DEFENSIVE STOCKS

VOL. XCIV, NO. 247

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Updated June 2026 · Top 500 defensive stocks

Best Defensive Stocks 2026: Ranked List for Lower-Volatility Research

Q: What are defensive stocks?

Defensive stocks are companies whose sales, cash flows, and share prices may be less sensitive to economic cycles than highly cyclical businesses. They often come from consumer staples, healthcare, utilities, telecom, waste management, and selected service or infrastructure-like industries.

Q: Are defensive stocks the same as defense stocks?

No. Defensive stocks are companies with steadier demand, lower cyclicality, or lower volatility. Defense stocks usually means aerospace and military contractors. Some defense contractors can have defensive traits, but the search intents are different.

Q: What are the best defensive stocks right now?

The table highlights the current top 500 defensive stocks from the latest published strategy snapshot. It is a ranked research list, not a personal recommendation or a guaranteed list of stocks to buy.

Q: Are defensive stocks and recession-proof stocks the same thing?

Not exactly. Recession-proof stocks is a common search phrase, but no stock is truly recession-proof. This ranking looks for recession-resistant traits such as steadier revenue, positive free cash flow, lower beta, lower volatility, manageable leverage, and less cyclical industry exposure.

Q: How does this defensive stock ranking work?

The strategy uses the Liquid North Atlantic universe, then ranks stocks across defensive risk profile, business quality, balance sheet resilience, conservative value and payout, and conservative investment discipline.

Q: What does the Defensive Stocks ranking measure?

Each stock receives a 0 to 100 score across defensive risk profile, business quality, balance sheet resilience, conservative value and payout, and conservative investment. The final score is the weighted blend of those blocks.

Q: Are defensive stocks always safe?

No. Defensive businesses can still be overpriced, overleveraged, disrupted, or exposed to company-specific problems. This ranking is a research shortlist, not a claim that the stocks cannot lose money.

Q: Are these defensive stocks to buy?

No. This page is for research and education only. Searches for defensive stocks to buy usually need a second step: company-specific due diligence, valuation work, risk review, position sizing, and fit with your own investment process.

Q: Are low beta stocks always defensive?

No. Low beta can help identify stocks with lower historical market sensitivity, but it is not enough by itself. This ranking combines beta with realized volatility, intermediate momentum, durable profitability, earnings quality, balance sheet resilience, conservative valuation, shareholder yield, and asset-growth discipline.

Q: How often is the defensive stocks ranking updated?

The ranking is designed to update regularly. Check the as-of date above the table to see how current the listed stocks are.

A current defensive stocks list ranked across defensive risk profile, business quality, balance sheet resilience, conservative value and payout, and investment discipline.

Defensive stocks get searched most often when investors want a calmer research list for recession risk, volatility spikes, or uncertain markets. This defensive stock ranking starts with the Liquid North Atlantic universe, then ranks businesses by realized volatility, market sensitivity, intermediate momentum, durable profitability, balance sheet resilience, conservative valuation, shareholder return, and restrained asset growth.

For research and educational purposes only · Not financial advice

Risk Profile35%Quality25%Resilience20%Value & Payout15%Investment5%

Best Defensive Stocks to Buy Now? Top 500 Ranked List

Top 500 stocks in the ranking

Hide small caps (under $2B)

