Hot or Not, Stock Market Edition: 09/24/2026

Happy Thursday. Here's what the Zen Ratings are harvesting and discarding today:

• Hot: Agricultural processing giant Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) is reaping a Strong Buy; healthcare heavyweight CVS Health (CVS) has Wall Street filling the prescription
• Not: Silicon carbide chipmaker Wolfspeed (WOLF) can't find traction; airline operator Alaska Air Group (ALK) is stuck at the gate

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

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🔥 HOT: Agricultural processing giant Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) is cutting costs and shifting toward higher-margin businesses. Management is targeting up to $750 million in savings, while analysts expect EPS to jump more than 50% over the next year. For investors, that sets up a clear earnings-rebound story.

Shares have already climbed about 50% from their 52-week low and are now trading near their high, but the ratings suggest the recovery may still have room to run. (For more high-upside potential stocks, check this out.) 

ADM has a Zen Rating of A, a Strong Buy recommendation. Growth earns an A, while Sentiment and Safety receive B grades. That combination says the earnings outlook is improving quickly, analyst conviction is strengthening, and the stock is doing it without an unusually high risk profile. Value, Momentum, Financials, and Artificial Intelligence sit at C, so this is not a deep-value play. Bottom line: ADM’s catalyst is accelerating earnings from a real operational reset, and the ratings suggest the turnaround has substance behind it.

🥶 NOT: Silicon carbide chipmaker Wolfspeed (WOLF) is missing out on a semiconductor rally that should be helping it. The latest quarter brought a wider-than-expected loss and another revenue miss, while margins remain deeply negative and debt is high. That is the catalyst investors should care about: the chip sector is strong, but Wolfspeed’s own results are still deteriorating.

Shares recently bounced more than 5% with the broader semiconductor group, but WOLF still sits roughly two-thirds below its 52-week high. In other words, the latest rally looks more like sector lift than evidence of a turnaround.

WOLF has a Zen Rating of F, a Strong Sell recommendation. Value, Safety, Financials, and Artificial Intelligence all earn D grades, while Growth, Momentum, and Sentiment sit at C. That mix says there is no real area of strength to offset the losses, weak balance sheet, and poor valuation picture. Bottom line: investors are getting exposure to a hot sector through one of its weakest operators, and the ratings suggest there is still little evidence that the business itself is turning.

🔥 HOT: Healthcare giant CVS Health (CVS) is starting to deliver on the margin recovery investors have been waiting for at Aetna. The company is streamlining prior authorizations and pushing broader operational changes designed to lower costs and improve profitability, while earnings are forecast to grow at a strong double-digit pace. That gives investors a straightforward catalyst: if Aetna margins recover, CVS earnings could reaccelerate quickly.

The stock still trades roughly 20% below its 52-week high, so investors are not being asked to chase the story after a huge run.

CVS has a Zen Rating of A, a Strong Buy recommendation. Sentiment earns an A, while Growth, Safety, and Artificial Intelligence receive B grades. That is an encouraging mix: analyst expectations are improving, the earnings outlook is strengthening, and the business still scores well on stability. Value is also attractive relative to the growth outlook. Bottom line: CVS offers a margin-recovery catalyst, improving earnings expectations, and a stock price that still leaves room for the market to re-rate the story.

🥶 NOT: Airline operator Alaska Air Group (ALK) is dealing with exactly the wrong combination for an airline: falling profitability and rising leverage. Margins have swung into negative territory, debt has increased, and short-term liabilities now significantly exceed short-term assets. That makes the catalyst here negative rather than positive: investors are waiting for proof that the company can restore margins while managing a more stretched balance sheet.

Shares remain roughly 30% below their 52-week high, and the broader backdrop does not help. Alaska ranks near the bottom of an Airline industry that itself carries an F rating.

ALK has a Zen Rating of F, a Strong Sell recommendation. Momentum, Sentiment, and Financials all earn D grades, while Value, Growth, Safety, and Artificial Intelligence sit at C. That mix suggests the stock is being hit from several directions at once: the price trend is weak, investor confidence is fading, and the financial position is deteriorating, with no standout strength to offset it. Bottom line: until margins recover and leverage improves, investors have little reason to treat the pullback as an opportunity.

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