(This is The Best Stocks in the Market , brought to you by Josh Brown and Sean Russo of Ritholtz Wealth Management.) Josh — We focus on winners in this column. It’s not that there aren’t beaten down names that offer great opportunity for patient investors — of course there are — but when Sean and I agreed to bring our Best Stocks in the Market research to CNBC Pro, we told you from the outset that the column was going to be about stocks with underlying buying pressure that had technical set-ups we thought were worth paying attention to. Over the last 10 months or so, we had all kinds of outcomes for these ideas. Some stocks fell off the list immediately, with violations of their uptrends and breakdowns we prepared you for in advance (the risk management commentary we always end with). Some stocks fell off the list and then regained their place. Some stocks got onto the list, stayed there and then traded sideways or slightly higher, never quite breaking out and reaching their full potential. And then there are the stocks that worked and continued to work, rising through all manner of market-wide disruption and volatility. These are the stocks that make all the failed breakouts and disappointments worth enduring. The home runs and grand slams we live for. Today we’re going to revisit two of those and give you an update on what’s been happening with them. We’ll also grade their charts again and update the key levels for those who’ve been riding them higher. This June we’ll be rolling out an asset management strategy at my firm, Ritholtz Wealth Management, based on our Best Stocks research. I’m giving CNBC Pro subscribers the first chance to hear about it and get on the waiting list. You can send an email to info@ritholtzwealth.com with the subject line “Best Stocks Portfolio” and we’ll add you in the order your message is received. In the meanwhile, Sean is going to tell you about semi equipment names KLA Corp (KLAC) and Lam Research (LRCX) along with our usual Monday high level look at what’s happening with the list. Here’s Sean: Sector leaderboard As of April 13 , there are 176 names on The Best Stocks in the Market list. Top sector ranking: Top industries: Top 5 best stocks by relative strength: Sector spotlight: Semis KLA Corp. (KLAC): Sean — We wrote about KLA Corp and Lam Research the first trading day of 2026, and what a ride it has been. Both of these stocks are great examples of how successful you can be when you numb the human urge of selling all time highs. Sometimes stocks go up and keep going up! Looking at KLA specifically — coming into this year, the stock had been up 56% in 2023, 9% in 2024 and another 94% in 2025. Most investors out there would have wanted to “take chips off the table” if they had already been in the name. If they’d missed it, the general attitude would have been to avoid the stock and find something else to buy that wasn’t already up a lot. We understand this mentality, and we try to teach people to unlearn it in this column. KLAC is back at highs again, and so far this year the stock is up another 42% YTD since we wrote about it here. KLAC is a services and equipment provider for semiconductor manufacturing process control and yield management. They help chipmakers detect defects and maximize the amount of chips the TSMs of the world can produce. KLA guided the March 2026-ended quarter to gross margins of 61.75% (up one percentage point) which management explicitly characterized as a “trough” for both revenue and gross margins in 2026. KLAC currently trades at a forward 36x PE with 32% EPS expected for their next fiscal year. Josh — Is this a gap and go? Maybe. KLA already did the hard part. That multimonth consolidation from January into March wasn’t random — it was the market working off the excess from the prior run. Price moved sideways to down while the trend held, momentum reset, and weak hands got shaken out. You can see it in the structure: higher lows, no violation of the 200-day, and RSI cycling out of overbought and rebuilding. That’s a proper digestion, not a breakdown. Now it’s coming out of that base and pushing back toward the highs around $1,737 — and straight into that open gap in the $1,700–$1,750 zone. That’s the last pocket of supply from the prior selloff. The key difference now is that the consolidation already did the work. This move isn’t extended — it’s emerging from a reset, which gives it a better shot at clearing that gap cleanly. This stock has unfinished business above $1,700. We’re seeing it take care of that business now. Risk is straightforward. For traders, the breakout needs to hold – a failure back below $1,500 and the 50-day tells you it needs more time. For investors, the trend remains intact unless you’re talking about a deeper break toward the $1,194 200-day. Until that happens, this is a leadership stock finishing a reset and trying to make new highs. Lam Research Corp. (LRCX): Sean — LRCX is another heavy hitter the past year. The stock ended 2025 up an astounding 139%, and it’s up another 51% so far this year. Lam Research supplies wafer fabrication equipment that is used to manufacture semiconductor chips. LRCX is targeting a 2x in revenue and profit growth over the next five years. They expect growth in every segment in 2026 and are investing in the business to deliver that growth; in the past four years the company increased manufacturing capacity 2x and launched state of the art automated warehousing in 2025. It’s also worth noting, Lam Research tried acquiring KLAC for $10.6 billion in 2015, but terminated the deal in 2016 over antitrust concerns. In 2015 LRCX had a $12 billion market cap while KLAC was about $10 billion. Fast forward to today and LRCX has more than 20x’d trading at a $329B market cap, followed by KLAC also 20x’ing at a $227 billion market cap. Josh — Lam Research is telling a very similar story — but arguably a cleaner one. The stock has already worked through its consolidation, It’s spent the last few months resetting after the prior run, and is now back pushing to new highs around $263. This wasn’t a straight shot up — it digested gains, held trend, and rebuilt momentum along the way. That’s exactly how leadership stocks behave. What stands out here is momentum confirmation. RSI is pushing back toward 67, not overbought but clearly trending higher, which tells you this move still has room. It’s not exhausted – it’s strengthening. And like KLA, that matters in a semi name where you want to see buyers reassert control coming out of a base, not just chase a spike. For traders, the line is the $225-$230 zone around the rising 50-day — lose that and you’re back into the chop. For investors, the more meaningful level is closer to $200, which has already acted as support twice during the consolidation. A break there starts to unwind the pattern of higher lows and changes the character of the trend. Until then, this is a stock that reset properly and is now acting like it wants higher. DISCLOSURES: (None) All opinions expressed by the CNBC Pro contributors are solely their opinions and do not reflect the opinions of CNBC, or its parent company or affiliates, and may have been previously disseminated by them on television, radio, internet or another medium. THIS CONTENT IS PROVIDED FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND DOES NOT CONSTITUTE FINANCIAL, INVESTMENT, TAX OR LEGAL ADVICE OR A RECOMMENDATION TO BUY ANY SECURITY OR OTHER FINANCIAL ASSET. THE CONTENT IS GENERAL IN NATURE AND DOES NOT REFLECT ANY INDIVIDUAL’S UNIQUE PERSONAL CIRCUMSTANCES. THE ABOVE CONTENT MIGHT NOT BE SUITABLE FOR YOUR PARTICULAR CIRCUMSTANCES. BEFORE MAKING ANY FINANCIAL DECISIONS, YOU SHOULD STRONGLY CONSIDER SEEKING ADVICE FROM YOUR OWN FINANCIAL OR INVESTMENT ADVISOR. Click here for the full disclaimer.
