10 Best Value Stocks to Buy for the Long Term

Growth stocks outperformed their value counterparts for much of 2025, but that trend started to shift toward the end of the year. Value stocks have seen more consistent returns heading into 2026. They’ve managed to come out ahead as uncertainties around artificial intelligence’s impact on various industries have rattled the markets.

Over the past 12 months, the Morningstar US Growth Index rose 8.33%, while the Morningstar US Value Index gained 18.60%.

Morningstar Chief US Market Strategist Dave Sekera suggests using value stocks to hedge against potential elevated volatility in 2026. “If the market sells off, we’d expect value stocks to hold their value better and can be sold, and the proceeds used to increase positions in those technology and AI stocks that will have sold off too far into undervalued territory.”

10 Best Value Stocks to Buy for the Long Term

The 10 most undervalued value stocks from Morningstar’s Best Companies to Own list as of Feb. 18, 2026, were:

1. Campbell’s CPB
2. Constellation Brands STZ
3. Automatic Data Processing ADP
4. Zimmer Biomet ZBH
5. Clorox CLX
6. Danaher DHR
7. Paychex PAYX
8. Diageo DEO
9. Thermo Fisher Scientific TMO
10. Accenture ACN

To come up with our list of the best value stocks to buy for the long term, we screened for:

• Stocks that land in the value portion of the Morningstar Style Box.
• Stocks from companies included on Morningstar’s list of the Best Companies to Own. Companies on this list have wide Morningstar Economic Moat Ratings and predictable cash flows, and they are run by management teams that make smart capital allocation decisions.
• Stocks that are undervalued, as measured by our price/fair value metric.

Here’s a little more about each of these value stocks for the long term, including commentary from the Morningstar analysts who cover each company. All data is as of Feb. 18, 2026.

Campbell’s

• Morningstar Price/Fair Value: 0.46
• Morningstar Uncertainty Rating: Medium
• Morningstar Style Box: Small Value
• Morningstar Capital Allocation Rating: Standard
• Industry: Packaged Foods

Packaged-food company Campbell’s is the most affordable stock on our list of the best value stocks to buy. Over the past 150-plus years, Campbell’s has evolved into a leading domestic packaged-food manufacturer, with a portfolio that extends beyond its iconic red-and-white labeled canned soup. The stock is trading 54% below our fair value estimate of $60 per share.

Over the past six-plus years, Campbell’s has orchestrated significant changes. For one, the portfolio mix has shifted significantly: Its core soup lineup now accounts for just over 25% of total sales (down from more than 40% in fiscal 2017), while snacks account for just over 40% (up from less than 30%). In addition, the firm has worked to drive efficiencies across its supply chain and manufacturing network to boost spending behind its brands and capabilities, thereby solidifying its competitive edge. The byproduct of these efforts has been 1% average annual organic sales growth over the past five years alongside low-teens average adjusted operating margins.

We expect further gains from Campbell’s sound strategic focus—leveraging technology, data insights, and artificial intelligence to bring products to market that align with evolving consumer trends in a timely manner while strictly managing costs. To further these efforts, Campbell’s recently outlined plans to unlock $375 million in savings through fiscal 2028 (up from $250 million previously), in addition to the $950 million realized over the past few years, driven by optimization, technological enhancements, and reduced indirect spending. Importantly, we don’t expect these efforts merely to enhance the bottom line, but to fund investments in consumer-valued innovation and marketing. As such, we forecast 5% of sales will be directed to research, development, and marketing annually on average (approximately $575 million). We see this as key to helping ensure its brands keep pace with consumer preferences, underpinning the firm’s intangible-based moat.

We think Campbell’s still seeks inorganic growth opportunities. Most recently, Campbell’s acquired a 49% stake in La Regina, maker of Rao’s sauces. This follows the 2024 acquisition of Sovos Brands, which generates around $1 billion in annual sales. We see its exposure to the premium sauce aisle complementing its lower-priced Prego brand and benefiting from Campbell’s financial resources and entrenched retailer relationships. This addition should spur distribution gains as the integration progresses, juicing its sales prospects.

