With the new year underway, Needham is calling attention to its biggest bets for 2026. The investment firm listed nearly two dozen stocks it expects to do well this year, including Reddit , Celsius and Aurora Innovation . Its top picks span several industries, from social media to commercial drones to software. Needham compiled its list by polling researchers for their ideas about which stocks would outperform in 2026. These are a few names that made the cut: Reddit The social media platform is poised to grow in the age of artificial intelligence-powered chatbots, according to Needham. Reddit focuses largely on human-created content – an increasing rarity on the internet – widening its appeal to AI firms in need of data to train their chatbots, Needham analyst Laura Martin noted. “RDDT has 100% human-created content, which optimizes trust, authenticity, and value to LLMs,” Martin said in a note to clients. Open AI and Gemini have licensed data from Reddit since 2024 – deals that have earned the social giant more than $100 million per year in fees. That figure could double with Anthropic and Perplexity fees following litigation tied to their use of Reddit data, according to Martin. Needham has a $300 price target on Reddit, implying 31% upside from Thursday’s close. Shares are up 30% over the past year. Celsius The energy drink maker is poised to benefit from continued strength in the beverage industry as it ramps up efforts to steal market share from competitors, per Needham. “CELH is clearly looking at another year of shelf space gains and the captaincy will give them better control over the planograms and ensure their top performing SKUs (across the entire portfolio) are more visible and readily accessible at retail,” analyst Gerald Pascarelli said in a note to clients. He added that the firm’s valuation is still well below the levels seen before the third quarter of last year, making it a good buy. Needham has a $70 price target on Celsius , suggesting 32% upside from Thursday’s close. Shares have jumped 94% in the past 12 months. Aurora Innovation The autonomous driving system firm could gain ground in 2026, despite negative sentiment surrounding the stock, according to Needham. The developer of Aurora Driver, an all-in-one self-driving solution, underdelivered last year, hitting its stock hard. That leaves Aurora undervalued as it positions itself to improve its margins by taking advantage of a recent rise in interest in autonomous trucking, according to Needham analyst Chris Pierce. “At a high level, we see autonomous trucking potentially set to follow the eVTOL playbook we saw in ’25, proving out the technology to a higher degree and setting the table for increased investor confidence,” Pierce wrote. The analyst added, “we see AUR set to clear this hurdle in ’26 against lower expectations, messaging pulling the safety driver out of the vehicle in 2Q, with upfitted trucks offering AUR a much higher degree of control of the process.” Needham has a $13 price target on Aurora, implying 184% from Thursday’s close. Shares have plunged 320% over the past 12 months.
