Stock Picks of the Month: September 2026

What this list is (and what it is not)

Each month we run a simple momentum screen over the S&P 500 Shariah Index (SPUS), cross-check every surviving name for Shariah compliance on Zoya, then put it through four plain fundamental filters. What comes out is a watchlist, a talking point to learn from, not a buy list and not financial advice. Mana only encourages investing in funds. We show these single names so you can see how a rules-based screen actually behaves, misses and all.

Momentum investing is rules-based and rebalances monthly, and the academic research on it goes back more than thirty years. It is not short-term trading or reacting to the news. The monthly rebalance is the strategy itself, not noise-chasing: you ride a stock while its trend is strong, and when the signal fades you rotate to wherever the strength has moved next. The point is to take emotion out of the decision so you are less likely to panic-sell the moment something dips.

The four filters

Once a name clears the momentum screen and the Zoya Shariah check, we run it through four thresholds. A stock "passes" a filter when it clears the line:

• Gross Margin above 50%
• P/E below 100
• Debt to Equity below 30%
• Float above 100M shares

Passing all four is not a signal to buy, and failing one is not a reason to avoid a stock. The filters are a lens for reading the screen honestly. We never present a name that fails a filter as a clean pass.

September's picks

Interesting mix this month. Enterprise software dominates with CRM and NOW, but the screen is also picking up NEM in gold mining. There are no manual sector calls here. That is simply where the trend strength is sitting right now across the compliant universe. (The source list also flagged IT (Gartner) and CRL (Charles River Laboratories), but Zoya reports both as not Shariah-compliant, so we dropped them. The page only ever shows names that pass the Shariah cross-check.)

CRM, Salesforce (Technology)

Zoya verdict, as quoted: Shariah-compliant. Enterprise-software leader with durable subscription revenue and an AI (Agentforce) re-acceleration. On our four filters it is the clean one this month: Gross Margin 77% passes, P/E 42 passes, Debt to Equity 19% passes, Float 950M passes. All four clear the line.

NOW, ServiceNow (Technology)

Zoya verdict, as quoted: Shariah-compliant. Enterprise workflow and AI platform with high-retention subscriptions and a strong trend. It passes three filters (Gross Margin 79%, Debt to Equity 22%, Float 206M) but trips on P/E at 115, above the 100 line. That is a rich valuation, and we show it rather than bury it.

NEM, Newmont (Materials)

Zoya verdict, as quoted: Shariah-compliant. A gold miner riding a safe-haven rally in the metal, the materials leg of this month's trend strength. It passes three filters (P/E 14, Debt to Equity 28%, Float 1.13B) but trips the Gross Margin filter at 38%, under the 50% line, which is normal for a miner. Again, shown honestly.

How last month did

For context, August's watchlist (CTAS, ROP, ABT and EXPE) returned an equal-weight average of +4.6% over the month. That is the average of those illustrative picks, not a portfolio, a fund, or a recommendation, and one good month tells you almost nothing. We post the monthly track record publicly so anyone can follow along and judge for themselves rather than take our word for it. You can see every past month and its move on the picks archive.

The caveats, in full

This is general guidance to help you learn, not regulated financial advice and not a personal recommendation. These are momentum trades, not long-term holds: you ride the wave and rotate, you do not buy and hold them for years. The fundamentals shown are illustrative round figures captured on the review date, not a live feed, so re-check them before relying on anything. Shariah verdicts are quoted from Zoya as captured that day, not Mana's own ruling, and can change as a company's financials change. Past returns do not represent future results. Research across thousands of investors shows that single stocks do not beat a broad, diversified fund over the long run, which is why we only ever encourage investing in funds. Do your own research and consider speaking to a regulated financial adviser.

See this month's full breakdown, with the per-stock filter tables, on the stock picks page.