Read more about Campbell’s here.

Constellation Brands

• Morningstar Price/Fair Value: 0.71
• Morningstar Uncertainty Rating: Medium
• Morningstar Style Box: Mid-Value
• Morningstar Capital Allocation Rating: Standard
• Industry: Beverages – Brewers

Constellation Brands is the largest provider of alcoholic beverages across the beer, wine, and spirits categories in the US, generating 84% of revenue from Mexican beer imports under top-selling brands such as Modelo and Corona. The stock is trading at a 29% discount to our fair value estimate of $220 per share.

Constellation Brands benefits from a Morningstar Economic Moat Rating of wide due to the strong brand equity and tight distributor relations enjoyed by the brewer’s top-selling, imported Mexican beer portfolio.

Constellation has earned its perch as the top player (with a 73% volume share) in the premium import beer niche in the US, thanks to its 2013 acquisition of exclusive distribution rights for Mexican beer brands, including Modelo and Corona, in the country. We give the brewer credit for smart ad campaigns and strong quality control, which have bolstered and reinforced the popularity and premium positioning of its two crown jewel brands. Constellation capitalized on premiumization tailwinds to drive 7% annual beer volume growth between fiscal 2020 and fiscal 2024, bucking the sluggish beer category trends. However, growth stalled amid recent macro headwinds with volumes down an average 4% in the past four quarters.

We expect weak beer demand to persist in the near future, given consumer belt-tightening, especially among the Hispanic cohort to which Constellation has a 40% sales exposure. That said, we remain constructive about the long-term outlook of its beer business, given the strong position of its premium brands, expertise in ramping newer brands including Pacifico and Victoria, and a solid innovation pipeline, including new flavors, nonalcoholic, and lower-calorie beers that resonate with younger drinking-age consumers. The brewer also prudently stepped up activation among non-Hispanic consumers and in on-premises channels, positioning itself for volume reacceleration when the demand environment improves.

Other risks that the firm faces include competitive encroachment from categories adjacent to beer (such as spirits-based ready-to-drink beverages), and craft beer brands that pose a threat at the local and regional level. Also, alcohol content labeling regulations and more health awareness among younger consumers may damp demand. It has also struggled to turn around its wine and spirits business (16% of sales), but the recent sale of vodka and mass market wine brands should allow it to sharpen its focus on more promising premium offerings.

Read more about Constellation Brands here.

Automatic Data Processing

• Morningstar Price/Fair Value: 0.73
• Morningstar Uncertainty Rating: Medium
• Morningstar Style Box: Large Value
• Morningstar Capital Allocation Rating: Standard
• Industry: Software – Application

Next on our list of the best value stocks to buy is Automatic Data Processing. Automatic Data Processing is a global technology company providing cloud-based human capital management solutions, enabling clients to better implement payroll, talent, time, tax, and benefits administration. The stock is trading at a 27% discount to our fair value estimate of $297 per share.

ADP is a global leader in human capital management and payroll software and should remain so for the foreseeable future. It services customers of all sizes, in every industry, across 140 countries. The company has two segments: employer services and professional employer organization services.

ADP primarily makes money by offering a wide range of cloud-based human resources products and outsourcing services that help companies manage HR tasks such as hiring. It also provides professional employer organization services, which act as a shared HR department for smaller businesses, allowing them to focus on their core operations. A major advantage of PEOs is that they can pool employees from different companies to secure better deals on benefits and healthcare.

ADP’s business depends on the economy and employment levels, meaning its revenue can increase and decrease with job growth. It utilizes a subscription model where customers pay based on the number of HR solutions they use and the number of employees they have. Most of them pay a monthly fee per employee, which increases slightly each year. Some clients who use fewer features may pay a flat fee instead.

