A Top Stock Wall Street Is Sleeping On

Dear WallStreetZen Member,

This week, our Smart Leverage Alert zeroes in on Archer-Daniels-Midland (ADM).

Archer-Daniels-Midland is a backbone of the global food supply. They process cereal grains and oilseeds through 270 plants and 420 procurement facilities worldwide. After a soft stretch, its earnings are turning back up … and the stock just pulled back to hand patient buyers a better entry than they had a month ago.

In its most recent quarter, reported August 4, ADM posted adjusted EPS of $1.84, beating Wall Street's $1.49 estimate by nearly 25% and roughly doubling the $0.93 it earned a year earlier ,,,  a clear break from the softer quarters that came before. 

ADM shares climbed above $85 earlier this summer, then eased back to around $79, down about 7% even as the earnings picture improved. This isn't a stock nobody has noticed; it's up more than 23% over the past year, a quality name that just went on sale.

Our Zen Ratings model confirms the strength. ADM earns an A rating, which amounts to a Strong Buy recommendation, landing in the top 4% of more than 4,600 stocks. It's the #1-ranked stock in its industry.

Looking at the Component Grades that shape the overall grade, ADM ranks in the top 15% for our AI factor, the top 7% for Sentiment, and the top 4% for Growth. That's an unusual combination for a commodities processor: top-tier growth and sentiment scores on a business the market still prices like a slow, cyclical, boring-agriculture middleman.

Our Logic

With Zen Options Essentials, we use "Smart Leverage" — Deep-In-The-Money options that let you control shares for a fraction of the cost, with your maximum risk strictly defined from day one.

The "Smart Leverage" Setup: ADM Long Call

Given the strong fundamental case and the pullback that just improved the entry price on ADM, here's how we're structuring the trade using Smart Leverage — Deep-In-The-Money calls that move nearly dollar-for-dollar with the stock, but with strictly defined risk from day one.

Instead of committing about $7,916 to own 100 shares outright, a Deep-In-The-Money Call lets you control those same shares for about $1,682.

• The Play: $70 Strike Call (Expiring Mar 19, 2027)
• Delta: 0.8266 — Right in our sweet spot. This option moves nearly dollar-for-dollar with the stock. You get the upside with significantly less capital at risk.
• Intrinsic Value: ~80% — Four-fifths of what you pay is real value, not time decay. This is what separates a Smart Leverage setup from the kind of speculative options trades that blow up amateur accounts.
• Leverage Multiple: 3.10x — Every dollar moves 3.1x harder than the stock, while the deep ITM strike still keeps meaningful downside protection versus a naked speculative call.
• The Target: For this position to double (+100%), ADM only needs to reach approximately $101.88 — a roughly 22% move in the stock that produces a 100% return on the option premium.

Why Options Over Shares?

A 22% move in ADM stock would be a solid return for shareholders. In this Deep-In-The-Money option, that same move has the potential to double your investment while putting only about $1,682 at risk instead of $7,916.

That's the power of Smart Leverage: stock-like upside with a fraction of the capital and strictly defined risk from day one.

What To Do Next?

ADM is just one of the setups our Zen Options Essentials TradeFinder identified this week.

And the best part? You don't need to spend hours doing research to find these trades. The TradeFinder does the heavy lifting — scanning for Deep-In-The-Money options with the optimal Delta, the right Intrinsic Value, and the right Leverage Multiple — so you can evaluate a trade like this in minutes.

How is that possible?

Because the best options trades aren't about picking exotic strategies or timing the market perfectly. They're about finding great stocks…and using Smart Leverage to control your risk while amplifying your upside.

EXACTLY what the Zen Ratings model is built to find.

EXACTLY what this methodology has been delivering.

If you'd like to see how this entire methodology works, start by watching our presentation, "Options Trading with the Zen Ratings." It walks through the Smart Leverage framework, the TradeFinder, and how we identify these opportunities step by step.

Options Trading with the Zen Ratings >

Or, perhaps you are ready to start using Smart Leverage by becoming a Zen Options Essentials member. Click below to join: 

Zen Options Essentials >

Happy Investing,

Mijusko Sibalic

Senior Writer, Zen Options Essentials

Want to get in touch? Email us at news@wallstreetzen.com.