From Fashion to Concrete: J.P. Morgan Says Buy These 2 Stocks

From Fashion to Concrete: J.P. Morgan Says Buy These 2 Stocks

TipRanks

Sun, September 13, 2026 at 9:00 PM GMT+3 8 min read

Once again, earning season has left market watchers feeling upbeat. Across the S&P 500 index, revenues were up 16% year-over-year, and earnings growth came close to 52%. Profit margins are at or near record highs, and better yet, the gains are broad. Some 86% of reporting companies have beaten earnings expectations, a clear sign of a healthy bull market.

While AI, semiconductors, and cloud computing are still powering the bullish trend, the breadth of the market gains means that investors can find opportunities in a wide range of sectors. Covering the current situation from J.P. Morgan, global investment strategist Kriti Gupta wrote at the end of August, "For now, the fundamental story remains intact. Earnings continue to exceed expectations, margins remain near record highs and AI investment shows few signs of slowing. Should bond yields become less of a headwind and more conviction emerges in the long-term productivity benefits of AI, the stock market can catch up to reflect the strong earnings growth expected going forward."

The stock analysts at JPM are following up on this by recommending stocks from sectors that might not always get a second look. 'From fashion to concrete' – these are not the usual investment opportunities these days, but JPM has picked out two stocks that they think investors should buy. We've opened up the TipRanks database to get a closer look at JPM's picks; here they are, along with the analyst commentaries.

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Reformation, Inc. (REF)

Up first on our list is the fashion stock, Reformation. This company bills itself as the world's largest brand for sustainable womenswear, and takes pride in making timeless and beautiful garments and styles while keeping a carbon-neutral footprint. Reformation uses eco-friendly materials in its products and even repurposes vintage clothing. Among the products offered are dresses, skirts, pants, tops, shoes, denim, swimwear, and even a dedicated collection of bridal and wedding styles.

The California-based company operates globally through several channels. These include its website, along with a range of direct-to-consumer channels and a network of retail stores in North America, the UK, and France. Overall, the company has more than 70 brick-and-mortar locations.

Reformation has been in business since 2009, and went public earlier this year. The company held its IPO in July, and REF shares started trading on July 30. In the IPO, Reformation put a total of 14,062,500 shares on the market. This total included 9,478,821 offered directly by the company, and 4,583,679 shares put up by a group of existing shareholders. The company set an initial price of $15 per share, at the low end of the expected range, and raised $210.9 million in gross proceeds in the IPO. Since the IPO, REF shares have slipped by 13%. The company has a current market cap valuation of $776 million.

Reformation just released its first set of public financial results, covering fiscal 2Q26, which ended on June 27, 2026.

Revenue came in at $155.2 million, up 24.1% year-over-year, beating expectations by $0.77 million. EPS of $0.23 also topped estimates, beating the consensus estimate by $0.03.

For the full 2026 fiscal year, Reformation expects net revenue of $602 million to $606 million, slightly ahead of the Street's $601.33 million forecast.

This newly public fashion stock has picked up coverage from JPM's Matthew Boss, who lays out a series of reasons to buy in. Boss writes, "We see REF in 'early innings' growth underpinned by mid-to-high-teens revenue growth (vs. FY15-25 +34% and TTM +19%) and +40% adj. EBITDA growth through FY28, with management focused on durable growth (through a quality > quantity financial lens). Specifically, Reformation operates with 90% DTC revenue mix and as fast as 30-day product lead-times from concept to market, launching new products roughly twice per week online and once per week in stores, which drives high engagement from existing customers (70% of annual revenue mix) and a 'scarcity' inventory model supporting durable and visible multi-year revenue growth & >60% gross margins with full-price sell-throughs ~80% in each of the last five years."

What this comes down to in the end, for Boss, is an Overweight (Buy) rating, along with a $21 price target that points to a one-year gain of 60%. (To watch Boss's track record, click here.)

Reformation's stock is currently selling for $13.15, and its $19.25 average target price implies an upside of 46%. The stock's Strong Buy consensus rating is based on 9 recent analyst reviews, with an 8 to 1 split that favors Buy over Hold. (See REF stock forecast.)

Martin Marietta Materials (MLM)

Now we'll look at concrete – or rather, at Martin Marietta Materials, one of the construction industry's major materials suppliers. This company bears the names of some of America's legendary industrial giants, and traces its roots to the aviation field in the 1930s. Martin Marietta was once part of the famous Lockheed Martin company, and spun off in 1996, taking on the conglomerate's aggregates and materials business as an independent entity. Today, Martin Marietta Materials is one of the largest companies in the American aggregates materials sector.

The company has more than 550 locations across North America, mostly in the US but also in Nova Scotia and British Columbia. The company's largest footprints are in the Southeast, the Texas-Louisiana-Oklahoma region, and the upper Mississippi. The facility network produces aggregates materials, ready-mix cement, and asphalt, as well as CTM and magnesia. All of these materials are vital, high-demand products in the construction field, and form the core of Martin Marietta's materials business.

In addition to production, the company also has a network of storage facilities, and owns transport assets to move product from storage to customers. Martin Marietta is based in North Carolina, in the expanding business hub of Raleigh. The company has over 9,000 employees, and boasts a market cap of more than $35 billion.

At the end of August, Martin Marietta announced that it had completed its $13.5 billion acquisition of Lhoist North America (LNA). Lhoist is a major producer of high calcium lime, dolomitic lime and industrial mineral products, which are used in such industries as infrastructure, steel manufacturing, and heavy nonresidential construction. The transaction was conducted with $7 billion in cash and $6.5 billion in stock.

Before that, at the end of July, the company released its 2Q26 results. The revenue total came to over $1.9 billion for the quarter, up 21% and a new company record. Quarterly revenue was $23.3 million better than had been anticipated. Martin Marietta's bottom line, reported as an 'adjusted earnings per diluted share from continuing operations' of $5, was up from $4.84 in the prior-year period and beat the forecast by 24 cents per share.

Laying out the JPM view here, analyst Adrian Huerta notes the acquisition, and notes the high potential of Martin Marietta's business. Huerta says, "Given the company's recent acquisition of LNA, we see solid positive catalysts ahead as the company executes on expected cost synergies ($85 mn by year two), which we think have upside, drives commercial synergies that we estimate could add $100-175 mn in EBITDA, reduces post-transaction leverage, and investors gain a deeper understanding of the lime industry. Notably, investors are still new to the lime industry, which will now be ~23- 25% of MLM's business, and we believe that this business could warrant a higher multiple than the core aggs business over time given its greater barriers to entry, diversified endmarkets, less cyclical demand, favorable geographic positioning, higher margins, and stronger FCF conversion."

All of that is good, and the analyst goes on to explain just why investors should steer toward MLM, following from the above: "While residential demand remains weak, we see upside demand opportunity from data center, energy-related, and manufacturing projects within non-res, and continued strength from infra spending over the near- and long-term. Meanwhile, the stock has underperformed its closest peer, VMC, and looks reasonably attractive from a valuation standpoint…"

In Huerta's view, this all adds up to an Overweight (Buy) rating, along with a $680 price target that suggests a 35% gain for the next year. (To watch Huerta's track record, click here.)

The 16 recent analyst reviews of this aggregates/materials company include 12 Buys and 4 Holds, supporting the Strong Buy consensus rating. Shares are trading for $502.47 and their $659.43 average target price points to a 31% upside over the next 12 months. (See MLM stock forecast.)

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the featured analysts. The content is intended to be used for informational purposes only. It is very important to do your own analysis before making any investment.

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