There is significant competition in the HCM and payroll software industry from legacy peers and newer solutions, in-house and third-party. ADP has thus far illustrated an ability to stave off competition, relying on its capability as one of the only software providers in the industry that can service customers of all sizes. Additionally, the company has successfully modernized its platforms, which are now cloud-compatible and designed to improve the user experience, supporting client retention. As a result, ADP’s share of US employees paid using its software has consistently remained around one-sixth.

Read more about Automatic Data Processing here.

Zimmer Biomet

• Morningstar Price/Fair Value: 0.76
• Morningstar Uncertainty Rating: Medium
• Morningstar Style Box: Mid-Value
• Morningstar Capital Allocation Rating: Exemplary
• Industry: Medical Devices

Zimmer Biomet designs, manufactures, and markets orthopedic reconstructive implants as well as supplies and surgical equipment for orthopedic surgery. The stock is trading at a 24% discount to our fair value estimate of $130 per share.

Zimmer Biomet is the undisputed king of large-joint reconstruction, and we expect aging baby boomers and improving technology suitable for younger patients to fuel solid demand for large-joint replacement that should offset price declines. Zimmer stumbled into a series of pitfalls in 2016-17, including integration issues, supply and inventory challenges, and quality concerns. The firm’s efforts to turn itself around have been admirable, though the pandemic slowed progress. Now Zimmer is seeking to capitalize on the normalization of procedure volume and placements of its Rosa robot.

Zimmer’s strategy is two-pronged. First, it is focused on cultivating close relationships with orthopedic surgeons who make the brand choice. High switching costs and high-touch service keep the surgeons closely tied to their primary vendor. This tight relationship and vendor loyalty also help explain why market share shifts in orthopedic implants are glacial, at best. As long as Zimmer can launch comparable technology within a few years of its rivals, it can remain in a strong competitive position. Nevertheless, we think surgeon influence will inevitably erode, as the practice of medicine changes in response to healthcare reform. Over the long term, it will be more difficult for surgeons to run private practices profitably, and more of them will be open to employment at hospitals.

Second, the firm aims to accelerate growth through innovative products and improved execution. The latter is critical, in our view, to realizing the firm’s potential. Despite a range of structural competitive advantages, Zimmer Biomet in 2016-18 failed to shine in operations, which dragged down returns. Former CEO Bryan Hanson delivered substantial signs of progress. Now, current CEO Ivan Tornos must continue the progress on Rosa robot placements (especially in outpatient settings), related consumable product pull-through, and expansion of the firm’s digital portfolio. Additionally, we anticipate the firm will flex its advantage in key areas, including extremities, trauma, and collaborations that involve sensor and digital technologies to improve surgical workflow.

Read more about Zimmer Biomet here.

Clorox

• Morningstar Price/Fair Value: 0.76
• Morningstar Uncertainty Rating: Medium
• Morningstar Style Box: Mid-Value
• Morningstar Capital Allocation Rating: Exemplary
• Industry: Household & Personal Products

Since its inception more than 100 years ago, Clorox has expanded to operate in a variety of consumer product categories, including cleaning supplies, laundry care, trash bags, cat litter, charcoal, food dressings, water filtration products, and natural personal care products. The stock is trading at a 24% discount to our fair value estimate of $163 per share.

With its entrenched retail standing and unrelenting focus on investing in its leading brand mix, Clorox has withstood the onslaught of pressures from covid, supply chain angst, rampant inflation, and an August 2023 cybersecurity attack. More recently, it has acknowledged a step-up in industrywide promotional spending, particularly in litter, bags, and wraps. Still, we don’t believe this suggests an irrational competitive landscape or that the firm is pursuing a volume-over-value strategy. Instead, from our perspective, Clorox remains resolute in investing to support the long-term health of the business, ensuring its competitive edge remains intact.

