For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – October 12, 2026 – Stocks in this week’s article are NVIDIA NVDA, Marathon Petroleum MPC, Ralph Lauren RL and Lincoln Electric LECO.
4 GARP Stocks that Investors Can Scoop Up for Maximum Returns
If you are looking for a profitable portfolio of stocks offering the best of value and growth investing, you can try the growth at a reasonable price or GARP strategy.
The strategy helps investors gain exposure to undervalued stocks with impressive prospects. Unlike a blend strategy, a portfolio that uses GARP investing is expected to include stocks that offer the best of value and growth investing. NVIDIA, Marathon Petroleum, Ralph Lauren and Lincoln Electric are some GARP stocks that hold promise.
GARP Metrics: Mix of Growth & Value Metrics
The GARP strategy seeks to offer an ideal investment by utilizing the best features of value and growth investing. Investors adopting the GARP approach prefer buying stocks priced below the market or any reasonable target determined by fundamental analysis. These stocks also have solid prospects in terms of cash flow, revenues, earnings per share (EPS) and so on.
Growth Metrics
A strong earnings growth history and impressive earnings prospects are the main concepts that GARP investors borrow from the growth investing strategy. However, instead of super-normal growth rates, pursuing stocks with a more stable and reasonable growth rate is a tactic of GARP investors. Hence, growth rates between 10% and 20% are considered ideal under the GARP strategy.
Another metric that growth and GARP investors consider is return on equity (ROE). GARP investors look for a strong and higher ROE than the industry average to identify superior stocks. Stocks with positive cash flows take precedence under the GARP plan.
Value Metrics
GARP investing prioritizes popular value metrics, the price-to-earnings (P/E) and price-to-book (P/B) ratios. Though this investing style picks stocks with higher P/E ratios than value investors, it avoids companies with extremely high P/E ratios.
Using the GARP principle, we ran a screen to identify stocks that should offer solid returns in the near term.
Here are four stocks from the 16 that made it through the screening process.
NVIDIA's near-term fundamental outlook appears constructive. The company's Vera Rubin platform, now ramping into full production at major cloud partners, including Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure and CoreWeave, positions the Data Center segment for continued growth. Third-quarter fiscal 2027 revenue guidance of approximately $108 billion underscores the strength of underlying AI infrastructure demand. The Blackwell GPU architecture's dominance across every MLPerf Training 6.0 benchmark category reinforces its competitive positioning.
Expansion into agentic AI through the purpose-built Vera CPU and the Open Agent Safety Platform — backed by over 100 industry partners — broadens NVIDIA's addressable market. The board's record $235 billion share repurchase authorization and a $1 billion U.S. science commitment further reflect management's confidence in long-term cash generation.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for NVDA's fiscal 2027 earnings has moved north by 4% to $9.25 per share in the past 60 days. This Zacks Rank #1 company surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in all four trailing quarters, the average surprise being 5.82%.
Marathon Petroleum presents a near-term investment case rooted in its integrated downstream-midstream model. Its midstream affiliate MPLX — 64%-owned by MPC — targets 12.5% distribution growth for two consecutive years, underpinned by mid-single-digit EBITDA expansion, with growing distributions expected to more than fund MPC's standalone capital and dividend requirements.
MPLX's Harmon Creek III plant, slated for commissioning in second-half 2026, will expand Northeast processing capacity to 8.1 Bcf/day. Globally, refined product demand is projected to outpace net capacity additions through 2030, supporting improved mid-cycle margins. MPC plans to return 100% of excess capital through share repurchases. In August 2026, MPC confirmed achievement of its 2030 GHG goals five years early, and MPLX delivered a 68% methane intensity reduction, highlighting operational efficiency and resilience.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for MPC's 2026 earnings has moved north by 31.4% to $61.3 per share in the past 60 days. This Zacks Rank #1 company surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the trailing four quarters while missing the same once, the average surprise being 49.29%.
