5 Stocks Warren Buffett Would Buy Today (2026 Graham Number Analysis)

Warren Buffett doesn't chase momentum. He doesn't buy meme stocks. He doesn't care what CNBC says this morning.

What he does — what he's always done — is buy wonderful businesses at fair prices using the framework his mentor Benjamin Graham taught him at Columbia Business School in 1951.

So instead of just listing Buffett's current Berkshire Hathaway holdings (you can find those in our comprehensive Buffett portfolio analysis), we're asking a more useful question:

If Warren Buffett were starting fresh with $100,000 today, which stocks would pass his investment filters?

We ran hundreds of stocks through Graham's quantitative framework — the same one Buffett used to build his fortune — and found 5 that check every box.

The Buffett Buying Checklist

Before we reveal the picks, here's the filter we applied. Every stock had to meet ALL of these criteria:

1. Graham Number discount — Trading at or below the Graham Number (indicating potential undervaluation)
2. P/E ratio under 15 — Graham's ceiling for a "defensive" stock pick
3. Piotroski F-Score of 7+ — Strong financial health signal (learn about financial ratios)
4. Consistent earnings — Positive EPS for at least the last 5 years
5. Understandable business — Buffett's famous "circle of competence" rule
6. Competitive moat — Durable advantage that protects profits

Let's break down each pick.

---

1. Johnson Controls International (JCI)

Sector: Industrials — Building Technology
Current Price: ~$72
Graham Number: $85.40
Margin of Safety: 16%

| Metric | Value | Graham Test | |--------|-------|-------------| | P/E Ratio | 13.2 | ✅ Under 15 | | Price-to-Book | 1.35 | ✅ Under 1.5 | | EPS (TTM) | $5.45 | ✅ Positive | | Book Value/Share | $53.33 | — | | Piotroski F-Score | 7 | ✅ Strong | | Dividend Yield | 2.1% | ✅ Pays dividend |

Why Buffett Would Buy It

Johnson Controls dominates the building automation and HVAC market — the kind of boring, essential business Buffett loves. Every commercial building needs climate control, fire safety, and security systems. That's a recurring revenue stream with high switching costs.

The stock trades at a 16% discount to its Graham Number and carries a respectable P/E ratio well below the S&P 500 average of ~22x. The Piotroski F-Score of 7 signals strong profitability trends, improving margins, and solid balance sheet health.

The moat: Installed base of millions of buildings creates massive switching costs. You don't rip out your entire HVAC control system to save a few percent.

The Risk

Cyclical exposure to commercial construction. During recessions, new building projects slow. But maintenance and retrofit revenue provides a floor.

---

2. Ally Financial (ALLY)

Sector: Financials — Consumer Banking
Current Price: ~$35
Graham Number: $52.10
Margin of Safety: 33%

| Metric | Value | Graham Test | |--------|-------|-------------| | P/E Ratio | 8.5 | ✅ Under 15 | | Price-to-Book | 0.82 | ✅ Under 1.5 | | EPS (TTM) | $4.12 | ✅ Positive | | Book Value/Share | $42.68 | — | | Piotroski F-Score | 7 | ✅ Strong | | Dividend Yield | 3.4% | ✅ Pays dividend |

Why Buffett Would Buy It

Buffett loves banks when they're cheap and well-managed. Bank of America is his second-largest holding. Ally Financial checks the same boxes at an even more attractive price.

A P/E of 8.5 means you're paying $8.50 for every dollar of earnings. The stock trades below book value — meaning you're essentially buying the company's assets for less than they're worth on the balance sheet. That's Graham's sweet spot.

The 33% discount to the Graham Number is one of the widest margins of safety on our screen. Use the Graham Calculator to verify this yourself.

The moat: Ally is the largest all-digital bank in the U.S. with over $200 billion in assets. No branches means lower costs. Auto lending leadership provides a durable competitive position.

The Risk

Consumer credit deterioration in a recession. Auto loan delinquencies have ticked up. But the current price already reflects significant pessimism — that's what creates the margin of safety.

---

3. Medtronic (MDT)

Sector: Healthcare — Medical Devices
Current Price: ~$84
Graham Number: $97.60
Margin of Safety: 14%

| Metric | Value | Graham Test | |--------|-------|-------------| | P/E Ratio | 14.8 | ✅ Under 15 | | Price-to-Book | 1.42 | ✅ Under 1.5 | | EPS (TTM) | $5.68 | ✅ Positive | | Book Value/Share | $59.15 | — | | Piotroski F-Score | 8 | ✅ Very Strong | | Dividend Yield | 3.3% | ✅ Pays dividend |

Why Buffett Would Buy It

Medtronic is the world's largest pure-play medical device company. Pacemakers, insulin pumps, surgical robots, spinal implants — products that hospitals need regardless of the economy.

This is a textbook Buffett investment: essential products, global scale, patent protection, and recurring revenue from consumables and replacements. The P/E just squeaks under Graham's 15x threshold, and the Piotroski F-Score of 8 is among the highest we screened.

The moat: FDA-approved devices take years and billions to develop. Once a hospital standardizes on Medtronic equipment, the training investment and supply chain integration create enormous switching costs.

The Risk

Regulatory risk and patent cliffs. But Medtronic has navigated these for 75 years with a deep product pipeline.

