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Top stocks to buy for long term: Pankaj Pandey of ICICI Securities suggests Crompton Greaves, Kotak Bank, 3 others

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In short

Recent market weakness has pulled the Nifty down over 12% year-to-date and 14% from its record high, creating favorable entry valuations for long-term investors. ICICI Securities expects index earnings to compound at a 16% annual rate between FY26 and FY28E, backed by resilient corporate balance sheets. Recommended picks focus on businesses with strong earnings visibility, such as Crompton Greaves trading at a roughly 30% discount to historical multiples. Component manufacturer CIE Automotive and jeweler BlueStone also offer clear growth catalysts through market share gains and operational turnarounds.

Key points

  • External headwinds like high oil prices and foreign portfolio outflows are driving the ma…: External headwinds like high oil prices and foreign portfolio outflows are driving the market downturn rather than domestic business fundamentals.
  • Brokerage projections point toward a 16% compound earnings growth rate for the Nifty acro…: Brokerage projections point toward a 16% compound earnings growth rate for the Nifty across the FY26 to FY28E window.
  • Future market performance is expected to rely heavily on actual bottom-line delivery rath…: Future market performance is expected to rely heavily on actual bottom-line delivery rather than broad-based liquidity expansion.

Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1

Top stocks to buy for long term: The Indian stock market has been under strong pressure this year due to heightened geopolitical tensions, elevated oil prices, and massive foreign capital outflow.

The Nifty is down more than 12% this year so far; from its all-time high of 26,373, the index is down 14%.

Pankaj Pandey, the head of research at ICICI Securities, underscored that markets are currently navigating a phase of heightened volatility, with the Nifty and broader market indices witnessing a meaningful correction from their recent highs.

However, Pandey added that the weakness is less a reflection of any fundamental deterioration in the domestic earnings cycle and more a consequence of a confluence of external pressures - elevated crude prices, rising domestic and global bond yields, and heightened geopolitical uncertainty.

Pandey pointed out that the underlying earnings picture remains encouraging.

"The listed universe, so far in the current earnings season, has delivered over 20%+ growth in both topline and PAT, providing increasing evidence that the domestic corporate earnings cycle is gaining traction. This resilience in earnings, despite a challenging…

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