Editor’s Note: Robert’s article today tracks the compounding power of his screening system — 32.7% average return versus 5.9% for the S&P 500 in just five months. For a look at where that discipline leads over decades, his Dividend Map shows 41 essential-service stocks now averaging 33% annual yield on his original investment, five of them above 100%. See how the math compounds →

In January, I wrote an article detailing the screening system that produced some of my biggest winners of 2025, along with a sneak peek at five top stock picks for 2026. That article was 5 AI Energy & Income Stocks to Buy for 2026, and it was subsequently reposted in March.

A couple of caveats are in order. Not all of the stocks selected were AI-themed. Further, these picks are intended to be held for 6 to 12 months, because short-term volatility can be unpredictable. Nevertheless, although it has only been about five months since the original publication, I was asked to provide an update and offer five fresh picks.

The five stocks selected in that January column were REV Group (NYSE: REVG), Bank OZK (NASDAQ: OZK), Himax Technologies (NASDAQ: HIMX), Sensata Technologies Holding (NYSE: ST), and T. Rowe Price Group (NASDAQ: TROW).

Because the original article was published before the market opened on January 27, I am using the January 26 closing prices as the starting point. That represents the last closing price before the stocks were publicly highlighted.

One complication is REV Group. REVG was still trading when the article was published, but it was subsequently acquired by Terex Corp. (NYSE: TEX). For the return calculation below, I used REVG performance until the merger but then adjusted to TEX performance after the merger.

Here is how the five picks performed from the close on January 26 through the close on June 25. Note that “Adj. Starting Value” is simply accounting for any dividends paid during the period:

Pick	Adj. Starting Value	Ending Value	Total Return
REVG/TEX	$67.06	$82.20	22.6%
OZK	$45.82	$51.81	13.1%
HIMX	$8.24	$15.09	83.1%
ST	$34.69	$49.18	41.8%
TROW	$103.29	$106.54	3.1%
Average of 5 picks			32.7%
S&P 500	6,950.23	7,357.49	5.9%

 

The average return of the five picks was 32.7%, more than five times the 5.9% gain for the S&P 500 over the same period. Put another way, the basket outperformed the index by nearly 27 percentage points in roughly five months.

I would not extrapolate that pace over a full year. A small basket of stocks can be heavily influenced by a few strong performers, and the holding period is still shorter than the 6-to-12-month window I prefer. But the early results were encouraging, and they provide a useful backdrop for the next set of names.

Below I review the strategy and then provide five new picks from this screen.

The Thinking Behind the Strategy

I learned the power of compounding back in ninth grade, when a math teacher took a detour through an algebra lesson on exponential growth. The idea that small, steady gains can snowball into life-changing returns stuck with me, and it has shaped every investment system I’ve built since.

Time, patience, and compounding are the true engines of wealth, and even modest improvements in annual returns can translate into hundreds of thousands of dollars over a lifetime.

Over decades I’ve refined strategies that squeeze out every bit of return possible without taking reckless risk. Dividend-paying stocks have always been at the center of that philosophy: they tend to outperform non-payers over the long haul, hold up better in bear markets, and deliver superior risk-adjusted returns. Reinvested dividends account for the majority of long-term market gains, and when you combine that with disciplined income strategies, the compounding effect becomes extraordinary.

Where Utility Forecaster Fits In

Many readers first discover my work through Utility Forecaster, which focuses on income-generating stocks like regulated utilities, midstream energy, and essential service companies. These businesses tend to share several defining characteristics:

• Lower volatility than the S&P 500 Index
• Stable, predictable cash flows
• Reliable dividends
• Long-term rate base growth tied to infrastructure spending

Click here to find out more about Utility Forecaster.

While Utility Forecaster is designed for investors who want steady income with less drama, strict sector and volatility limits mean that a number of attractive income opportunities — particularly higher-beta or cyclical names — fall outside its scope.

