While the markets might look a bit wobbly as the shortened week kicks off, they have entered September on solid footing, with the S&P 500 up 10% year-to-date after a fourth consecutive monthly gain, holding just below record highs. The index’s strength has been underpinned by robust Q2 earnings, optimism for a Federal Reserve rate cut later this month, and momentum from ongoing AI-driven capital spending.
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The market strategist at JPMorgan Wealth Management have been watching the situation, and while they acknowledge that the ‘exuberance’ in the markets right now is unusual, they don’t see it as irrational.
“We think the S&P 500 can deliver high single-digit total returns over the next 12 months, even if tariffs stick at current rates… We believe financials, utilities and technology will continue to outperform driven by improving earnings expectations. We see further upside for the tech sector, buoyed by artificial intelligence (AI) investments, continued capital expenditures (capex) and the OBBBA,” the bank’s team notes.
Given that stance, the stock analysts at JPMorgan are looking for stocks to buy. They’ve highlighted two names they believe stand out right now, and we’ve turned to the TipRanks database to see how the broader Wall Street community views them. Let’s take a closer look.
SailPoint, Inc. (SAIL)
We’ll start in the tech sector, with a software company. SailPoint specializes in identity security, a vital niche within the larger cybersecurity universe. SailPoint’s focus starts with the discovery and securing of machine identities within a customer’s network, and goes on to include access and data security, as well as automation and delegation of manual tasks. The company offers a unified platform, Atlas, to manage identity security along with access security for critical applications and data. SailPoint boasts that its platform provides a simple, unified, and streamlined solution for securing access and data in today’s digital universe.
SailPoint offers its platform as a cloud-based subscription system, a popular mode in the software world, and one that brings a suite of advantages to the customer. Being cloud-based, the platform does not require local infrastructure at the customer end; in addition, it is scalable to meet each customer’s individual needs; and finally, SailPoint uses AI technology to power the cloud platform, allowing for high levels of automation and precision in the security system.
There’s no denying the importance of identity security and protected data access, and SailPoint’s services are popular among some of the world’s largest companies. SailPoint currently serves more than half of the Fortune 500 list, and its customer base includes such major names as General Motors, Hershey, The Home Depot, and even the Salvation Army.
SailPoint’s stock started trading under the SAIL ticker earlier this year. The company did trade publicly in the past, from 2017 to 2022, but was acquired and held privately by the investment firm Thoma Bravo from 2022 until this past February. The IPO that month saw the company’s 60 million shares go on the market. SailPoint itself directly sold 57.5 million of those, and raised $1.38 billion in new capital. Since returning to the public markets, SailPoint’s stock is down 16%, although the company still boasts a market cap of $11.5 billion.
The company released earnings results for its fiscal 1Q26 in June of this year, and beat the forecasts at both the top and bottom lines. Revenue came in at $230.5 million, up 23% year-over-year and beating the estimates by $5.3 million. The bottom line, reported in non-GAAP terms as a penny per share, was 2 cents better than had been expected. SailPoint finished its fiscal first quarter with $234.3 million in cash and liquid assets, a total that was up 52% year-over-year.
Looking ahead, SailPoint’s recurring revenue points toward strong business. The company reported that total ARR expanded by 30% year-over-year in fiscal Q1, to reach $925 million. This included a 39% y/y increase in SaaS ARR, which was reported as $574 million. The company noted that the number of customers with more than $1 million in ARR at the end of Q1 was up 62% from the prior-year quarter.
This stock has caught the attention of JPM’s Brian Essex, who notes that the stock’s recent decline in share price has opened up an opportunity for investors. Essex writes, “An opportunity to own a best-of-breed leader at sub-IPO valuation levels… We have seen significant share shift across the Identity landscape in the wake of an ‘identity crisis’ legacy vendors face as they have not efficiently invested in their platforms to address Identity related risk that is poised to accelerate. Meanwhile, SailPoint is one of the best positioned ‘best-of-breed’ Identity platforms to benefit from share consolidation with a strong technical moat, solid execution, and exposure to high growth emerging demand.”
“SAIL… currently trades at a discount to its high growth Security peers and we see an opportunity for the stock to re-rate higher with best-in-class growth, expanding margins, and improving FCF,” Essex went on to add.
Essex puts an Overweight (i.e., Buy) rating on the shares, accompanied by a $26 price target that implies a one-year upside potential of 26%. (To watch Essex’s track record, click here)
The 17 recent analyst reviews of SailPoint’s shares include 12 Buys, 4 Holds, and 1 Sell, giving the stock its Moderate Buy consensus rating. SAIL is currently priced at $20.64 and its $25.91 average price target is practically the same as Essex’s objective. (See SAIL stock forecast)
Capri Holdings (CPRI)
From cybersecurity we’ll change gears and move over to fashion. The next stock on our list of JPM picks is Capri Holdings, a luxury retail company known as the owner of the Michael Kors, Jimmy Choo, and Versace brands. The company was founded by Michael Kors himself in 1981, and today keeps its headquarters in London and its operations base in New York City. The company has owned Jimmy Choo since 2017, and bought Versace, which it is currently in the process of divesting, in 2018.
The Versace transaction requires a closer look. As noted, Capri acquired the Italian brand in 2018. In April of this year, however, the company entered into an agreement with Prada to sell the Versace name and product lines in a transaction valued at $1.375 billion in cash. The sale is expected to close during the second half of this year, and will allow Capri to focus its efforts and operations on the Michael Kors and Jimmy Choo brands.
This means a strong focus on high-end clothing, shoes, and handbags, the key strengths of both the Kors and Choo lines. Capri sells these products through a network of branded brick-and-mortar stores, as well as through its online presence. In both areas, the Michael Kors name makes up the bulk of the company’s presence and revenue; of the 912 total retail stores operated by the company, 695, or 76%, are branded as Michael Kors. On the revenue side, Michael Kors generates 79% of the company’s sales receipts.
A closer look at the company’s last quarterly report, covering fiscal 1Q26, shows that Capri generated $797 million in total revenue for the reporting period. This total was down 6% year-over-year, but it was also $23.9 million better than had been anticipated. Capri gave its bottom line as 50 cents per share in non-GAAP measures – which beat the forecast by $0.38.
Matthew Boss covers this stock for JPM, and he is impressed by Capri’s streamlining of its business, and its success in boosting sales activity in the Kors name. He sees plenty of room for growth there, and says of the stock, “We see CPRI on a path of multi-year sequential revenue, gross, and operating margin improvement, led by a brand reinvigoration strategy at the Michael Kors brand. Specifically, management is focused on driving product improvement, a sharpened value proposition, enhanced marketing, and distribution optimization, which we see translating to sequentially improved revenues in 2H26 and inflection to FY27 revenue growth at the Michael Kors brand and the total company, with improved full-price selling mix & ~Flat SG&A dollar growth supporting bottom-line flow-through.”
Quantifying his stance here, Boss gives CPRI shares an Overweight (i.e., Buy) rating. He complements that with a $30 price target, suggesting a gain of 46% over the next year. (To watch Boss’s track record, click here)
The JPM view is the bullish end; overall, this stock gets a Hold rating from the analyst consensus, based on 8 reviews that break down to 2 Buys and 6 Holds. The shares have a $20.59 selling price, and their $24.13 average price target implies that CPRI will appreciate by 17% on the one-year horizon. (See CPRI stock forecast)
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Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the featured analysts. The content is intended to be used for informational purposes only. It is very important to do your own analysis before making any investment.