Hello – Today, we’re inviting you to take a free look at MarketBeat’s proprietary, up-to-the-minute list of 20 stocks that Wall Street’s top-rated analysts hate. These aren’t mild downgrades or lukewarm opinions.
These are true Strong Sell stocks. Some of them may look fine on the surface. A few even have what appear to be solid fundamentals. But when analysts issue a rare Sell rating, it’s usually because something beneath the surface is deeply wrong. Sell-side analysts may not nail every Buy call… but when they raise red flags, they’re almost always worth listening to. If any of these stocks are lurking around in your portfolio, you may seriously want to consider dumping them.
Click here to see the list now. Stay one step ahead, Matthew Paulson
Founder & CEO, MarketBeat
P.S. Access to 20 Stocks to Sell Now is completely free. Don’t miss your chance to review these timely, high-conviction warnings before the market reacts.
This Week's Bonus Content
Banks Are Buying Back Stock Hand Over Fist, Including These 3 NamesSubmitted by Leo Miller. Posted: 5/26/2026. 
Key Points
- Banking stocks have put up strong performance over the past year and a half, with a key ETF beating the S&P 500.
- Buybacks have been central to the strategy of many banks, and several top names just increased their capacity greatly.
- The Trump administration's policies have been a notable driver of increased buyback activity.
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While many investors have been focused heavily on the artificial intelligence trade lately, the banking industry has quietly performed well too. One commonly used proxy for the industry’s performance is the Invesco KBW Bank ETF (NASDAQ: KBWB). Over the last 12 months, the fund has delivered a total return of around 35%, outpacing the S&P 500’s approximately 27% gain over the same period. Notably, large-scale share buybacks have been a common theme among many bank stocks. After engaging in significant repurchase activity over the past several quarters, these three names are loading up again. All have sizable buyback capacity equal to more than 10% of their market capitalizations. That gives these firms additional room to reduce their outstanding share counts, which provides a tailwind to per-share metrics. Citigroup’s Buyback Capacity Hits 14% Amid Turnaround Success
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First up is one of the best-known banking institutions in the world, Citigroup (NYSE: C). The stock has posted an extremely strong run, delivering a total return of more than 70% over the last 12 months. That comes as Citi’s turnaround plan has been progressing well. In 2025, Citi saw record revenues across all five of its main business lines, and four out of five posted double-digit growth in Q1 2026. Overall, 2025 revenue reached a record $86.4 billion. Citi has also made judicious use of buybacks recently, spending $13 billion on repurchases in 2025—about four times what it spent in 2024. The company’s buyback pace continues to accelerate, with $6.3 billion of repurchases in Q1 2026, or nearly half of its 2025 spending in just one quarter. Now, the company has filled its buyback chest to the brim, authorizing a new $30 billion repurchase program. The firm noted, “This reflects both our earnings power and our confidence in the trajectory of our business." The size of this program is significant, equal to 14% of Citi’s market capitalization of roughly $210 billion. This gives the firm meaningful capacity to continue lowering its share count, which it has reduced by more than 15% over the past five years. KeyCorp Announces $3B Buyback Plan as Investment Banking Shows OutKeyCorp (NYSE: KEY) shares have also performed well, though to a lesser extent than Citi. Shares have delivered a total return of about 40% over the last year. Notably, KeyCorp's investment banking business had its second-best year ever in 2025 and ended the year saying that its pipelines were at historically elevated levels. In Q1 2026, the company reiterated that view, saying pipelines were up 5% from year-end and that merger-and-acquisition pipelines were at record levels. The company’s buyback spending has also come in higher than expected. KeyCorp spent $200 million on repurchases in Q4 2025, double what it had anticipated. In Q1 2026, KeyCorp spent nearly $400 million, well above the $300 million it had set out to repurchase. The company currently expects to spend $1.3 billion on buybacks in 2026—but specifically notes that this is a floor estimate. Pursuant to this, the company just added $3 billion in buyback capacity. This buyback program is also substantial, equal to just under 13% of KeyCorp’s market capitalization of about $23.5 billion. Notably, KeyCorp also returns a meaningful amount of capital through its dividend program. Overall, the company’s indicated dividend yield sits near 3.8%. M&T Makes Strong Progress on Improving Loan Quality, Spends Big on BuybacksLast up is M&T Bank (NYSE: MTB), which has delivered decent but not eye-catching performance over the last 12 months, up about 20%. More meaningful gains have been made over the past six months, as M&T has made strong progress in reducing its criticized loan balance. These are loans where the risk has increased relative to original expectations, putting the lender in an unfavorable position. Notably, M&T reduced its criticized commercial loans by 27% in 2025. Progress continued in Q1 2026, with its criticized loan balance falling by $700 million to $6.6 billion. Buybacks have also been a key part of M&T’s strategy, with the firm noting that it repurchased 9% of its outstanding shares in 2025. As part of its $5 billion buyback authorization, the company recorded $1.25 billion in repurchases during Q1 2026. That was equal to 3.5% of its outstanding shares versus the end of 2025. With this, the company now has around $3.75 billion in buyback capacity remaining. Despite already undertaking large repurchases, its buyback firepower remains substantial. Overall, M&T’s capacity is equal to around 12% of its approximately $31 billion market capitalization. Trump Policies Help Big-Bank Buybacks Hit Historic LevelsNotably, elevated buyback activity isn’t confined to these three names; it characterizes much of the banking industry. In Q1, the largest U.S. banks hit a quarterly record for buyback spending at $33 billion. Analysts note that the Trump administration’s deregulatory stance has been a boon for buybacks, as companies must tie up less of their capital. |
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