55.84% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the auto industry by 108 percentage points.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) is the second most undervalued auto stock based on its Valuation Rating of A. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Blue Bird has a valuation score of 29, which is 13 points higher than the auto industry average of 16. It passed 2 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Blue Bird's stock has gained 58.75% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the auto industry by 111 percentage points.

Honda Motor Co (NYSE:HMC) is the third most undervalued auto stock based on its Valuation Rating of C. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Honda Motor Co has a valuation score of 43, which is 27 points higher than the auto industry average of 16. It passed 3 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Honda Motor Co's stock has dropped -3.59% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the auto industry by 49 percentage points.

50% of auto stocks rated by analysts are a strong buy right now. On average, analysts expect auto stocks to rise by 21.97% over the next year.

0% of auto stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 4.55% of auto stocks are rated B (Buy), 54.55% are rated C (Hold), 18.18% are rated D (Sell), and 22.73% are rated F (Strong Sell).