It's always exciting to start a new year and think about fresh possibilities. You may be one of the many investors who have taken the opportunity to reevaluate their positions and make sure their portfolios are filled with high-potential stocks in multiple categories.
If you're looking for a bank stock, I recommend SoFi Technologies (SOFI 1.15%) as a top stock for 2026. It's far from your typical bank stock, but it represents the future of banking, and it could be an excellent addition to a growth-oriented portfolio.
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Why SoFi is exploding
SoFi is a pioneer in digital banking, having developed a formidable financial services platform. Its goal is to provide everything you could need all in one app, from bank accounts to credit cards to investing, with a user-friendly interface and low fees.
It began as a lending co-op for college students, and lending remains its core product. But it has expanded in many directions, opening up new growth avenues and becoming more appealing to new customers. Today, although lending remains its biggest segment, the non-lending segment under the umbrella of the financial services segment is the company's biggest growth driver. These are typically low-cost, fee-based products that are boosting profitability. In the 2025 third quarter, lending revenue increased 25% year over year, and financial services revenue was up 76%.
SoFi also has a third segment called the tech platform. This is its financial infrastructure product that is marketed as a business-to-business platform, and sales were up 12% in the quarter.
The market is excited about SoFi's new, innovative products. It has announced several blockchain-based products recently, including trading on its app and a fully reserved SoFi stablecoin, and it's launching the SoFi Smart Card, which connects all of a user's financial services in one credit card package. This is available to SoFi Plus members, the company's premium membership program, which costs $10 per month.
NASDAQ: SOFI
Key Data Points
Lots of momentum heading into 2026
If interest rates continue to decline, as expected, the lending segment is likely to remain robust. For a while, management had been touting the growth of non-lending services as a portion of the total business, but with the rebound in lending, both sides of the business have demonstrated robust growth. That's an excellent position to be in heading into 2026.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is still driving spending for many large companies and changing how businesses operate. Combined with an economy stimulated by easier access to capital, the banking industry should perform well this year. As a young company in growth mode, SoFi is likely to keep up its fantastic performance in 2026 and beyond.
