Zacks Ultimate
Monthly Subscription
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Zacks Ultimate is an all-in-one investment research service designed for traders and investors who want exclusive stock picks, high-conviction research, and specialized trading strategies.
It includes everything in Zacks Premium, plus additional stock-picking services, sector-specific insights, and trading-focused tools.
The plan features investor services like Home Run Investor for high-growth stocks, Value Investor for undervalued opportunities, and Income Investor for dividend-focused selections.
For traders, Zacks Ultimate includes short-term and earnings-driven strategies, such as Surprise Trader for earnings winners, Insider Trader for tracking executive stock moves, and Black Box Trader for AI-based picks.
Despite its advantages, Zacks Ultimate has limitations. It lacks real-time data, advanced charting tools, and AI-powered recommendations.
- Home Run Investor
- Value Investor
- Income Investor
- Stocks Under $10
- Zacks Top 10 Stocks
- Black Box Trader
- Insider Trader
- Surprise Trader
- Zacks Confidential Commentary
- Advanced Stock Screener
- Portfolio Tracker & Alerts
- Zacks Rank List Access
- Exclusive stock-picking services
- Diverse investment strategies
- Sector-specific insights
- AI-driven stock recommendations
- Strong earnings-based picks
- No real-time market data
- Limited technical analysis tools
- No global stock coverage
- Lacks portfolio management tools
- Not ideal for day traders
Zacks Ultimate Pricing vs Other Plans
Zacks Ultimate is the top-tier plan, offering exclusive stock-picking services, short-term trading strategies, and sector-based insights.
Plan | Monthly Subscription | Promotion |
|---|---|---|
Zacks Premium | Annual: $249 ($20.75/month)
No monthly plan | 30-day free trial |
Zacks Investor Collection | $59
$495 ($41.25 / month) if paid annually | 30-day free trial |
Zacks Ultimate | $299
$2,995 ($249.5 / month) if paid annually | 30-day free trial |
Investor Collection is the mid-tier plan provides expert-curated stock recommendations, while Premium focuses on rankings, research, and screening tools for fundamental investors.
Zacks Ultimate Exclusive Stock-Picking Lists
Zacks Ultimate offers everything in Zacks Premium, plus exclusive stock-picking services, specialized trading strategies, and in-depth market commentary.
While Premium focuses on rankings, research reports, and screening tools, Ultimate gives access to expert-curated portfolios:
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Investor Services
Zacks Ultimate includes a range of investor-focused services designed for different investment strategies, helping users find stocks based on their risk tolerance and financial goals.
- Investor Collection: A collection of Zacks' best stock-picking strategies, combining growth, value, and income-focused investments.
- Home Run Investor: Focuses on small-cap and high-growth stocks with the potential for explosive returns, ideal for aggressive investors.
- Stocks Under $10: Targets low-priced stocks with strong fundamentals and earnings potential, making it appealing for budget-conscious investors.
- Value Investor: Helps investors find undervalued stocks with strong fundamentals, ideal for those using a long-term buy-and-hold strategy.
- Zacks Top 10: An exclusive list of 10 handpicked stocks selected annually by Zacks experts, offering a mix of value, growth, and income investments.
- Income Investor: Designed for dividend-focused investors, providing recommendations on income-generating stocks and ETFs.
These services cater to both conservative and aggressive investors, providing structured stock-picking approaches.
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Innovators
Zacks Ultimate provides in-depth research on emerging industries and high-growth sectors, allowing investors to gain early exposure to disruptive technologies and trends.
- Alternative Energy: Covers companies leading in solar, wind, and renewable energy solutions, helping investors capitalize on the shift toward sustainability.
- Blockchain: Focuses on stocks benefiting from blockchain technology, including fintech, decentralized finance (DeFi), and cryptocurrency-related firms.
- Commodity: Tracks companies in gold, oil, natural gas, and agriculture, offering insights into cyclical opportunities in the commodity markets.
- Healthcare: Highlights biotech, pharmaceutical, and medical technology companies poised for breakthroughs in drug development and treatments.
- Marijuana: Provides stock recommendations in the cannabis industry, including medical marijuana, CBD, and related sectors.
