9 Top 100 Financial Stocks to Buy: What’s the Smartest Bet?

I’m currently reading a book about an American private equity firm buying a Chinese bank and turning it around at a time when China was still growing into its role as the world’s second-largest economy. It’s a fascinating read. It’s got me thinking about financial stocks.

The markets are generally overpriced right now, if not historically so. The financial services industry strikes me as an area where I might find some relative value.   

In Monday's trading, there were seven financial stocks in Barchart’s Top 100 Stocks to Buy. The average rank of the seven was 40, with Robinhood Markets (HOOD) in the top spot in third position. 

However, if you include Dave (DAVE) and Futu Holdings (FUTU), which my Barchart screen of finance-related stocks in the top 100 didn’t seem to want to include, the average increases to just under 45.

The betas of the nine stocks range from a high of 5.95 for Pagaya Technologies (PGY) to a low of 0.29 for X Financial (XYF). The average of the nine is 2.45, suggesting that most of these stocks are primarily for aggressive investors or those who like to dabble in options, where volatility is often your friend. 

Based on the nine finance stocks in the top 100, I see several that could be excellent long-term investments. Here are my top three preferences by heat: mild, medium, and hot. 

Mild - Deutsche Bank (DB)

Of the nine financial stocks from yesterday’s top 100, Deutsche Bank (DB) had the second-highest market cap at $71.3 billion -- HOOD was the top market cap at $95.9 billion -- but the highest annual net income at $4.70 billion. Yielding a reasonable 1.9%, which is higher than the S&P 500 average of 1.2% as of Aug. 25. 

It’s been a long time since I’ve considered the pros and cons of the German bank, which has had its fair share of ups and downs in recent years. 

I can see from the 12 analysts that cover DB stock that there isn’t a consensus about the bank’s near-term future. Of the 12, seven rate it a Buy (3.83 out of 5), with a 12-month target price of $29.77, well below its current share price of around $36.94.  

Back before the Great Financial Crisis in 2007, the bank’s stock traded above $120. It’s taken 66 months to get to where it trades today from a 20-year low of $4.99 on March 1, 2020. Up more than double in 2025, DB is clearly having a moment, which is why the Barchart Technical Opinion is currently a Strong Buy. 

The bank’s trailing 12-month revenue through June 30 was 30.07 billion euros ($35.04 billion), its highest level since 2015, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence, while its net income of 5.45 billion euros ($6.35 billion) was the highest over the past decade.

It’s having a moment, indeed. With the rest of the world looking to diversify trade away from the U.S., a foreign bank like Deutsche Bank could be just the ticket.      

Medium - Futu Holdings (FUTU)

Nearly three years ago, I wrote about Futu Holdings and two other free cash flow beauties. Keep in mind, my commentary was about selling puts based on the three stocks’ unusual options activity, but I was bullish about the Hong Kong-based digital broker. 

“On the top line, its revenues were $222.6 million, 10.8% higher than a year earlier, while it earned $87.7 million on the bottom line, 25.1% higher than in Q2 2021,” I wrote on Sept. 30, 2022.  

“I know that investors have become much more cautious about investing in Chinese companies but Futu appears to be ticking all the right boxes.”

At the time, I was talking about a $32 put strike generating an annualized return of 41%. Its shares were trading around $37. While the share price got close to $32, the put expired worthless on Nov. 4. Its shares have gained 391% in the three years since. 

In Q2 2025, its top-line revenue was $676.6 million, three times what they were in Q2 2022, and nearly 70% higher than in Q2 2024. On the bottom line, it earned $338.8 million on an adjusted basis, about four times higher than in the same quarter in 2022, and 105.2% higher than a year ago. 

More importantly, Futu finished Q2 2025 with 2.88 million funded accounts, up from 1.39 million in Q2 2022. If this number keeps moving higher, so too will the top and bottom lines. Just as vital, over half of its clients are from outside Hong Kong, providing strong evidence that its expansion has gained traction. 

It’s not surprising that out of the 11 analysts covering its stock, nine rate it a Buy (4.55 out of 5), with a target price of $232, above where it’s currently trading. 

As I said in 2022, if you’re not comfortable investing in Chinese stocks, Futu Holdings might not be for you. If you are, I continue to like its growth story.  

Hot -  SoFi Technologies (SOFI)

SoFi Technologies (SOFI) recently announced that it was getting into international money transfer services for its over 11.7 million members. Partnering with Lightspark, an infrastructure company that uses payment services powered by Bitcoin, it plans to start in Mexico later this year and roll out to other countries shortly thereafter. 

“For many SoFi members who regularly send money to loved ones internationally, the ability to quickly transfer money at low cost isn’t just a convenience, it’s a meaningful improvement to their everyday financial lives,” said Anthony Noto, SoFi CEO. “By embedding this directly into SoFi’s app, we’re unlocking the value of blockchain technology, to give members faster, smarter, and more inclusive access to their money.”

The key to SoFi’s success is its ability to create products that its members need and will use. As a greater percentage of its members use more than one of its products -- the average for current members is 1.4 products -- the multiple revenue streams generated make it easier for the fintech to scale its business for maximum profitability. 

For example, in its Q2 2025 results announced at the end of July, SoFi noted that it added 850,000 new members and 1.26 million new products in the quarter. It finished the quarter with 11.7 million members and 17.1 million products. Products are the number of accounts open per revenue stream. As of June 30, the company’s financial services segment had six product categories, accounting for 87% of its total products. SoFi Money (checking and savings accounts) and SoFi Invest account for over half the total products. 

As it adds international money transfers, that will only grow SoFi Money’s product totals, leading to additional revenue and profit. 

I’ve been a fan of SoFi for several years. I believe it will continue to take market share from traditional banks and other financial services platforms. Although analysts aren’t big supporters of the company and its stock -- 24 analysts cover SOFI with just seven rating it a Buy -- I think it has a better chance of continuing to trade over $25 as it did for a very short time when it went public in June 2021, primarily because its business is much stronger financially and operationally than it was four years ago. 

If I could only buy one of these three, SOFI is it.