As of 2026-06-20

Rank	Ticker	Company	MCap	Risk	Qual	Resil	Value	Invest	Score
01	SIP	SIPEF SA	$1.1B	92.7	99.0	98.7	96.3	87.9	99.99
02	VEI	Veidekke ASA	$2.6B	64.2	96.9	94.5	85.2	50.9	99.97
03	HTO	Hellenic Telecommunications Organization SA	$8.9B	81.2	98.1	90.5	86.4	63.1	99.96
04	VIAFIN	Viafin Service Oyj	$80M	95.1	90.2	96.1	83.9	50.5	99.95
05	ET	Evertz Technologies Ltd.	$879M	69.2	98.0	93.7	61.0	89.0	99.93
06	VAN	Van de Velde NV	$438M	73.4	94.3	98.3	79.2	91.8	99.92
07	ALTPC	Société Marseillaise du Tunnel Prado Carénage SA	$182M	93.6	99.5	77.2	89.8	90.3	99.91
08	DR	Medical Facilities Corp.	$231M	81.2	96.0	86.7	99.3	86.9	99.89
09	CFX	Colefax Group Plc	$97M	84.8	99.3	65.6	97.2	86.8	99.88
10	SOFAF	Socfinaf SA	$529M	86.3	99.9	88.7	94.9	70.4	99.86
11	HUG	Huuuge, Inc.	$234M	87.1	84.3	96.8	100.0	95.4	99.85
12	NTH	Naturhouse Health SA	$178M	87.0	90.5	96.2	76.9	97.8	99.84
13	TEL1L	Telia Lietuva AB	$1.4B	92.7	95.8	93.4	84.7	36.4	99.82
14	MPE	M.P. Evans Group Plc	$1.1B	92.2	95.3	99.8	90.2	86.2	99.81
15	CNA	Centrica Plc	$10.4B	68.1	95.5	90.3	72.1	97.4	99.80
16	APG1L	Apranga AB	$242M	93.8	96.5	78.7	85.4	62.1	99.78
17	OFN	Orell Füssli AG	$358M	85.3	93.8	98.9	80.5	12.9	99.77
18	WPK	Winpak Ltd.	$1.7B	74.9	88.0	99.1	88.0	73.0	99.76
19	IMKTA	Ingles Markets, Inc.	$1.6B	91.7	93.5	89.5	89.5	53.5	99.74
20	CLIG	City of London Investment Group Plc	$282M	55.4	87.8	91.7	81.3	91.3	99.73

1-20 of 500

Bucket Distribution

Universe-adjusted annualized return by rank bucket. The zero line is the average return across the ranked universe.

Universe

7.5%

Benchmark

+1.9%

Top

+5.0%

Resilience vs Quality

Each flag is a ranked stock at its listing country. Larger flags rank higher overall; the dashed lines mark the group averages.

X axis

Y axis

Defensive Stocks List: Low Volatility, Quality, and Balance Sheet Resilience

Searches for defensive stocks, defensive stocks to buy, and recession-resistant stocks are usually looking for the same thing: a way to compare companies that may offer steadier equity exposure when volatility rises. This page is not a buy list, but it gives a current ranked shortlist built from realized volatility, beta, intermediate momentum, business quality, balance sheet resilience, valuation, payout, and asset-growth discipline.

The model is not a classic sector screen for consumer staples, utilities, and healthcare. The latest defensive stocks portfolio is spread across healthcare, finance, non-energy materials, consumer non-cyclicals, technology, business services, energy, industrials, utilities, telecom, and consumer services. That mix is intentional: a stock can rank well because the measured risk profile and fundamentals are defensive, even when the sector label is not one of the traditional defensive buckets.

Biggest Movers

As of 2026-06-20

Stocks with the biggest ranking moves since the previous refresh.

Rank	Ticker	Name	Change	Score
+84	XXXX	Sample Gainer 1	#94->#10	87.7
+135	XXXX	Sample Gainer 2	#152->#17	90.5
+114	XXXX	Sample Gainer 3	#138->#24	91.8
+97	XXXX	Sample Gainer 4	#128->#31	87.2
+80	XXXX	Sample Gainer 5	#118->#38	90.3
+91	XXXX	Sample Gainer 6	#136->#45	92.6
+38	XXXX	Sample Gainer 7	#90->#52	89.7
+72	XXXX	Sample Gainer 8	#131->#59	87.5
+53	XXXX	Sample Gainer 9	#119->#66	96.6
+82	XXXX	Sample Gainer 10	#155->#73	87.5

Rank	Ticker	Name	Change	Score
-32	XXXX	Sample Decliner 1	#15->#47	91.8
-53	XXXX	Sample Decliner 2	#24->#77	95.4
-38	XXXX	Sample Decliner 3	#33->#71	97
-84	XXXX	Sample Decliner 4	#42->#126	98
-116	XXXX	Sample Decliner 5	#51->#167	97.9
-99	XXXX	Sample Decliner 6	#60->#159	95
-26	XXXX	Sample Decliner 7	#69->#95	95.3
-21	XXXX	Sample Decliner 8	#78->#99	84.9
-85	XXXX	Sample Decliner 9	#87->#172	91.5
-37	XXXX	Sample Decliner 10	#96->#133	96.7

★ Members Only ★

See the biggest movers

The biggest rank changes between published snapshots are free for members. Log in or create a free account to unlock them.