- Technology: Focuses on high-growth tech sectors like AI, cloud computing, 5G, and cybersecurity, helping investors identify potential market leaders.
This feature is ideal for growth investors and those interested in high-risk, high-reward sectors.
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Trading Services
Zacks Ultimate includes several trading services designed for short-term traders and active investors looking to capitalize on market movements.
- Black Box Trader: Uses an AI-driven algorithm to select stocks based on earnings momentum and technical signals.
- Counterstrike: Identifies oversold stocks that are likely to rebound, targeting opportunities created by overreactions to news events.
- Headline Trader: Focuses on stocks affected by breaking news, allowing traders to react quickly to market-moving events.
- TAZR (Tactical Analysis & Zacks Rank): Combines technical analysis with Zacks Rank to identify high-probability trades.
- Large-Cap Trader: Focuses on blue-chip stocks, providing recommendations on established companies with growth potential.
- Options Trader: Provides options trading strategies, including calls, puts, spreads, and hedging techniques for different market conditions.
- Insider Trader: Tracks insider buying and selling activity, helping investors align with company executives’ trading decisions.
- Short Sell List: Highlights stocks with weak fundamentals and negative earnings trends, ideal for short sellers.
- Surprise Trader: Targets stocks expected to beat earnings estimates, offering short-term trading opportunities around earnings season.
These services are great for active traders, but they require experience and quick decision-making.
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Zacks Confidential Commentary
Zacks Confidential gives investors exclusive insights from the firm’s top analysts before they become widely available.
Each week, Zacks' research team shares a private report covering market trends, sector rotation strategies, and top stock picks.
The commentary provides:
- Insider-Level Insights: Analysts discuss market conditions, hidden investment opportunities, and upcoming economic events before they make headlines.
- Sector & Industry Breakdown: Each report highlights which sectors are gaining strength and which ones are showing weakness, helping investors adjust their portfolios accordingly.
- Stock Recommendations: Zacks experts reveal stocks with strong earnings momentum before they become widely recommended by major institutions.
Zacks Ultimate Plan vs. Competitors: Worth the Price?
With its very expensive price, Zacks Ultimate is considered one of the most expensive plans for retail investors, competing with Seeking Alpha PRO and Benzinga Pro Essential.
Plan | Subscription | Promotion |
|---|---|---|
Morningstar Investor | $34.95
$249 ($20.75 / month) if paid annually | 7-Day free trial |
Zacks Premium | $249 ($20.75/month)
No monthly plan | 30-day free trial |
Motley Fool Stock Advisor | $199 (16.60 / month)
No monthly plan
| 30-day money-back guarantee |
Benzinga Pro | $37
$367 ($30.58 / month) if paid annually | $129
$129 for new member’s annual price ($11/month), including 7-day money-back guarantee
|
GuruFocus Premium | $499 ($41.58/ month)
No monthly plan, price for US citizens, price change by region | 7-day free trial + 30-day money-back guarantee |
StockTwits Edge | $22.95
$229.50 ($19.10 / month) if paid annually
| N/A |
Stock Analysis | $9.99
$79 ($6.58 / month) if paid annually | 60-day money back guarantee |
How To Analyze Stocks With Zacks Ultimate?
We used Zacks Ultimate’s detailed research reports, rankings, and financial data to break down stock strengths, weaknesses, and future potential:
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In-Depth Stock Research & Equity Reports
Zacks Ultimate provides equity research reports on over 1,000 companies, offering deep fundamental analysis, including growth potential, valuation metrics, and industry positioning.
Each report is compiled by Zacks analysts and breaks down a company’s strengths, weaknesses, and earnings outlook.
Investors can use these reports to evaluate whether a stock is a good buy, hold, or sell, rather than relying solely on rankings.
The reports also include Zacks Rank, Style Scores, and key financial data, making them useful for both long-term investors and active traders looking for expert-backed research.
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Access to the Full Zacks Rank List
One of the key benefits of Zacks Ultimate is full access to the Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) List, a private selection of top-rated stocks with strong earnings momentum.
Stocks ranked #1 have historically outperformed the S&P 500, making this a valuable resource for investors looking for high-potential opportunities.
