Top stocks to buy: Stock recommendations for May 18, 2026 week - check list

Stock market recommendations: Motilal Oswal Wealth Management Research Desk recommends picking up Syrma SGS, and Max Financials as the top stocks for the trading week starting May 18, 2026:Syrma SGSSyrma SGS Technology (SYRMA) delivered a strong 4QFY26 performance, with revenue growing 59% YoY led by robust traction in the Consumer and Auto segments, while operating leverage drove a ~62% YoY rise in EBITDA and 30bp expansion in EBITDA margin. SYRMA closed FY26 on a strong note with a healthy INR66b order book, while continued customer additions, rising ODM contribution, growing export opportunities, and scale-up in newer verticals such as MedTech and Defense provide strong medium-term growth visibility.We remain positive on SYRMA’s long-term outlook, driven by higher-margin businesses, rising exports, increasing industrial and automotive contribution, and expansion into newer verticals. We expect revenue/EBITDA/PAT CAGR of 32%/35%/39% over FY26-28.Max FinancialsAxis Max Life Insurance’s (MAXLIFE) APE grew 18% YoY to INR35.9b (in-line). For FY26, APE grew 20% YoY. MAXLIFE’s VNB grew 19% YoY to INR10.1b (4% above est.), resulting in a VNB margin of 28.2% (MOFSLe of 27%) vs 28% in 4QFY25. MAXLIFE continued to outperform industry APE growth, supported by strong traction in proprietary and non-Axis banca channels, improving persistence across cohorts, and a favorable shift toward traditional products, which aided continued VNB margin expansion despite the impact of labor code and GST.We expect the VNB margin trajectory to remain stable, as the company is likely to reinvest incremental margin arising from the product mix shifts into growth opportunities(Disclaimer: Recommendations and views on the stock market, other asset classes or personal finance management tips given by experts are their own. These opinions do not represent the views of The Times of India.)