Backtested Strategy

Current Holdings

Ticker	Company	Weight	Gain/Loss	Score
XXXX	Sample Holding 1	0.95%	-42.74%	90.60
XXXX	Sample Holding 2	0.91%	-52.47%	59.40
XXXX	Sample Holding 3	0.84%	+101.26%	58.90
XXXX	Sample Holding 4	0.85%	-33.24%	90.90
XXXX	Sample Holding 5	0.86%	-35.67%	61.40
XXXX	Sample Holding 6	0.94%	+72.66%	68.40
XXXX	Sample Holding 7	0.87%	+127.94%	63.70
XXXX	Sample Holding 8	0.82%	+70.80%	84.80
XXXX	Sample Holding 9	0.87%	+137.56%	74.70
XXXX	Sample Holding 10	0.88%	+114.78%	87.60
XXXX	Sample Holding 11	0.89%	+39.10%	91.80
XXXX	Sample Holding 12	0.88%	+125.70%	85.90
XXXX	Sample Holding 13	0.80%	+38.63%	93.10
XXXX	Sample Holding 14	0.84%	-6.67%	77.70
XXXX	Sample Holding 15	0.83%	+73.69%	91.40
XXXX	Sample Holding 16	0.82%	+41.67%	70.80
XXXX	Sample Holding 17	0.84%	+25.62%	93.50
XXXX	Sample Holding 18	0.82%	-68.39%	85.20
XXXX	Sample Holding 19	0.88%	+121.04%	95.60
XXXX	Sample Holding 20	0.87%	+129.56%	81.30

Members Only

1-20 of 103

Growth of $100,000.00

01/2006 - 06/2026

Annualized Return: 10.21%
Sharpe Ratio: 0.71
Sortino Ratio: 0.93
Max Drawdown: -40.85%
Alpha: 0.85%
Beta: 0.99

General Info

Period: 2006-01-01 - 2026-06-22
Benchmark: MSCI Minimum Volatility (USMV:USA)
Universe: Liquid North Atlantic
Number of Positions: 100
Rebalance Frequency: Every 4 Weeks
Annual Turnover: 12.68%(~13 trades/yr)
Overall Winners: (257/397) 64.74%
Correlation to Benchmark: 0.95

Performance by Calendar Year

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

2024

2025

2026**

Model

+2.33

+11.68

+20.75

-3.53

+25.34

+5.61

+21.35

-9.66

+17.98

+7.97

+13.65

+4.32

Bench

+5.43

+10.59

+18.89

+1.34

+27.68

+5.65

+20.84

-9.43

+10.34

+15.74

+7.65

+0.81

Excess

-3.10

+1.09

+1.87

-4.87

-2.34

-0.03

+0.50

-0.23

+7.64

-7.77

+6.00

+3.51

Positive returnNegative return

* from 01/02/06·** to 06/19/26

Advanced Metrics

Information Ratio: 0.08
Calmar Ratio: 0.25
Volatility: 12.53%
Ulcer Index: 7.85%

Recent Trades

As of 2026-06-22

The most recent simulated buys and sells from the latest rebalances.

Type	Ticker	Date	Age	Value	Weight
Buy	XXXX	Jun 15	7d	$27.5K	0.3%
Buy	XXXX	Jun 8	14d	$161.9K	0.8%
Buy	XXXX	Jun 1	21d	$126K	2.3%
Buy	XXXX	May 25	28d	$52.1K	2.6%
Buy	XXXX	May 18	1mo	$109.2K	3.0%
Buy	XXXX	May 11	1mo	$110.7K	1.7%
Buy	XXXX	May 4	2mo	$36.8K	2.1%
Buy	XXXX	Apr 27	2mo	$146.9K	3.0%
Buy	XXXX	Apr 20	2mo	$138.5K	1.9%
Buy	XXXX	Apr 13	2mo	$76.1K	1.7%