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Industry Rankings for Smarter Investing
Zacks Industry Rank sorts stocks into 250+ industry groups based on earnings estimate trends, allowing investors to target high-performing sectors.
Research has shown that stocks within top-ranked industries tend to outperform those in the bottom half by a 2-to-1 margin.
We tested this feature and found that stocks from high-ranking industries often continued to show strong growth over time.
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Advanced Screening for Stocks, ETFs & Mutual Funds
The Zacks Screener provides 45+ predefined stock screening strategies designed to quickly identify high-potential stocks, ETFs, and mutual funds.
The screeners allows users to combine multiple filters, including Zacks Rank, Style Scores, analyst price targets, and earnings expectations.
We tested screens like Price Target Upside and Growth-Focused Picks and found that the customization options made it easier to pinpoint strong-performing stocks.
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Portfolio Tracker & Monitoring with Email Alerts
Zacks Portfolio Tracker helps investors monitor their holdings in real-time while integrating Zacks Rank and Style Scores for deeper insights.
The tool provides email alerts to notify users when stocks in their portfolio change rankings, receive analyst updates, or experience major price movements.
The dashboard is user-friendly, allowing investors to track financial performance, earnings trends, and key stock updates all in one place.
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Zacks Insider Trader
Zacks Insider Trader helps investors track insider trading activity, focusing on executive stock purchases and sales.
When company insiders—such as CEOs, CFOs, or board members—buy shares, it often signals confidence in future growth.
Conversely, large insider sales may indicate potential weaknesses. This service identifies key insider transactions, analyzing patterns to uncover stocks with strong insider buying momentum.
Investors can use this data to align their trades with those who have inside knowledge of a company’s performance.
Beyond Stock Picks: What Else Is Included?
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Zacks Ultimate Plan includes additional features that enhance stock research, market insights, and trading strategies:
Stock Selection with Zacks Style Scores: Assigns A to F grades for Value, Growth, and Momentum, helping investors identify stocks that align with their preferred investing strategy.
Zacks Mutual Fund Rank: Rates mutual funds based on performance, risk, and expenses, helping investors find the best funds for their portfolios.
Stock Market Today: Provides daily updates on market trends, economic events, and key stock movements, keeping investors informed about current conditions.
Daily Newsletter & Articles: Delivers expert insights, stock recommendations, and earnings previews, helping investors make informed decisions.
VGM Score for Smarter Stock Selection: Combines Value, Growth, and Momentum scores into a single rating to help investors quickly identify strong investment opportunities.
Options Research Reports: Provides options trading insights, including volatility analysis, earnings plays, and advanced trading strategies.
Earnings Whisper Screener: Identifies stocks with high speculation ahead of earnings, helping investors trade on earnings momentum.
ETF Research Reports: Offers in-depth analysis of ETFs, including sector breakdowns, risk factors, and fund performance.
Economic & Earnings Calendar: Tracks major economic events and earnings reports, helping investors plan trades around key market-moving events.
Stock Splits & IPO Calendar: Monitors upcoming stock splits and new IPO listings, providing insights into potential trading opportunities.
Zacks Ultimate: What’s Missing?
While Zacks Ultimate provides extensive stock research, trading services, and expert commentary, it still has some gaps compared to competitors and certain premium platforms:
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Limited Technical Analysis Tools
Zacks Ultimate excels in fundamental analysis, but it lacks advanced charting tools and technical indicators.
While some basic TradingView-powered charts are included, they don’t support custom technical screens, backtesting, or pattern recognition.
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No Portfolio Management Tools
While Zacks Ultimate offers premium research and stock picks, it does not include advanced portfolio management tools.
Zacks focuses heavily on stock selection rather than full portfolio strategy, which means investors may still need an external tool or financial advisor to assess portfolio performance and risk exposure.
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Limited Global Stock Coverage
Zacks Ultimate primarily focuses on U.S.-listed stocks, with little to no coverage of international markets.
This can be a drawback for investors looking to diversify their portfolio with global equities, ADRs, or emerging market stocks.
