Me: “Good morrow, ChatGPT; what are your high 5 FTSE 100 shares to purchase for March 2026 (and why)?” ChatGPT:
Knowledge & analytics chief RELX – Rising recurring revenues & diversified international buyer base
World knowledge & analytics progress inventory Experian – Robust natural progress, significantly in North America
World financial institution HSBC – Robust capital base & international market breadth
Pharma big GSK – Aggressive valuation & pipeline progress potential
Oil main BP (LSE: BP.) – Repositioning after strategic write-downs & power worth tailwinds
In order that’s what the pc chips are saying, however what in regards to the human contact? For my cash, there are two turkeys in that checklist and three with potential, together with one which I believe is price contemplating immediately.
Picture supply: Getty Pictures
Ignoring points
Let’s handle the 2 unhealthy decisions first: RELX and Experian. These two knowledge corporations are maybe price , however my digital pal has completely passed over the massive story right here – AI is threatening to eat their lunch!
RELX is down 40% within the final 12 months and Experian down 35%, largely on the again of worries that their advanced companies might be changed by sufficiently superior fashions of AI. We’re not there but nevertheless, and this might grow to be a terrific time to purchase each of them at a low ebb. All the identical, I’m a bit miffed that the difficulty wasn’t included in ChatGPT’s evaluation.
Two of the opposite shares within the checklist piqued my curiosity although. After years of overpromising and underdelivering, GSK might lastly have gotten its act collectively. The brand new strategic modifications (together with extra funding in its drug pipeline) appear to be working wonders with the shares up 57% within the final 12 months. I’m bullish on banking in the mean time too, and HSBC gives an attention-grabbing choice to get publicity to the fast-growing financial system of China.
Robust case
The ultimate inventory on the checklist is one I imagine buyers might want to think about immediately: oil big BP. The agency has lagged behind its friends within the US and Shell within the UK for years. But with the turnaround on, this might find yourself being an affordable purchase.
What are the explanations for optimism? Properly, a brand new CEO centered on the profit-making facet of the enterprise for one factor, the largest oil area discover in 25 years (close to the coast of Brazil) for one more.
Maybe the strongest cause is that our fashionable world runs on oil and any shift away is trying like it can take longer than first believed. Warren Buffett and the late Charlie Munger are on file as saying will probably be wanted for one more 200 years at the least.
This does create an moral conundrum too, for individuals who don’t want to put money into corporations that produce polluting merchandise. And there’s the specter of advances in inexperienced know-how coming alongside and denting BP’s revenues too.
Nonetheless, I imagine BP is without doubt one of the doable FTSE 100 candidates for a giant turnaround within the years forward.
As for ChatGPT, its solutions are too patchy for my liking. I’ll keep it up doing my very own analysis.
