Hot or Not, Stock Market Edition: 07/21/2026

Happy Tuesday. Two stocks powering the buildout, two paying the price of high expectations — here's today's lineup:

• Hot: Infrastructure products maker Valmont Industries (VMI) turns utility poles into a 65% rally; copper miner Teck Resources (TECK) doubles its earnings on record copper
• Not: Regulated utility Alliant Energy (LNT) rode the sector wave straight into overvaluation; tech giant IBM (IBM) just had its worst day since 1987

P.S. For more stocks making moves, check out our Zen Ratings Upgrades & Downgrades screener.

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🔥 HOT: Infrastructure products maker Valmont Industries (VMI) is a picks-and-shovels winner in two megatrends at once: the surge in electrical grid spending driven by data center demand, and Wall Street's broader manufacturing revival. The company has delivered a roughly 60% share gain over the past year and set a new record-high last month. Yet analysts believe it could keep going. This year's EPS is projected to rise more than 27%. On top of that, two of the three covering VMI call it a Strong Buy, Stifel's Nathan Jones (a top 2% analyst) has a target implying more than 20% upside. 

The fundamentals earn top marks, too. VMI carries an A Zen Rating (Strong Buy) and leads its field at #1 of 17 in the Conglomerates industry. A grades for both Safety and Financials anchor the profile, signaling low downside risk and a fortress balance sheet, while B's for Growth and Sentiment reflect expanding earnings and strengthening analyst conviction. It all points to a stock rising on financial substance rather than speculative momentum, with a grid-spending tailwind that shows no sign of letting up. 

🥶 NOT: Regulated utility Alliant Energy (LNT) carries a valuation that doesn't match its growth profile. Shares are just 5% behind their 52-week high after being lifted by the same data-center-demand wave boosting the entire utility sector, yet Alliant's earnings are projected to grow slower than the industry average, and the stock trades above 23 times earnings compared with under 20 for its peers. There’s a quiet sign of trouble, too: over the past year the CEO, CFO, and at least six other executives have sold shares, with no insider buying to counter it. 

The ratings look past the sector-wide enthusiasm. LNT holds an F Zen Rating (Strong Sell), ranking #39 of 43 in a Regulated Electric Utility industry that is itself F-rated. D grades in Value, Growth, and Sentiment point to an overpriced stock with a weak growth outlook and cooling analyst sentiment, while its only bright spot, a B for Safety, simply confirms this is a stable business trading at the wrong price. Alliant offers below-average growth at an above-average price, and when the broader utility trade eventually turns, expensive laggards like this one tend to fall hardest. 

🔥 HOT: Copper and metals miner Teck Resources (TECK) is benefiting from two major catalysts at once: copper prices hitting record highs as AI data center construction strains the power grid, and a landmark merger of equals with mining giant Anglo American now in its final stages. The operational strength backs up the story. First-quarter earnings per share more than doubled year over year on record copper sales, and the company just signed an agreement with the Canada Growth Fund to expand strategic metals production at its Trail operations. Shares have gained nearly 80% off their 52-week low, and with earnings due July 23, analysts expect quarterly EPS to more than double again. 

The ratings share that optimism. TECK holds an A Zen Rating (Strong Buy), ranking #2 of 48 in the Mining industry. Its standout mark is an A for Sentiment, a signal that smart money is buying in, supported by B grades in Growth, Momentum, and AI, showing rising earnings estimates and price strength reinforcing one another. Between record copper prices, accelerating earnings, and a transformative merger, few stocks on this list offer as many genuine catalysts as Teck. 

🥶 NOT: Technology giant IBM (IBM) endured its worst single-day drop since Black Monday in 1987, a roughly 25% crash that wiped out close to $70 billion in market value. The catalyst was a rare pre-announced earnings miss tied to weakness in its Z mainframe business, a stumble that raises real questions about whether AI spending is bypassing Big Blue rather than flowing through it. The fallout hasn't stopped: multiple law firms have opened securities-fraud investigations, JP Morgan slashed its price target, and shares now sit roughly 35% below their 52-week high, just a few percent above their low, with the official earnings report still to come on July 22. 

The ratings were already unconvinced before the crash, and nothing has changed since. IBM holds a D Zen Rating (Sell), ranking #51 of 56 in the Information Technology Services industry. D grades in Growth and Sentiment reflect slowing business trends and fading investor confidence, while every other component sits at a middling C, leaving no clear strength to anchor a recovery. A 25% drop might tempt bargain hunters, but with growth stalling and legal risk mounting ahead of earnings, this looks less like a value opportunity and more like a falling knife. 

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