The pandemic buoyed e-commerce adoption, and Clorox realized the need to invest to bolster its digital capabilities, earmarking more than $500 million to accelerate productivity improvements, which we view as prudent. We’re encouraged that Clorox’s strategy remains anchored in bringing consumer-valued innovation to market and touting its fare to consumers, which strikes us as particularly critical against the current backdrop of tepid consumer spending and intense competition. Clorox goes to bat against lower-priced private-label fare in most categories, but we believe investments in innovation and marketing should help its products stand out on the shelf and deter trade down. This underpins our forecast that Clorox will allocate around 13% of sales annually—just over $1 billion—to research, development, and marketing.

Even with these investments, we believe Clorox is on a path to maintaining the mid-40s gross margin that historically characterized the business (up from the low 30s trough in the second quarter of fiscal 2022, when cost inflation proved to be a sizable headwind). And despite the potential hit from tariffs (which management had pegged at $40 million on a 12-month basis, or just a low-single-digit percentage of cost of goods sold), we think Clorox will prudently use a combination of cost-savings endeavors, price pack architecture, and surgical price hikes to dull any lasting hit to the margins.

Read more about Clorox here.

Danaher

• Morningstar Price/Fair Value: 0.77
• Morningstar Uncertainty Rating: Medium
• Morningstar Style Box: Large Value
• Morningstar Capital Allocation Rating: Exemplary
• Industry: Diagnostics & Research

In 1984, Danaher’s founders transformed a real estate organization into an industrial-focused manufacturing company. The stock is trading at a 23% discount to our fair value estimate of $270 per share.

Through its Danaher Business System, Danaher aims for continuous improvement of its scientific technology portfolio by seeking out attractive markets and then making acquisitions to enter or expand within those fields and also divesting assets that are no longer seen as core, such as the recently divested Veralto operations. After acquisitions, Danaher aims to accelerate core growth at acquired companies by making research and development and marketing-related investments. It also implements lean manufacturing principles and administrative cost controls to boost operating margins. Overall, we appreciate Danaher’s strategic moves, which have pushed it into attractive end markets with strong growth prospects and sticky, recurring revenue streams.

The company’s acquisition-focused strategy has contributed to its becoming a top-five player in the highly fragmented and relatively stable life sciences and diagnostic tool markets, approximately 20 years after its first acquisition in the space (Radiometer in 2004). Important life sciences and diagnostic acquisitions have included Beckman Coulter, Pall, and Cepheid. In early 2020, Danaher completed its largest acquisition, GE Biopharma, now known as Cytiva, which fills some gaps for Danaher within the biopharmaceutical development and manufacturing tool market. We find the drug manufacturing part of the life sciences market particularly attractive given its strong growth trajectory, high margins, and high switching costs associated with regulatory and reproducibility concerns of end users. Management has started making more acquisitions in that space, such as Aldevron, and we would expect more tuck-in acquisitions in this and other end markets, given its intense focus on acquisitions.

Danaher also continues to prune its portfolio of businesses. The recent divestiture of its environmental and applied solutions group (now called Veralto) is just the latest for the company, which distributed shares in the now publicly traded Fortive Corp (industrials) to shareholders directly in 2016 and in Envista (dental) in 2019. Additional divestitures may be possible in the future as well.

Read more about Danaher here.

Paychex

• Morningstar Price/Fair Value: 0.77
• Morningstar Uncertainty Rating: Medium
• Morningstar Style Box: Mid-Value
• Morningstar Capital Allocation Rating: Exemplary
• Industry: Software – Application

Paychex is a technology company providing human capital management solutions, enabling clients to better implement payroll, talent, time, tax, and benefits administration. The stock is trading at a 23% discount to our fair value estimate of $122 per share.

Paychex is a leader in payroll and human capital management software in the United States. The company, which focuses on servicing small and medium-size businesses, generates revenue from three sources: management solutions, professional employer organization and insurance, and interest income on funds held for clients.