Ralph Lauren boasts strengthened strategic levers under its Next Great Chapter: Drive plan in the near term. In September 2026, the company restructured senior leadership — embedding AI strategy within product operations and consolidating real estate and logistics under the CFO — enhancing execution and DTC scaling.
Underpinned by 15% AUR growth and Asia revenue momentum, management raised full-year fiscal 2027 constant-currency revenue guidance to approximately 5-6%, with operating margin expansion guided at 60-80 basis points. For the second quarter, 80-100 basis points of margin expansion is targeted, driven by gross margin gains. A dividend increase to $1.00 per share — up from $0.9125 — to be paid out in October 2026 signals confidence in cash generation. Its second-quarter results could offer a near-term fundamental catalyst.
The consensus estimate for RL's fiscal 2027 earnings has moved north by 0.9% to $18.8 per share in the past 60 days. This Zacks Rank #2 company surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 8.74%.
Lincoln Electric's RISE Strategy charts a credible near-term growth path for LECO. Management raised full-year 2026 net sales growth guidance to a low-double-digit rate, reflecting strengthening Americas demand and a record order backlog. The company's guidance targets price-cost neutrality and mid-20% incremental operating margins in the second half of 2026.
Automation generated $229 million in second-quarter 2026 sales and is targeted to grow at twice core welding's pace, positioning LECO in higher-margin segments. CFO Gabe Bruno engaged investors at September 2026 conferences—Jefferies, Morgan Stanley, and D.A. Davidson—underscoring leadership confidence. Capital discipline anchors the case. Management targets 100% cash conversion, capex is guided to be $110–$130 million, and the board declared a $0.79 quarterly dividend to be paid out on Oct. 15, 2026.
The consensus estimate for LECO's 2026 earnings has moved north by 0.6% to $11.2 per share in the past 60 days. This Zacks Rank #2 company surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, with the average surprise being 3.92%.
For the rest of this Screen of the Week article please visit Zacks.com at: https://www.zacks.com/stock/news/3003855/4-garp-stocks-that-investors-can-scoop-up-for-maximum-returns
Disclosure: Officers, directors and/or employees of Zacks Investment Research may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material. An affiliated investment advisory firm may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material.
About Screen of the Week
Zacks.com created the first and best screening system on the web earning the distinction as the "#1 site for screening stocks" by Money Magazine. But powerful screening tools is just the start. That is why Zacks created the Screen of the Week to highlight profitable stock picking strategies that investors can actively use.
Strong Stocks that Should Be in the News
Many are little publicized and fly under the Wall Street radar. They're virtually unknown to the general public. Yet today's 220 Zacks Rank #1 "Strong Buys" were generated by the stock-picking system that has more than doubled the market from 1988 through 2016. Its average gain has been a stellar +25% per year. See these high-potential stocks free >>.
Follow us on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/zacksresearch
Join us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ZacksInvestmentResearch
Zacks Investment Research is under common control with affiliated entities (including a broker-dealer and an investment adviser), which may engage in transactions involving the foregoing securities for the clients of such affiliates.
Contact: Jim Giaquinto
Company: Zacks.com
Phone: 312-265-9268
Email: pr@zacks.com
Visit: https://www.zacks.com/
Zacks.com provides investment resources and informs you of these resources, which you may choose to use in making your own investment decisions. Zacks is providing information on this resource to you subject to the Zacks "Terms and Conditions of Service" disclaimer. www.zacks.com/disclaimer.
Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performancefor information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.
Zacks' Research Chief Names "Stock Most Likely to Double"
Our team of experts has just released the 5 stocks with the greatest probability of gaining +100% or more in the coming months. Of those 5, Director of Research Sheraz Mian highlights the one stock set to climb highest.
Of course, all our elite picks aren't winners, but this one could far surpass earlier Zacks' Stocks Set to Double like D-Wave Quantum, which shot up +680.1%.
Free: See Our Top Stock And 4 Runners UpWant the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA): Free Stock Analysis Report
Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (LECO): Free Stock Analysis Report
Ralph Lauren Corporation (RL): Free Stock Analysis Report
Marathon Petroleum Corporation (MPC): Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).