Beyond the Headlines: Is the Financial Sector Still the Best Value Play in 2026?

Banks have been on a good run in recent months, surging as investors took chips off the table in the red-hot tech and artificial intelligence (AI) sector and rotated into other unloved sectors like financials. However, there has been a divergence this year. Small- and mid-cap bank stocks have outperformed large bank stocks, which had previously been outperforming the sector. That can be seen in the iShares U.S. Financials ETF (NYSEMKT: IYF), an exchange-traded fund that holds stock in many of the largest ...