Ryan Modesto’s Top Picks for March 5, 2026

Ryan Modesto, CEO and Portfolio Manager, i2i Capital Management

Focus: North American equities

Top Picks: Ouster, Intuit, Celsius Holdings

MARKET OUTLOOK:

Putting aside geopolitical risks, we are progressing through a solid earnings season with not a whole lot in surprises. Meanwhile management outlooks remain largely positive. The economy and consumer remain not perfect but still resilient and while recent tariff news raises uncertainty to some degree, developments are likely a net benefit to the global economy barring some extreme sequence of events.

Valuations for markets are in the upper end of historical ranges but given the positive outlook, this makes sense. With the help of recent fears around AI disruption, there are a number of areas that show intriguing valuations for investors that are willing to look ‘under the hood’ of markets.

In terms of areas for an investor to focus their attention on, software is one area of focus where many stocks are down over 40 per cent and now showing attractive valuations with double-digit growth rates. We also think investments around artificial intelligence (AI) continue to have plenty of potential while markets remain very sensitive to any sign of risk in the space, creating opportunities for nimble investors.

Finally, robotics is another area we view as being worth an investor’s attention. It may be early, but we expect robotics to have its own ‘ChatGPT moment’ over the next few years where the proliferation of robotics in some form or fashion becomes a reality sooner than later.

• Market-moving news, fast: Get the BNN Bloomberg App now
• Sign up for the Market Call Top Picks newsletter at bnnbloomberg.ca/subscribe

TOP PICKS:

Ouster (OUST NASDAQ)

Ouster is positioned to be the ‘eyes’ of robots through its Lidar sensors and through their recent acquisition of an AI vision company. It is a higher risk company with negative operating cash flows currently but has no debt. With a revenue growth rate that should be in excess of 30 per cent for the next few years, their profitability profile should change quickly in the foreseeable future.

OUST is positioned to be a key player in robotics as the industry grows, as all robots will need some form of ‘eyes’ to be able to view and interact with the world around them. Further, there is increasing concern with allowing foreign sensors into North American markets which further favours U.S. focused Ouster.

Intuit (INTU NASDAQ)

Intuit has been a poster child for companies viewed as being at risk of AI disruptions, a risk we view as far overblown. Intuit is a key part of the ‘financial infrastructure’ for small and medium sized businesses and individuals. The company owns Turbo Tax, QuickBooks, MailChimp, and Credit Karma. The main concern is AI making Turbo Tax obsolete, but many forget that there has already been free tax filing services for years and Turbo Tax has done just fine in spite of this, so we think concerns over AI are misguided. Not to mention that Intuit can itself make their services better with AI tools as well. We also think QuickBooks and the potential it has as a long-term growth platform is underappreciated by investors.

Because of these AI fears, Intuit now trades at 15 times forward earnings with roughly 75 per cent gross margins, 20 per cent net margins and consistently grows in the 10 per cent to 15 per cent range on the top and bottom lines. In order to justify the current valuation, you need to expect growth to flatline very quickly from here which we don’t see as a high probability outcome.

Celsius Holdings (CELH NASDAQ)

Celsius is an energy drink company that owns the brands Celsius, Alani Nu and Rockstar and is now driving the energy drink strategy for Pepsi, which owns over 10 per cent of Celsius.

Celsius has recently purchased Alani Nu and we think markets are underestimating the degree of growth that is coming from this brand as well as the Celsius brand. This company has been transformed over the last 24 months, going from a single brand to multiple high-growth brands, materially de-risking their outlook. Meanwhile the company is trading at the lower end of their valuation over the past three years despite having better and more diversified growth prospects. Celsius trades at a discount to their closest peer Monster Energy while having more brand diversity and growing at a far faster rate.

Some concern recently has been related to fears around inventory and distribution issues with the Alani transition over to the Pepsi distribution system but management has been vocal about this not being the problem markets are expecting.