Slop bowls, AI layoffs, and the girlfriend index: Here’s a market-beating research firm’s top investment ideas for 2026
Dan Hernandez/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images Citrini Research just unveiled its 26 bets heading into the new year. The firm’s annual investment watchlist largely beat the S&P 500 this year. In 2026, it’s dialed its focus on themes like automation, weight loss drugs, and female consumer spending. Slop bowls. AI layoffs. What your girlfriend spends money on. All of those themes have a place in investors’ portfolios for 2026, according to Citrini Research, which unveiled its top bets for the market heading into the new year. Citrini, which releases an annual “thematic watchlist” for investors, ended up handily beating the market with many of its 2025 calls. An equal-weighted portfolio of the firm’s individual stock picks for the year gained 26.5%, outpacing the S&P 500’s 15% gain. Around half of the 25 investment baskets it created for the year also beat the benchmark. The firm’s investment ideas for the coming year were based on trends it believes are unfolding. “Some we think could be real winners, some are preparation for a specific scenario or eventuality, some we simply want to keep on our screen,” Citrini wrote on Wednesday. Here are some of the firm’s most interesting market calls going into 2026. 1. AI job losses Kim Kyung Hoon/Reuters Thesis: Critrini said it was bullish on stocks that were best-positioned to benefit from AI by reducing headcount. The firm said it screened for companies that could most benefit from AI-induced layoffs by developing a “Bureaucracy Score”, a gauge that measures how robust a firm’s administrative and managerial layers are, as well as a “Margin Optionality Score,” which determines if a company is able to earn more if its workforce were leaner. Stock picks: Citrini identified over thirty firms in this category. Here are some of the largest on the list: Accenture IBM Corp. Zoom Video Target United Parcel Service Intuit Dollar General 2. Slop bowl automation Chipotle said younger customers are buying its products less frequently. Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images Thesis: Critrini said it believes slop bowl chains would be among the first to benefit from back-of-house automation, which would allow those firms to reduce labor costs and boost profit margins. Chipotle, Cava, and other restaurants within the slop bowl universe are likely headed for an inflection point next year, they said. Stock picks: The firm identified several slop bowl food chains and robotics companies that could benefit from the shift: Chipotle Cava Sweetgreen Fanuc Corporation Circus SE Compass Group 3. Weight loss Peter Dazeley/Getty Images Thesis: As drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy become more popular, an investment opportunity is growing among users who are looking to keep the weight off after they stop taking a GLP-1 drug, Citrini said.