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No Real-Time Market Data
Despite offering exclusive stock recommendations and trading alerts, Zacks Ultimate does not provide real-time stock quotes, Level 2 data, or live market feeds.
This makes it less useful for active traders who rely on real-time price movements and rapid trade execution.
Who Should Use Zacks Ultimate?
Zacks Ultimate is best suited for those who actively manage their investments and seek high-quality stock recommendations:
- Long-Term Fundamental Investors: Investors who buy and hold can use Zacks Top 10, Value Investor, and Focus List to build a strong long-term portfolio.
- Sector-Specific Investors: Those focusing on emerging industries like alternative energy, blockchain, healthcare, and technology can use Zacks' Innovators service for targeted stock picks.
- Dividend & Income Investors: Investors looking for steady income can use Income Investor, which highlights dividend-paying stocks and ETFs with reliable payouts.
- Growth Investors: Those focused on high-growth stocks can benefit from services like Home Run Investor and Stocks Under $10, which identify stocks with breakout potential.
Zacks Ultimate: Who It’s Not For
Zacks Ultimate offers powerful research and trading tools, but it’s not the best fit for every investor. Some traders and investors may find its features unnecessary or lacking for their specific needs.
Day Traders & High-Frequency Traders: Zacks Ultimate does not provide real-time data, Level 2 quotes, or direct trade execution, making it unsuitable for those who rely on fast-paced, intraday trading strategies.
Those Who Rely On Technical Analysis : Zacks Ultimate focuses on fundamental research, but lacks advanced charting tools, pattern recognition, and AI-driven technical signals that platforms like TradingView or TrendSpider provide.
Global Stock Investors: Since Zacks primarily covers U.S. stocks, international investors looking for global stock ratings and emerging markets research may not find it useful.
FAQ
Yes, Zacks Ultimate includes everything in Zacks Premium, plus exclusive investor services, trading strategies, and sector-based stock picks.
Different portfolios update on different schedules. Some lists, like Zacks Top 10, update annually, while trading services may offer weekly or even real-time updates.
No, alerts are based on daily updates but do not include real-time stock price movements or immediate buy/sell signals.
Yes, Zacks Ultimate includes ETF and mutual fund rankings, but it is primarily focused on individual stock selection.
While some strategies focus on risk management, Zacks does not provide specific hedging or portfolio rebalancing recommendations.
Yes, it includes Options Trader, which provides options trading strategies and recommendations, but it is not a full-scale options research platform.
Zacks Ultimate focuses on earnings momentum and stock selection, while Morningstar Premium provides deep valuation research, mutual fund analysis, and portfolio-building tools.
Review Premium Stock Analysis Tools
How We Rated Premium Investing Analysis & Research Tools
At The Smart Investor, we evaluated premium investment research platforms based on their advanced features, data depth, and overall value compared to other paid alternatives. Each platform was rated based on the following key aspects:
- Advanced Fundamental Analysis Tools (20%): We assessed the depth of financial data, historical reports, earnings forecasts, and valuation models. Platforms that provided institutional-grade insights, DCF analysis, customizable financial models, and access to premium analyst reports scored higher.
- Advanced Technical Analysis Features (20%): We reviewed the availability of real-time charting, advanced indicators, custom scripting, and AI-driven pattern recognition. Platforms that offered backtesting tools, automated trading strategies, and integration with third-party software received better ratings.
- Stock Screener & Premium Filters (15%): A high-quality screener is essential for pro investors, so we evaluated customization depth, real-time filtering, and AI-driven stock discovery. Platforms offering pre-built expert screeners, backtesting capabilities, and sector-specific analytics scored the highest.
- Portfolio Tracking & Advanced Alerts (10%): We rated platforms on their ability to provide real-time performance tracking, portfolio rebalancing tools, and tax optimization insights. Platforms with smart alerts, AI-driven risk assessments, and brokerage integration ranked higher.
- Ease of Use & Customization (15%): We assessed how well premium platforms balance advanced capabilities with user-friendly interfaces. Those offering custom dashboards, API access, and seamless multi-device usability received better ratings.
- Pricing (20%): We considered how the plan's pricing compared to other premium plans and what benefits traders/investors get. Is it worth it overall?
