Best Stock Picking Services & Websites in 2023

Looking to streamline the investment process through a stock picking service? In this comparison guide, we explore the 8 best stock picking services for 2023.

We rank platforms based on their win rate and performance, user-friendliness, types of stocks supported, subscription fees, and much more.

Full Analysis of the 8 Best Stock Picking Services

Read on to find out more about the best stock picking services for 2023. We review each picking service listed above, exploring their key features, investment returns, and pricing.

1. AltIndex – Best Stock Picking Service for AI-Driven Insights 

In our view, AltIndex is the best stock picking service to consider today. We like that AltIndex specializes in alternative data, which is a trending niche in the investment space. More specifically, it collects data from social media platforms like Reddit, Twitter, and Facebook.

It then analyzes the data in real-time to find which stocks could be about to enter a bullish cycle. This process is known as ‘social sentiment analysis’ and it can yield impressive outcomes. This is because social sentiment explores how society views specific companies and stocks.

In turn, this provides early insights for investors. For instance, suppose Disney stock is receiving a lot of negativity on social media. AltIndex users will have a first-mover advantage on this negative sentiment, allowing them to short-sell the stock in anticipation of falling prices.

AltIndex uses a vast range of data points to assess broader sentiment. At its core, this includes social media comments, ‘likes’, mentions, and shares. Naturally, if a company is receiving a lot more shares and followers than its competitors, this is a bullish signal.

We also like that AltIndex uses other alternative data sources when ranking stocks. Outside of social media, this includes Google searches and news mentions. It also extracts real-time data from job posting websites. An increase or decrease in vacancies can mean the company is doing well, or not so well.

Crucially, each and every data point is structured and analyzed by artificial intelligence. This enables AltIndex to ‘score’ stocks based on AI stock predictions. The stock picking software ranks each company from 0-100. The higher the rating, the more positive society views the stock. This makes it simple for investors to find trending stocks – no prior experience is needed.

AltIndex will also appeal to investors that do not want to manually research stocks. This is because its AI stock picking service automates the process. Put simply, AltIndex sends an email alert when it generates a new stock recommendation.

This includes both buy and sell suggestions, with the view of holding the position for 3-9 months. Currently, AltIndex only shows its AI stock picking returns for January 2023. It distributed 34 stock picks during the month, yielding a return of 22.6%.

First-time users will automatically be put on the free plan. This only allows 20-page visits and two stock alerts. Most users upgrade to the starter plan, which costs $29 per month. The pro plan -costing $99 per month, will appeal to active stock traders who seek additional functionality.

2. Zacks Ultimate – Popular Stock Picking Service for Professional Traders With Large Budgets 

We found that Zacks Ultimate is one of the best stock picking services for professional traders. Although Zacks Ultimate costs $299 per month (or $2,995 when purchased annually) – the results speak for themselves. The service claims that a $10,000 investment into Zacks Ultimate in 1988 would now be worth $22.5 million.

Zacks Ultimate states that the same investment in the S&P 500 would be worth $385,000. We like that Zacks Ultimate offers stock picks across multiple portfolios and markets. This includes a portfolio dedicated to growth stocks, as well as dividend-paying companies and ETFs.

It also offers stock picks from high-growth and emerging industries. Some of its best picks this year include 244% gains on ZIM Integrated Shipping Services and 109% growth on EnLink Midstream. The service also netted a 116% profit from Danaos and 121% on US Foods.

While Zacks Ultimate justifies its subscription price, its stock picking service will only appeal to investors with large bankrolls. This is because small investments will greatly reduce the return on the subscription. For instance, even with an annual investment of $30,000, the $2,995 fee amounts to almost 10%.

3. Seeking Alpha – Stock Picking Service has Outperformed the S&P 500 by 180% Since 2010

Seeking Alpha is one of the best stock picking services for investors looking to outperform the S&P 500. Since 2010, Seeking Alpha notes the S&P 500 has grown by 290% since 2010. In comparison, Seeking Alpha stock picks have generated returns of 470% over the same period.

This means that Seeking Alpha has outperformed the broader market by 180%. We like that Seeking Alpha’s stock picking service is aimed at ‘buy-and-hold’ investors. It sends just two stock selections every month and picks are based on its quant-focused model.