Type	Ticker	Date	Age	Value	Weight	Return
Sell	XXXX	Jun 15	7d	$301K	1.0%	+28%
Sell	XXXX	Jun 8	14d	$115.8K	1.7%	+55%
Sell	XXXX	Jun 1	21d	$104.6K	3.0%	+13%
Sell	XXXX	May 25	28d	$16.5K	0.8%	+3.7%
Sell	XXXX	May 18	1mo	$21.7K	1.0%	+11%
Sell	XXXX	May 11	1mo	$192.7K	1.0%	-10%
Sell	XXXX	May 4	2mo	$167.5K	0.4%	-21%
Sell	XXXX	Apr 27	2mo	$175K	1.4%	+7.7%
Sell	XXXX	Apr 20	2mo	$6.8K	0.7%	-23%
Sell	XXXX	Apr 13	2mo	$98.9K	0.6%	-17%

★ Members Only ★

See the latest trades

The simulated buys and sells from the latest rebalances are free for members. Log in or create a free account to unlock them.

Currency: USD
Starting Capital: $100,000
Sizing: Equal weights
Position Size: 1% each
Positions: 100
Rebalance: Every 4 weeks

Universe

This strategy uses the Liquid North Atlantic universe. It is broader than the MSCI Minimum Volatility benchmark universe, while the ranking system supplies the defensive risk, quality, balance sheet, valuation, and investment-discipline tilt.

Position Sizing

The simulated portfolio targets 100 long positions at about 1% each and rebalances every 4 weeks. A 30% buy constraint lets each purchase flex around the target weight, so small cash differences do not block a trade. Immediate buyback is disabled.

Buy Rules

New buys must be liquid and reasonably sized: 63-day average daily dollar volume above $5 million, market cap above $5 billion, and proposed trade size below 5% of 20-day average daily volume. The model also caps concentration by requiring sector weight below 25% and industry weight below 8%, then rejects names with high one-year correlation to the existing portfolio through MaxCorrel(251,5) < 0.85.

Sell Rules

Holdings are sold when the defensive rank falls below 80, which removes stocks whose risk, quality, balance sheet, value, or investment-discipline profile has weakened. The strategy also exits positions that fall below the liquidity and size floors: 63-day average daily dollar volume under $3 million or market cap under $3 billion.

Trading Costs

Trades fill at the average of the next high, low, and twice the close, with $0.005 per share commission and no management fee. Variable slippage is included, and the model does not use margin.

Bias Controls

The backtest uses point-in-time data with preliminary fundamentals, so each rebalance only sees information that would have been available at that date. The universe includes delisted stocks and historical constituents, which helps reduce survivorship bias instead of testing only companies that survived to today.

About these models

These are illustrative backtests, not portfolios to copy. They show how a hypothetical strategy built on the ranking might have behaved after rebalancing rules, trading costs, timing, and position sizing are layered on top. Results are not actual trading returns, not investment advice, and do not guarantee future performance. We validate that each ranking can sort stocks within its universe in a historically useful way, but a good ranking can still lead to better or worse outcomes once it becomes a tradable model.

This top 500 defensive stocks list is built for investors researching lower-volatility, cash-generative companies rather than high-beta cyclicals. It favors lower realized volatility, lower beta, durable profitability, earnings quality, manageable leverage, shareholder return, reasonable valuation, and restrained asset growth.

Each stock is scored from 0 to 100 across defensive risk profile, business quality, balance sheet resilience, conservative value and payout, and conservative investment. Higher block scores are better. The final score is the weighted blend of those blocks, so the list does not rely only on low beta or sector labels.

Ranking System

Every stock in the universe is scored 0 to 100 across five composites: defensive risk profile, business quality, balance sheet resilience, conservative value and payout, and conservative investment. The factor scores roll up into the block scores in the table above, and the weighted total drives the final rank for this defensive stocks list.

Risk Profile35%Quality25%Resilience20%Value & Payout15%Investment5%

Defensive Risk Profile35% weight

Favors stocks with lower three-year and one-year weekly realized volatility, lower three-year beta, and positive 12-month momentum that skips the most recent month.