That’s where my other publications come in, like Rapier’s Income Accelerator which offers strategies proven to outperform traditional buy-and-hold in choppy markets and Income Forecaster which targets high-yields across all sectors with strict financial filters to reduce risk.

But even with these three distinct approaches, there’s still a universe of stocks that fall outside their parameters — names with lower yields, higher volatility, or exposure to sectors not covered by those mandates — yet they still offer compelling income and total return potential. That’s where the Platinum Income Alliance screen comes in.

What the Platinum Income Alliance Screen Does

Each month I run a screen designed to identify the strongest candidates based on criteria like valuation, momentum, cash flow, and forward earnings power. From that screen, only five names make the final cut.

The screen’s proof, as they say, is in the pudding.

In January 2025, I made five Platinum Income Alliance picks. Those picks and their returns over the rest of that year were:

• Amkor Technology (NSDQ: AMKR): +103%
• Commercial Metals Company (NYSE: CMC): +51%
• Gap (NYSE: GAP): +20%
• General Motors (NYSE: GM): +66%
• GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK): +54%

By comparison, the S&P 500 returned 16.4% in 2025, meaning these Platinum Alliance picks not only outpaced the market, they dramatically outperformed it.

Some of those names have corrected in 2026, but Amkor continues to rise. It is presently up 308% over the past 12 months.

Today I have shared a bit of my philosophy. Now, here are five current Platinum Income Alliance candidates that passed every hurdle on my most recent screen. They didn’t make the final five this month but are still compelling opportunities. And below I’ll reveal how you can get instant access to my final five Platinum Income Alliance picks.

For this update, I ran the screen again and looked for stocks that fit the same general framework: attractive business trends, reasonable valuation, optionability, positive sentiment, and some connection to AI, energy, or income.

Because several current Platinum Income Alliance holdings also passed the screen, I am excluding those here. I am also excluding the five names already highlighted in the January article. The purpose here is to give readers a few additional candidates from the latest screen while saving the final Platinum Income Alliance selections for subscribers.

Here are five stocks from the latest screen that are worth a closer look.

1. Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE: HPE) is one of the most direct AI infrastructure names on the list. The company sells servers, storage, networking, high-performance computing systems, and enterprise technology solutions. As AI spreads beyond the largest cloud providers, companies will need more data-center hardware, networking capacity, and hybrid-cloud infrastructure.

HPE has been benefiting from:

• Strong demand for AI servers and high-performance computing
• Rising enterprise investment in data-center modernization
• Improved visibility from backlog and customer orders
• A modest dividend that can be enhanced with covered calls

The stock has already had a powerful run, so this is not a low-expectations situation. But HPE gives investors exposure to the physical infrastructure behind AI, not just the software story. That makes it a natural candidate for this screen.

2. Microchip Technology

Microchip Technology (NSDQ: MCHP) is not a headline AI stock, but it plays an important role in the broader semiconductor ecosystem. The company makes microcontrollers, analog chips, mixed-signal products, and embedded semiconductors used in industrial equipment, automobiles, communications systems, data centers, and connected devices.

That gives MCHP exposure to several long-term themes:

• Industrial automation
• Automotive electronics
• Data-center infrastructure
• Edge computing and connected devices
• A long history of dividend payments

AI will not remain confined to cloud data centers. It will increasingly move into factories, vehicles, sensors, robotics, power systems, and industrial equipment. Those markets require embedded chips and power-management components, and Microchip is well positioned in those areas.

The stock is cyclical, and semiconductor downturns can be painful. But for investors looking for an AI-adjacent name with income potential, MCHP deserves consideration.

3. Globalfoundries

Globalfoundries (NSDQ: GFS) is a semiconductor foundry, giving investors exposure to the manufacturing side of the chip supply chain. The company does not compete at the bleeding edge of AI GPU manufacturing, but it produces specialty chips used in automotive, industrial, communications, mobile, and connected-device markets.

This makes GFS a different kind of AI infrastructure candidate. The AI buildout is not only about high-end processors. It is also about the chips that go into power systems, sensors, vehicles, industrial controls, communications equipment, and edge devices.