While the best small-cap stocks are considered, selections must have a minimum market capitalization of $500 million. Moreover, Seeking Alpha only sends stock picks priced at $10 or more. In addition, when a stock pick turns to a ‘Sell’ or ‘Strong Sell’, Seeking Alpha only offloads the original investment.

If the stock receives a second sell recommendation, and the projected upside isn’t at least 2x from current prices, it will sell the entire position. Although Seeking Alpha is one of the best-performing stock picking services, it offers very competitive pricing.

New customers will pay just $99 per year. From the second year onwards, the price increases to $199 – which is about $16.50 per month.

4. Danelfin – Automated AI Stock Picks for Data-Driven Investors 

Danelfin has capitalized on the growth of artificial intelligence to offer one of the best AI stock picking services. The underlying algorithm has a unique methodology for each supported market. For US-listed stocks, Danelfin looks to outperform the S&P 500.

For European-listed stocks, the benchmark is the STOXX 600. Danelfin uses data-driven insights to score stocks, ranked from 1 (strong sell) to 10 (strong buy). Each data point focused on three core research methods – fundamental, technical, and sentiment analysis.

Danelfin extracts data from the previous 252 and 500 trading days for US and European stocks, respectively. It then calculates the probability that the stock will outperform its respective benchmark over the next three months.

Although Danelfin uses advanced technology to reach its AI-driven insights, stock picks are neatly laid out. Users can view stocks based on their AI score, filtered by the exchange or industry. Danelfin also offers ETF picks from leading markets. When purchasing an annual plan, prices range from $17 to $49 per month.

5. MorningStar – Streamlined Research Insights With a Solid Scoring System 

MorningStar is one of the best stock picker services for research-driven investors. It offers a wide range of insights that are hand-crafted by industry experts. This includes recommendations for many markets and industries, including the most undervalued stocks and high-income dividends.

Each stock pick comes with a rating of between 1-5. A 5/5 rating translates to a strong buy. Stock picks come with a full analysis, with projected growth rates and industry comparisons. In addition to stocks, MorningStar also covers bonds and index funds, covering both US and international markets.

What’s more, MorningStar has a clear and transparent methodology for each portfolio type. For instance, when viewing undervalued stocks, MorningStar explains how it values companies. This includes metrics on sales predictability and exposure to contingent events.

In terms of pricing, MorningStar offers a free stock picking service. However, this blurs out the majority of picks from each portfolio. To remove limitations, users will need the MorningStar Investor plan. This costs $34.95 per month or $249 annually. MorningStar also offers a 7-day free trial.

6. The Street Real Money – Daily Stock Picks and Market Commentary for $299 per Year

The Street Real Money is one of the best stock picking services for full-time day traders. Throughout the day, it offers live commentary from Wall Street experts. This gives users a 360-degree overview of which stocks are trending, and which are moving in the wrong direction.

In turn, this provides unparalleled, real-time insights into the markets. The Street Real Money also offers daily stock picks – produced by its team of in-house analysts. That said, the service does not provide any target monthly projections or historical performance.

That said, the Street Real Money does come with a 14-day free trial. This should be enough time to evaluate the performance of the service. Those wishing to sign up for a premium plan will pay $34.99 per month. This is reduced to $20.83 when purchasing an annual plan. A two-year plan reduces prices to $14.58 per month.

7. FinBox – Real-Time Insights on Where Leading Fund Managers are Investing

FinBox is one of the best stock picking services to follow the smart money. The platform displays real-time information on what stocks fund managers are buying and selling. Crucially, FinBox displays Wall Street portfolios from the most successful investors.

For example, one of the most followed portfolios is David Einhorn – fund manager of Greenlight Capital. Einhorn has generated average annualized returns of 16.5% since 1996 – outperforming the market consistently.

As per FinBox data, some of Einhorn’s biggest holdings include CONSOL Energy, Brighthouse Financial, and Kyndryl Holdings. FinBox updates its portfolios in real-time when SEC filings are made. Users can receive alerts on their preferred fund managers.

Prices range from $6 to $33 per month. The chosen plan dictates which fund managers and global market users can access.

8. Candlestick.ai – AI Stock Picking App Charging Just $9.99 per Month

Candlestick.ai is another top-rated stock picking service that specializes in artificial intelligence. It comes as a mobile app for iOS and Android – which is free to download. However, the stock picking service must be purchased, with subscriptions costing just $9.99 per month.

