Jefferies says the AI fear trade has pushed a handful of solid stock picks into the “discount bin.”
Stocks in a range of industries have been hit by worries about tech-fueled disruptions to businesses and the economy. Jefferies, like many top Wall Street firms, says that while AI will disrupt some parts of the economy, investors’ worries have fueled indiscriminate selling, taking down some shares that are still a good buy.
“While it remains early days in terms of AI development & deployments, and there will certainly be [longterm] casualties, we believe some stocks have been unjustly accused in the court of investor opinion,” the analysts wrote.
Here are some beaten-down stocks the firm says are a buy.
Sallie Mae
Ticker: SLM
Year-to-date move: -30%
Jefferies’ bullish outlook for the consumer finance name revolves around the impact of AI on the labor market. The evolving tech threatens entry-level roles, a major risk for recent college graduates looking to secure a job post-graduation, reshaping education priorities and the student loan market.
“This affects SLM directly in terms of credit performance if recent grads fail to land a job and are unable to pay back their student loans, and originations volume down the line, if the value of investing in a college degree diminishes and potentially fewer people enroll in undergraduate or graduate programs,” the analysts wrote.
They added, though, that they see upside potential “as structural shifts and specializations occur in education program offering. We also see potential for a higher revaluation as fee income grows as a percentage of total revenues.”
Lincoln National
Ticker: LNC
Year-to-date move: -26%
Lincoln National, an insurance company, has sold off on investor fears about AI disruption. Jefferies said AI worries are overblown. Insurance, along with wealth management and real estate stocks, were among the shares taken down last month by a series of updates to Anthropic’s Claude AI.
The Jefferies analysts expect AI will augment the role of financial advisors, not replace them, ultimately cutting costs and boosting earnings. Jefferies also dismissed private credit concerns since Lincoln National has ample excess cash and its ties to Bain Capital are in the early stages.
Equitable
Ticker: EQH
Year-to-date move: -21%
Equitable, another insurance name, has also seen a sharp decline on AI and private credit worries. In Jefferies’ view, Equitable is less exposed to the direct and middle market lending to industries that will be impacted by AI.
The analysts also highlighted Equitable’s strong retirement investment portfolio and exposure to AI-related efficiency gains on the financial industry.
Microsoft
Ticker: MSFT
Year-to-date move: -16%
Microsoft stock has been hit hard by the software apocalypse. Jefferies analysts said it’s been oversold. “We see MSFT as uniquely positioned to consolidate enterprise AI spend given its end-to-end platform across Azure, M365, and Copilot, underpinned by unmatched enterprise distribution and balance sheet strength,” they wrote.
The analysts explained that Microsoft’s strong backlog supports strong AI demand. They highlighted the tech giant’s dominance in enterprise software and the benefits of AI integration with Anthropic and OpenAI into its products as positive signals for a path to AI monetization.
Capital One
Ticker: COF
Year-to-date move: -23%
Jefferies named Capital One as a top stock pick, calling it “the most “pure” AI‑driven retail bank,” adding that the company’s Discover merger supports their view. They said that Capital One has done a good job positioning itself as a tech company that does banking.
“On the AI disruption front, COF has always been widely regarded as one of the most AI‑mature financial institutions in the US, using proprietary AI and [machine learning’] at scale across customer-facing products, risk management and internal operations. “
Meta
Ticker: META
Year-to-date move: -3%
Meta is “a clear AI beneficiary,” Jefferies said, explaining that “large‑scale AI investments already driving measurable gains across engagement and monetization and setting up a reacceleration in growth in 2026.”
“META has all the critical AI ingredients at scale—users/data, compute, and talent—and is reportedly set to release new frontier model(s) in 1H26 that could help reset the narrative,” the analysts wrote, underlining that if the company addresses margins pressures, spending, or AI execution could fuel upside.
Service Now
Ticker: NOW
Year-to-date move: -20%
The software stock has been beaten down by worries that AI agents will replace human workers, reducing demand for ServiceNow’s seat-based products.
Jefferies said the sell-off is overdone, flagging the company’s position as a trusted enterprise platform, its integrated AI suite, and its ability to roll out new AI use cases.
