The S&P 500 wrapped up 2025 with a respectable 16.39% return, capping off a three-year run that's delivered 80% in gains. But here's the thing about averages: they hide as much as they reveal. While the benchmark index cruised along, plenty of high-octane companies that started 2025 as market darlings ended the year nursing some serious wounds.

The culprits? Take your pick. Tariffs spooked investors across multiple sectors. Inflation and interest rates stayed stubbornly elevated. And then there's the elephant in the room: those massive AI investments that have some folks muttering about 2000-era tech bubble vibes. The result was a year where valuations reset hard, cyclical sectors cooled off, and money rotated into whatever was actually working.

But now we're looking at 2026, and something interesting is happening. Some of last year's biggest underperformers are showing signs of life. They've got stabilization. They've got recovery potential. And crucially, they've got valuations that don't require you to squint and pretend everything is fine.

"Certainly, we're at a point where we've had incredibly strong performance from U.S. equity markets over the last three years. We don't think that that means that we can't have another good year next year," said Kristy Akullian, head of iShares investment strategy for the Americas at BlackRock. "We are still pretty optimistic in terms of our outlook for U.S. equities. We're pretty upbeat, relatively bullish."

With that kind of tailwind potentially building, let's look at three comeback candidates that might be worth your attention heading into 2026. Each has clear catalysts and, perhaps more importantly, much better stories to tell than they did a year ago.

Amazon.com

2025 performance: +5.2%

Let's start with Amazon (AMZN), which managed a pretty underwhelming 5.2% gain in 2025. That's the kind of performance that makes you wonder why you didn't just buy an index fund. Investors weren't thrilled about the company's $125 billion capital spending spree, Amazon Web Services had a rough patch, and the company seemed to be playing catch-up in AI compared to Meta (META) and Alphabet (GOOG).

But here's where things get interesting. The market might be missing the forest for the trees on this one.

"The combination of AI and robotics is inside Amazon's core retail business," said Rich Pleeth, CEO and Co-Founder of Finmile, an AI logistics SaaS company and a former Head of Marketing at Google Chrome. "This means they have some rocket fuel for their margins, especially with reducing people and replacing them with robots."

Pleeth's take is that Amazon could double the gross merchandise value of its retail operation by 2033 without adding more people. The robotics implementation has already cut the time from click to ship by 78%. "That's the modern equivalent of what Ford's assembly line did to car manufacturing when it slashed production time by 88%," he noted.

The valuation story adds another layer. "In 2025, Amazon traded at a ratio of 33 versus a historical average of 58," Pleeth said. "That gap exists because people still think of Amazon as a low-margin retailer." If that perception shifts as the margin story plays out, there's meaningful upside here.

The Trade Desk

2025 performance: -67.70%

Now let's talk about The Trade Desk (TTD), which had the kind of year you'd rather forget. Down 67.7%. Ouch. The Ventura, California-based ad-buying platform got swept up in the AI valuation reset, and investors decided its price tag was way too rich for their blood.

But here's the thing about big drops: they create opportunities, especially when the underlying business hasn't actually fallen apart. After a 67% haircut, analysts are coming back around on TTD, and the math is starting to look a lot more attractive.

A recent survey of 36 Wall Street analysts tracking the stock showed a Moderate Buy rating, with 21 Buy ratings, 12 Holds, and 3 Sells. More importantly, look at where they think this thing is going. Most analysts are pegging TTD shares in a range between $98 and $155 per share. The stock is currently trading at $38.

The bull case hinges on connected TV and AI-driven ad spending bouncing back in 2026. If that happens, you're looking at both earnings growth and multiple expansion, which is the classic rebound playbook. The consensus view suggests about 65% upside over the next twelve months. That's the kind of potential that gets people's attention.

Salesforce

2025 performance: -20.76%

Salesforce (CRM) has been stuck in neutral for a while now. The stock is up only 14% over the past five years, while the S&P 500 gained 83%. That's not great if you're a shareholder, but it might be exactly what makes the stock interesting now.

"(We expect) a shift in investor sentiment towards the relative safety of incumbent tech given its highly recurring, stable, and very profitable revenue bases and attractive relative valuations," noted Brad Reback, a Stifel analyst.

Think about it this way: if investors start getting nervous about high-risk AI plays, where do they rotate? Probably toward established players with stable, recurring revenue and proven market positions. That's Salesforce in a nutshell.

The company has been integrating AI across its cloud suite, which should drive renewed growth while maintaining its dominance in the CRM market. Some skeptics have questioned whether traditional software-heavy CRMs can compete with AI-powered newcomers, but Salesforce has something those upstarts don't: legions of existing business clients already embedded in its ecosystem.

If Salesforce can translate its AI investments into tangible revenue growth, the stock could snap back as investors reassess where this thing is actually headed. The company has beaten earnings estimates in its last four reports, which suggests the fundamentals are holding up. Evercore recently listed Salesforce as one of its top comeback stocks for 2026, citing robust AI momentum and expected revenue growth.

Consensus analyst estimates point to 20% to 25% upside for CRM shares this year. Not spectacular, but solid and potentially more reliable than chasing the next hot AI name.

The Comeback Trade Takes Center Stage

After years of momentum chasing, the market's starting to think differently. Investors are hunting for valuation-driven opportunities with asymmetric upside, which is a fancy way of saying they want stocks where the potential gain is a lot bigger than the potential loss.

That's why Amazon, The Trade Desk, and Salesforce look compelling heading into 2026. Each underperformed last year, but not because their businesses fundamentally broke. The issues were more about sentiment, valuation resets, and temporary headwinds. Now that share prices have adjusted, each company is trading at more attractive levels with identifiable catalysts that could unlock significant gains this year.

The setup is there. The valuations have reset. The question now is whether these companies can execute and whether the broader market environment cooperates. If both of those things happen, 2026 could be the year these rebound stocks get their groove back.