This yields three stock picks every week, so Candlestick.ai will appeal to active traders. We like that Candlestick.ai enables investors to set their own preferences on which stock alerts to receive. This is based on the financial goals and risk tolerance of the user.

What’s more, Candlestick.ai offers full transparency on each stock pick it sends. This is because it offers insights and data behind the recommendation. In total, Candlestick.ai tracks more than 6,000 stocks and most are US-based. Since 2022, Candlestick.ai has returned 23%.

Stock Picking Services: How Do They Work?

Stock picking services charge fees for their expertise. The overarching objective is to outperform the market. Most providers use the S&P 500 as the benchmark. For instance, if the S&P 500 grows by 10% this year, the stock picking service will target higher returns.

In most cases, investors will need to sign up for a monthly subscription. In doing so, the provider will send out stock picks in real-time. The investor can then place the recommended trader with their chosen broker.

For example, the stock pick might suggest:

• Buying Uber stock
• Holding for at least 12 months
• Entering the market as quickly as possible

The best stock picking services offer more than just recommendations. They offer a full breakdown of the underlying methodology. This should include details of how the service rates stocks and what criteria needs to be met for it to make a recommendation.

Stock picks should also come with a full analysis of the reasons behind the suggestion. For example, AltIndex might recommend buying Apple stock because social sentiment is overly positive on its latest iPhone.

Or, it might suggest buying Tesla stock because job postings are on the rise – highlighting increased demand and growth.

Either way, stock picking services will not get all of their recommendations correct. On the contrary, investors should expect both winning and losing trades. But overall, the stock picking service should produce higher returns than the market average. If it doesn’t, then investors will be better off opting for an index fund.

Why Should I Choose a Stock Picking Service?

Stock picking services won’t appeal to all investor types. They will, however, appeal to time-starved investors or complete novices, considering the research process is automated.

To help clear the mist, we will now explore the advantages of using a stock picking platform.

Streamline the Research Process

The most successful investors make data-driven decisions. This is usually done by researching the fundamentals of the respective company. For example, how much revenue and operating income it made, and comparing this to previous quarters.

Seasoned investors will also compare the fundamentals with other stocks in the same industry. This is in addition to technical and sentiment analysis. All of these research methods require a key commodity – time. And most investors do not have the time to spend hours researching the markets each day.

Crucially, while there are no shortcuts per se, stock picking services remove the need to perform research. In fact, investors simply need to wait for the service to send an alert on which stocks to buy.

Suitable for Stock Market Novices 

The stock analysis process not only requires time – but knowledge and experience. It can take many years to truly master the art of picking stocks. Many investors have full-time jobs and hence, don’t have the time to learn the stock analysis methods.

This is why stock picking services are increasingly becoming popular. No longer do beginners need to second-guess which companies to invest in. Instead, the picking service does all of the stock research behind the scenes. As noted earlier, this will either be manual research by an analyst or via AI-driven insights.

Outperform the Broader Market 

Stock picking services have one clear goal – to outperform the broader market. This means generating higher gains than a benchmark index fund. For instance, we mentioned earlier that Danelfin aims to outperform the S&P 500 in the US and the STOXX 600 in Europe.

If Danelfin does not produce higher annual gains than these benchmark indexes, the service should be considered a failure. This is because anyone can replicate index funds like the S&P 500 through an ETF. By paying a stock picking service fee every month, investors expect higher returns.

In January 2023, for example, AltIndex produced gains of 22.6% over 34 stock picks. Over the same period, the S&P 500 grew by just 6.5%. Similarly, Seeking Alpha’s stock picking service has produced growth of 470% since 2010. Over the same timeframe, the S&P 500 has grown by 290%.

Selecting the Best Stock Picking App: Top Tips

There are many stock picking websites and apps in the market. Each service will appeal to a certain type of investor, in terms of financial goals, risk tolerance, preferred markets, and budget.

Below, we explain how to pick a suitable stock picking service in 2023.

Budget and Pricing Plans

Before getting started, investors should assess how much they are willing to spend each month on stock picks. There needs to be a viable return on the monthly subscription. Not only should investors examine monthly fees but also how much they plan to invest.

For example, suppose an investor plans to allocate $100 into the stock market each month. If they pay $20 per month for stock picks, that’s a cost ratio of 20%. In other words, if the stock picking service doesn’t make at least 20% per month, the investor will be losing money.

Moreover, investors should remember to incorporate stock trading fees into their calculations. This should include trading commissions, spreads, and any other brokerage fees.