Three Year Weekly Volatility
One Year Weekly Volatility
Beta3Y
Twelve Minus One Month Total Return

Business Quality25% weight

Scores durable profitability, earnings quality, and Piotroski fundamental strength.

ROI 5Y Average
Gross Margin 5Y Average
Operating Margin 5Y Average
Accruals To Assets

Balance Sheet Resilience20% weight

Prefers lower leverage and stronger solvency or coverage ratios.

Debt To Capital
Debt To Assets
Interest Coverage TTM
Interest Coverage 5Y Average

Conservative Value And Payout15% weight

Balances shareholder yield and free cash flow yield with reasonable EV/EBITDA and P/E checks.

Shareholder Yield
FCF Yield
EV To EBITDA TTM
P/E Excluding Extraordinary Items TTM

Conservative Investment5% weight

Penalizes aggressive asset growth, favoring companies that have not expanded the asset base too quickly.

Total Asset Growth

Defensive Stocks FAQ

What are defensive stocks?

Defensive stocks are companies whose sales, cash flows, and share prices may be less sensitive to economic cycles than highly cyclical businesses. They often come from consumer staples, healthcare, utilities, telecom, waste management, and selected service or infrastructure-like industries.

Are defensive stocks the same as defense stocks?

No. Defensive stocks are companies with steadier demand, lower cyclicality, or lower volatility. Defense stocks usually means aerospace and military contractors. Some defense contractors can have defensive traits, but the search intents are different.

What are the best defensive stocks right now?

The table highlights the current top 500 defensive stocks from the latest published strategy snapshot. It is a ranked research list, not a personal recommendation or a guaranteed list of stocks to buy.

Are defensive stocks and recession-proof stocks the same thing?

Not exactly. Recession-proof stocks is a common search phrase, but no stock is truly recession-proof. This ranking looks for recession-resistant traits such as steadier revenue, positive free cash flow, lower beta, lower volatility, manageable leverage, and less cyclical industry exposure.

How does this defensive stock ranking work?

The strategy uses the Liquid North Atlantic universe, then ranks stocks across defensive risk profile, business quality, balance sheet resilience, conservative value and payout, and conservative investment discipline.

What does the Defensive Stocks ranking measure?

Each stock receives a 0 to 100 score across defensive risk profile, business quality, balance sheet resilience, conservative value and payout, and conservative investment. The final score is the weighted blend of those blocks.

Are defensive stocks always safe?

No. Defensive businesses can still be overpriced, overleveraged, disrupted, or exposed to company-specific problems. This ranking is a research shortlist, not a claim that the stocks cannot lose money.

Are these defensive stocks to buy?

No. This page is for research and education only. Searches for defensive stocks to buy usually need a second step: company-specific due diligence, valuation work, risk review, position sizing, and fit with your own investment process.

Are low beta stocks always defensive?

No. Low beta can help identify stocks with lower historical market sensitivity, but it is not enough by itself. This ranking combines beta with realized volatility, intermediate momentum, durable profitability, earnings quality, balance sheet resilience, conservative valuation, shareholder yield, and asset-growth discipline.

How often is the defensive stocks ranking updated?

The ranking is designed to update regularly. Check the as-of date above the table to see how current the listed stocks are.

More Rankings & Systems

Quality investing

Quality Stocks

A broad quality ranking focused on profitability, margins, free cash flow quality, durability, solvency, and accounting quality.

Dividend quality

Dividend Stocks

A complementary ranking focused on payout safety, dividend growth, balance sheet strength, and valuation.

Value investing

Undervalued Stocks

A broader value ranking that adds multi-measure valuation, earnings quality, financial strength, and conservative investment blocks.

Feedback

Spot something confusing, stale, or worth improving? Send feedback on the ranking, strategy assumptions, holdings table, or explanation.

Research & Backtest Disclaimer

These rankings are research shortlists, not investment advice, personalized recommendations, or offers to buy or sell securities. They do not account for your objectives, risk tolerance, taxes, time horizon, portfolio, or personal financial situation.

Backtests and simulations are historical models, not live results or guarantees of future performance. Data, assumptions, transaction costs, liquidity, turnover, taxes, and implementation can materially change actual outcomes. Verify current company data and do your own due diligence before making any investment decision.