Paychex has differentiated itself from other HCM and payroll players by exclusively targeting companies with 1-1,000 employees. Its average client size skews very small, well below 50 employees. As a result, the company faces less competition than its counterparts targeting larger employers, allowing Paychex to generate superior margins. The company’s strategic role targeting small businesses does result in a more cyclical business, as its customers are more susceptible to bankruptcy and economic downturn. Paychex’s customer retention rate is typically in the low 80s.

The payroll and HCM software industry is highly fragmented and mature. Industry growth depends largely on broader employment growth and new business formation. Paychex and competitors have been able to grow faster than the economy due to various factors, including the shift toward digital solutions, increased offerings expanding their capabilities beyond payroll, and inorganic methods. As the industry leader in small-business payroll, Paychex should continue to benefit from broader industry trends. Complex government regulations, diverse workforces, and expensive healthcare costs have driven increased dependence on outsourced solutions. Many businesses continue to optimize their headcount and focus on employees building products that their customers rely on. As a result, Paychex has been able to drive higher growth through its outsourced solutions. In particular, its PEO and administrative services organization solutions, which allow customers to outsource their human resources departments and reduce insurance costs, have become increasingly popular with customers and should continue to grow in the midsingle digits, slightly outpacing overall company growth.

Read more about Paychex here.

Diageo

• Morningstar Price/Fair Value: 0.81
• Morningstar Uncertainty Rating: Medium
• Morningstar Style Box: Large Value
• Morningstar Capital Allocation Rating: Standard
• Industry: Beverages – Wineries & Distilleries

Formed in 1997 through the merger of Grand Metropolitan and Guinness, Diageo is the largest distiller globally by sales. The stock is trading at a 19% discount to our fair value estimate of $118 per share.

Diageo was formed in 1997 following the merger of Grand Metropolitan and Guinness. Mergers and acquisitions remain part of the firm’s fabric, and subsequent transactions have established Diageo as a global industry leader. The largest spirits players have expanded and scaled their portfolios over decades, holding as many as 250 brands, and we believe there is more consolidation to come. Outside the top five firms, the industry is highly fragmented, and regional players often dominate in niche product categories or local markets. These firms present acquisition opportunities for the industry consolidators, including Diageo, to expand their footprint.

The key motivation for Diageo’s acquisition strategy is to broaden the product portfolio, which is critical in the on-trade channel (bars, restaurants, pubs). Volume in the spirits industry is more cyclical than beer and with transient trends. For instance, Diageo has benefited from the rise in popularity of tequila in recent years. Its broad presence across categories with both global strategic and local niche brands mitigates the risk to volume from shifting consumer preferences.

Diageo is also focusing on premiumization, which we think will be a long-term tailwind to revenue and margins. We see the long-term secular trend of consumers “drinking less but better” gradually leading to pricing growing ahead of volume in select categories. The way Diageo has laddered the pricing structure of brands such as Johnnie Walker demonstrates that there is vast scope for premiumizing some of the core brands in the portfolio.

Read more about Diageo here.

Thermo Fisher Scientific

• Morningstar Price/Fair Value: 0.82
• Morningstar Uncertainty Rating: Medium
• Morningstar Style Box: Large Value
• Morningstar Capital Allocation Rating: Exemplary
• Industry: Diagnostics & Research

Thermo Fisher Scientific sells scientific instruments and laboratory equipment, diagnostics consumables, and life science reagents. The stock is trading at an 18% discount to our fair value estimate of $630 per share.

While Thermo Fisher is weathering the pullback in global biopharmaceutical spending and China softness better than most of its peers, it is still not immune to the overall softness in the life science market. Having an unmatched portfolio of products, resources, and manufacturing capabilities has allowed the firm to retain and grow its wallet share among its customers across all channels. We expect the current budget-constrained environment to stay suppressed this year but to return to more normalized growth in 2026. Thermo Fisher remains in a great position to leverage its share gains in the biopharma channel and capitalize on strong long-term demand.

