Morgan Stanley has refreshed its Vintage Values list of top stock recommendations for 2027, adding several new selections to its roster of holdings. According to reports from CNBC TV18, the firm's previous picks successfully outperformed the broader market over the past 12 months, prompting the strategic refresh of their top stock ideas. The updated list includes Alphabet, the technology giant, and Coca-Cola, the consumer staples company, as new additions to Morgan Stanley's recommended holdings. To build the 2027 list, Morgan Stanley strategists asked the firm's North America analysts for their top recommendation for a one-year buy-and-hold investment horizon, producing more than 50 names which was whittled down to 15 stocks.
The Vintage Values 2027 portfolio outperformed the S&P 500 by 1,316 basis points from September 9, 2025 to September 11, 2026, posting a return of 32.12% compared to the broad index's return of nearly 19%. As reported by Morgan Stanley, the firm's strategists compiled the 2027 list by asking Morgan Stanley's North America analysts for their top recommendation for a one-year buy-and-hold investment horizon, turning up more than 50 names which was whittled down to 15 stocks. The 2027 list features 12 of the 15 names as new additions, with only Amazon, McKesson and Visa appearing on both the 2026 and 2027 lists. Other notable inclusions are Apple, Dynatrace, Eli Lilly, Equinix and Williams Companies. Recent stock reactions to the list showed Alphabet shares rising 2%, Apple adding 0.8%, while Coca-Cola slipped 1% on Monday trading. However, several new picks have lagged this year, with Eli Lilly up about 8% as of September 21, trailing the S&P 500's 13% gain, and Alphabet had risen 10.5% through September 15, leaving it behind the index.
The 2027 list demonstrates a quality-focused approach with 60% of stocks in the top two quality tiers compared to 56% for the S&P 500 index. According to Morgan Stanley's equity strategist Michelle Weaver, the selection process incorporates company fundamentals and quantitative analyses, macro exposure, industry positioning, valuation and risk-reward. The firm noted that the 2027 roster is more expensive than the broad market on most measures, reflecting their focus on quality companies. As Weaver explained, "Vintage Values 2027 has an 'anti-momentum' tilt – the stocks on the list are not simply stocks that have worked recently but rather ones our analysts have identified for their strong bottom-up drivers." This philosophy marks a deliberate departure from chasing recent winners, emphasizing individual company drivers over short-term market sentiment for investors willing to hold for a full year.
Morgan Stanley's Andrew Slimmon, a managing director and senior portfolio manager at Morgan Stanley Investment Management, has identified significant opportunities in Japanese and European markets as earnings estimates climb. Speaking on CNBC's Squawk Box Asia, Slimmon noted that Japan's Nikkei 225 had climbed about 25.4% this year but remained nearly 12% below its June record, tied to companies lifting their earnings estimates. In Europe, he described defense as one opportunity but pointed to banks, which have performed very well with the STOXX Europe 600 Banks index gaining about 18.87% this year. Slimmon emphasized that stocks are now responding to the growth reflected in earnings revisions, calling this the key difference between 2026 and earlier years. The Federal Reserve's recent decision to lift its benchmark rate by 25 basis points to a target range of 3.75%-4% on September 16, marking the central bank's first increase since 2023, has kept the market at similar levels despite the rate hike.