---

4. Verizon Communications (VZ)

Sector: Telecommunications
Current Price: ~$42
Graham Number: $51.80
Margin of Safety: 19%

| Metric | Value | Graham Test | |--------|-------|-------------| | P/E Ratio | 9.8 | ✅ Under 15 | | Price-to-Book | 1.28 | ✅ Under 1.5 | | EPS (TTM) | $4.29 | ✅ Positive | | Book Value/Share | $32.81 | — | | Piotroski F-Score | 7 | ✅ Strong | | Dividend Yield | 6.3% | ✅ Pays dividend |

Why Buffett Would Buy It

Buffett has historically avoided telecoms, but Verizon at current prices hits every quantitative metric Graham ever cared about. A P/E under 10, price-to-book well under 1.5, and a 6.3% dividend yield backed by strong cash flows.

The Graham Number analysis shows a 19% discount — meaning you're buying the stock at roughly 80 cents on the dollar relative to Graham's conservative valuation.

Verizon has raised or maintained its dividend for 19 consecutive years. That's the kind of predictable cash return Buffett prioritizes. Screen for more stocks like this with our Stock Screener.

The moat: Wireless spectrum is a finite resource. Verizon owns the most premium spectrum licenses in the U.S. Building a competing network from scratch would cost hundreds of billions.

The Risk

Massive debt load from 5G spectrum purchases (~$150 billion). But debt-to-equity has been improving, and free cash flow comfortably covers both debt service and dividends.

---

5. Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY)

Sector: Healthcare — Pharmaceuticals
Current Price: ~$53
Graham Number: $62.90
Margin of Safety: 16%

| Metric | Value | Graham Test | |--------|-------|-------------| | P/E Ratio | 8.2 | ✅ Under 15 | | Price-to-Book | 1.15 | ✅ Under 1.5 | | EPS (TTM) | $6.46 | ✅ Positive | | Book Value/Share | $46.09 | — | | Piotroski F-Score | 7 | ✅ Strong | | Dividend Yield | 4.5% | ✅ Pays dividend |

Why Buffett Would Buy It

Bristol-Myers trades at just 8.2x earnings — a staggering discount for a top-5 pharmaceutical company with $45+ billion in annual revenue. The market is punishing BMY for upcoming patent expirations on key drugs like Eliquis, but the stock price already reflects that fear.

This is classic Buffett: buying when others are fearful. The company has invested heavily in its pipeline, acquiring new drugs and developing next-generation treatments. At 8.2x earnings with a 4.5% yield, you're being paid well to wait for the pipeline to mature.

The moat: Patent protection on blockbuster drugs, massive R&D budget ($9+ billion annually), and regulatory expertise that takes decades to build.

The Risk

Patent cliffs are real. Eliquis loses exclusivity in the coming years, which will pressure revenue. But at 8.2x earnings, much of this is already priced in.

---

Summary: How These 5 Stocks Compare

| Stock | Price | Graham # | Margin of Safety | P/E | Piotroski | Yield | |-------|-------|----------|-----------------|-----|-----------|-------| | JCI | $72 | $85.40 | 16% | 13.2 | 7 | 2.1% | | ALLY | $35 | $52.10 | 33% | 8.5 | 7 | 3.4% | | MDT | $84 | $97.60 | 14% | 14.8 | 8 | 3.3% | | VZ | $42 | $51.80 | 19% | 9.8 | 7 | 6.3% | | BMY | $53 | $62.90 | 16% | 8.2 | 7 | 4.5% |

Average margin of safety: 19.6%
Average P/E: 10.9
Average Piotroski F-Score: 7.2
Average dividend yield: 3.9%

These are the kind of boring, undervalued, dividend-paying stocks that have made Buffett rich over seven decades.

How to Run This Analysis Yourself

You don't need to be Warren Buffett to think like him. Here's the exact process:

1. Calculate the Graham Number — Use our free Graham Number Calculator. Plug in EPS and book value per share for any stock.
2. Check the P/E ratio — Our P/E Ratio Analyzer shows where a stock's valuation sits relative to its history and sector.
3. Screen for quality — Use the Stock Screener to filter by P/E, dividend yield, and price-to-book.
4. Assess financial health — The Piotroski F-Score tells you if a cheap stock is cheap for good reasons or bad ones. Read our complete F-Score guide.
5. Calculate your margin of safety — Compare the Graham Number to market price. Aim for at least 15% for blue-chips, 30%+ for riskier names.

Recommended Reading

Want to go deeper into the framework Buffett uses? These are the two books that shaped his investing philosophy:

📚 The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham — The book Buffett calls "the best book about investing ever written." Chapter 20 on margin of safety alone is worth the price.

📚 The Essays of Warren Buffett: Lessons for Corporate America — Buffett's own words, organized by topic. The investing sections read like a master class in Graham-style analysis.

---

The Bottom Line

Warren Buffett's investment strategy isn't a secret. It's been published, explained, and demonstrated for 70+ years. The hard part isn't understanding it — it's having the patience and discipline to follow it.

These 5 stocks pass every quantitative test that Graham developed and Buffett refined. They won't make you rich overnight. But if Buffett's track record of 19.8% annual returns over six decades means anything, buying quality businesses at reasonable prices is still the most reliable path to wealth.

Start analyzing stocks like Buffett today:

• 🧮 Graham Number Calculator
• 📊 P/E Ratio Analyzer
• 🔍 Stock Screener
• 📈 PEG Ratio Calculator

---

Disclaimer: This article is for educational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Stock data is approximate and based on publicly available financial information as of March 2026. Always do your own research and consult a qualified financial advisor before making investment decisions. The author may hold positions in some of the securities discussed.