While bigger is not always better, Thermo Fisher had long committed itself to accumulating as robust a product offering, under one roof, as possible. To reach its ultimate goal of being a one-stop shop, go-to provider of life science instruments and consumables, the company has spent aggressively throughout the years on internal efforts but particularly on acquisitions. More than $50 billion has been deployed since 2010 on this strategy (including the recent PPD acquisition), which, while accretive to the company’s reach, scale, and product breadth, has historically suppressed its returns on invested capital to rather modest levels. Not anymore.

While the uplift from covid-19 tests and vaccines has been significant, the swiftness and extent of the company’s response have cemented Thermo Fisher’s integral role within the segment. The company has long found a receptive audience to its pitch with large pharma clients, which see sizable benefits in the simplified procurement process Thermo Fisher offers. Accelerated by the pandemic, the critical supplier status has been extended to the firm by a much wider audience, including governments. We anticipate the firm’s penetration of all its customer channels to grow, aided by its expansion into contract research and manufacturing. We also think the company’s global reach will continue to resonate, and its already strong presence within rapidly growing emerging markets should expand further.

Read more about Thermo Fisher Scientific here.

Accenture

• Morningstar Price/Fair Value: 0.82
• Morningstar Uncertainty Rating: Medium
• Morningstar Style Box: Large Value
• Morningstar Capital Allocation Rating: Standard
• Industry: Information Technology Services

Information technology services company Accenture rounds out our list of best value stocks to buy. Accenture is a leading IT services firm that provides consulting, system integration, and business process outsourcing to enterprises around the world. The stock is 18% undervalued relative to our fair value estimate of $272 per share.

Accenture boasts many different professional services to tackle almost any need an enterprise might have. We view the company as the best-of-breed professional services provider thanks to its prominent reputation, established customer base, and deep technological expertise.

Accenture is the only IT services company that has the capability to deliver end-to-end business solutions. If a brick-and-mortar bank is planning to launch a mobile banking app, Accenture is ready to assist it throughout the entire process, which includes overarching strategy design, IT system integration, custom application development, new service marketing, and digital infrastructure management. Without Accenture, customers need to source different services from several suppliers, potentially leading to project delays and cost overruns. We believe Accenture’s unique capability of providing integrated digital solutions across consulting and managed services boosts the company’s image as a flagship IT services provider and reinforces its customer relationship with Fortune 100 companies.

We think Accenture should fare better than other IT services companies as enterprises introduce artificial intelligence agents into their workforces. AI agents pose tangible threats to lower-end IT services, such as infrastructure management and business process outsourcing, because agents could potentially perform better in handling repetitive, mechanical business processes than the human workforce. As a premier business services provider, Accenture’s stronghold lies in higher-end services, like consulting and system integration, that require relatively high levels of human input to tailor solutions for customers. While AI agents can reshape customers’ outsourcing practices, we think Accenture is in a good position to ensure that its services stay relevant for clients.

In our view, Accenture should remain the most dominant player in the IT services industry, shaping how enterprises leverage technology to achieve their desired business outcomes. Given its wide geographic and industry coverage, we expect Accenture to deliver stable top-line growth in the long term.

Read more about Accenture here.

How to Find More of the Best Value Stocks to Buy

Investors who’d like to extend their search for top value stocks can do the following:

• Investors can use the Morningstar Investor screener to more easily compare value stocks to each other. One way would be to screen by Stock Style under the Criteria drop-down menu, choosing large value, mid-value, small value, or some combination thereof. Then once you have your results, click on Data & Columns to select Financials data points in the Stocks area. These might be valuation metrics like price/earnings ratios or profitability measures like return on assets, among others. Then click Update. Once back to the list of stocks, click on the data point that matters most to you to rank the list on that particular data point.
• Read Morningstar’s Guide to Stock Investing to learn how our approach to investing can inform your stock-picking process.
• Investors who’d rather invest in value stocks through a managed product like an exchange-traded fund or a mutual fund can find ideas to research further in The Best Value Funds.