Types of Stock Picks 

Once the investor’s budget has been established, the next step is to assess the type of stock picks required. For example, complete beginners should choose a provider that offers a user-friendly experience. No prior knowledge of stock analysis should be required.

Instead, the service should outline exactly what stocks to buy – and when. Similarly, those without the time to manually research the markets should choose an automated picking service. This means the investor will receive an email as soon as the stock trading idea is generated.

Additionally, investors should also consider their financial goals. For example, those looking to maximize both returns and risk might want to focus on growth stocks. While more risk-averse investors might prefer a stock picking service that focuses on dividend income.

Historical Performance  

The best stock picking services are transparent on their historical performance. The provider should clearly outline what returns it has made over a reasonable period of time. It should also provide information on the benchmark index it aims to outperform, such as the S&P 500.

As we mentioned earlier, the stock picking service should outperform the broader market. What’s more, the financial returns generated should justify the fees charged each month. For example, while Zacks Ultimate charges $2,995 per year, it has generated average annualized returns of 24.3% since 1988.

What Strategies do Stock Picking Services Use?

Now that we’ve explained how to choose a provider, we can examine the most common stock picking strategies.

Alternative Data and Social Metrics

One of the best stock picking services – AltIndex, makes recommendations based on alternative data. It extracts social media data and analyzes it through natural language processing. This includes everything from Facebook posts and Instagram follows to Reddit mentions and Google searches.

This offers invaluable insights into thousands of stocks. For example, suppose a technology stock has just released a new product. Ordinarily, investors would need to wait for the firm’s quarterly earnings report for an update on sales.

AltIndex, on the other hand, can provide insights into potential sales figures. It does so by analyzing social media posts and building an overall sentiment score. If there is an increasing number of positive data points, this could highlight strong quarterly performance.

Fundamental Analysis

Some stock picking services take a more traditional approach – they manually analyze the markets. This means researching companies from top to bottom. For instance, analyzing sales, debt, operating margins, and broader industry trends. The analyst will then make comparisons with companies in the same niche.

For example, Zacks Ultimate has an in-house team of analysts that research the markets around the clock. Each analyst will specialize in a specific area of the market, such as emerging industries, growth stocks, or dividend companies. Once an analyst reaches their conclusion, they will send out a stock pick to paying customers.

This stock picking strategy is usually aimed at ‘buy-and-hold’ investors. This means investors will need to play the long game by holding the recommended stocks for several years. In the meantime, the provider should send regular updates on the selections, such as whether the stock is a buy, hold, or sell.

AI-Driven Picks 

Some stock picking services allow artificial intelligence to make recommendations. The data can be extracted from many different sources, such as social media, quarterly earnings reports, real-time price charts, and news articles. The AI system will then generate stock picks accordingly.

It is important that the provider is transparent on the AI’s methodology. For instance, how does it determine whether a stock is a buy or sell?

AltIndex is a popular AI picker that has a ranking system based on the data insights it collects. This ranges from 1 (strong sell) to 100 (strong buy).

How do Index Funds Compare With Stock Picking Services?

As we have established, investors need to pay monthly fees when using a stock picking service. In return, investors should expect to make more money than the market average. Most stock picking services use the S&P 500 as its benchmark.

This means the platform will need to make more than the S&P 500 over a given period. An acceptable period is 12 months. For example, suppose the S&P 500 grows by 9% in 2023. Stock picking services generating more than 9% can claim to outperform the market.

When investing in an index fund, however, the objective is to mirror the respective market. For instance, suppose the S&P 500 grows by 11% this year. An index fund tracking the S&P 500 should also make 11%. So to summarize; stock picking services aim to outperform the market, while index funds simply replicate it.

The Verdict

Stock picking services are used by investors seeking above-average returns. At a minimum, the service should outperform major index funds like the S&P 500 and Dow Jones.

Overall, we found that the best stock picking service for performance, pricing, and user-friendliness is AltIndex.

The service uses social media metrics to generate AI-driven stock picks. This gives investors an edge, enabling them to identify market moves before the masses.

References

https://www.wsj.com/market-data/quotes/DIS

https://www.spglobal.com/spdji/en/indices/equity/sp-500/

https://investor.apple.com/stock-price/default.aspx

https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/UBER

https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/tsla

https://www.google.com/finance/quote/.INX:INDEXSP

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