Recent positives include:

• Exposure to automotive, industrial, and data-center-related demand
• Strategic value as a major foundry outside China and Taiwan
• A newly announced dividend and broader capital-return framework
• Potential benefits from semiconductor supply-chain reshoring

The stock has already moved sharply, and foundry businesses are capital intensive. But GFS offers exposure to a part of the semiconductor supply chain that may become more strategically important as AI, electrification, and industrial automation expand.

4. Gen Digital

Gen Digital (NSDQ: GEN) is a cybersecurity and digital safety company whose brands include Norton, Avast, LifeLock, Avira, AVG, and MoneyLion.

This is not a hardware AI stock, but it does fit the broader AI theme. As artificial intelligence makes scams, phishing attempts, impersonation, and identity theft more sophisticated, demand for consumer cybersecurity and identity-protection tools should continue to grow.

Gen has been benefiting from:

• Rising demand for cybersecurity and identity protection
• A large base of consumer security brands
• Strong free cash flow generation
• A dividend yield above 2%
• Potential for covered-call income enhancement

Gen recently reported fiscal 2026 revenue of $5.0 billion, up 27%, along with more than $1.5 billion in free cash flow. That gives the company a strong financial base while it expands beyond traditional antivirus software into broader digital safety, identity protection, and financial wellness.

For investors looking for an AI-adjacent stock with income potential, GEN offers a more balanced setup than some of the high-flying semiconductor names.

5. Cactus

Cactus (NYSE: WHD) gives the list a direct energy component. The company designs, manufactures, sells, and rents highly engineered wellhead and pressure-control equipment used in oil and gas drilling, completion, and production.

This is a different type of opportunity from the semiconductor names above. WHD is tied to energy production activity, particularly in U.S. unconventional oil and gas. That gives it exposure to continued demand for reliable energy, LNG exports, and the broader need for investment in oil and gas infrastructure.

Positive attributes include:

• Exposure to U.S. oil and gas production activity
• A specialized niche in wellhead and pressure-control equipment
• Solid cash generation
• A modest dividend

Energy services stocks can be volatile, and WHD will be sensitive to drilling and completion activity. But the company provides a useful complement to the AI-heavy names on this list. If AI increases long-term electricity demand, and if natural gas remains a major source of reliable power, the energy supply chain should continue to attract investor attention.

The Big Picture

These five names are not all pure AI stocks, and they are not all traditional income stocks. That is intentional.

HPE provides direct exposure to AI servers and enterprise infrastructure. MCHP and GFS offer broader semiconductor exposure tied to industrial, automotive, data-center, and connected-device demand. GEN adds an AI-adjacent cybersecurity and identity-protection angle, where more sophisticated digital threats should support long-term demand. WHD adds a direct energy-services angle at a time when reliable energy supply remains central to the AI buildout.

As with the January picks, these candidates are best viewed with a 6-to-12-month horizon rather than as short-term trades. Screens can identify attractive candidates, but they cannot eliminate volatility. The next step is deeper research, valuation discipline, and a plan for managing risk.

Below, I’ll reveal how readers can get instant access to the final five Platinum Income Alliance picks from this month’s screen.

A Final Note

If you like the stocks above, they’re just a sample of what the Platinum Income Alliance screen uncovers each month.

The Platinum Income Alliance picks are updated monthly — and thus far picks have consistently outperformed the S&P 500.

Get instant access to the full list with a Platinum Income Alliance membership.

The screening system I described today — valuation, momentum, cash flow, forward earnings power — is one lens. The other is time. The longest-held positions in my Utility Forecaster portfolio are the ones that have compounded beyond anything a screen alone can predict. I’ve been applying this discipline for 36 years, and the result is a portfolio of 41 stocks that now averages 33% on my original investment — five of them paying over 100% annually on cost. The strategy isn’t complicated. It just takes the right starting point and the patience to hold. See my Dividend Map and the 41 stocks behind those numbers →