In recent years, particularly under the current administration as of early 2026, the U.S. government has shifted toward some direct equity investments and partnerships in strategic private companies, often framed as efforts to bolster national security, reduce reliance on foreign supply chains (especially from China), and support key industries like semiconductors and critical minerals. This approach has been likened across Wall Street to an informal “American sovereign wealth fund” and has led the government to acquire significant stakes in certain publicly traded firms. With the government acting as a backstop, these stocks may be very compelling for investors.
The moves by the government and President Trump are tied to public-private partnerships, loans, offtake agreements, and national security priorities, which have sparked both market enthusiasm, driving share price gains in recipient companies, and debate over government intervention in free markets. The portfolio continues to expand, with a focus on sectors vital to defense, AI, electric vehicles, and energy independence. We screened the list of companies and then cross-referenced them in our 24/7 Wall St. research database, which shows that all are rated Buy by top Wall Street firms we cover.
Cameco
Based in Canada, this top company pays a small 0.15% dividend and supplies products to nuclear reactors used to generate electricity. Cameco Corp. (NYSE: CCJ) is a provider of uranium fuel for generating baseload electricity worldwide. The Commerce Department signed a deal with Cameco and Brookfield, which also owns Westinghouse, last October to finance the construction of Westinghouse nuclear plants valued at $80 billion.
Its segments include uranium, fuel services, and Westinghouse.
The uranium segment involves the exploration for, mining, milling, purchase, and sale of uranium concentrate.
The fuel services segment includes the refining, conversion, and fabrication of uranium concentrate, as well as the purchase and sale of conversion services.
The Westinghouse segment reflects its earnings from this equity-accounted investment. Westinghouse is an original equipment manufacturer of nuclear reactor technology and a global provider of products and services to commercial utilities and government agencies.
The company provides:
- Outage and maintenance services
- Engineering support
- Instrumentation and control equipment
- Plant modifications
- Components and parts for nuclear reactors
Cameco operates two mines, Cigar Lake and McArthur River, and a mill at Key Lake. It also has ownership interests in Global Laser Enrichment.
Goldman Sachs has a Buy rating on the shares and recently raised its $115 target price to $131.
Intel
This legacy chip giant has more than doubled from its 52-week lows, but is well off the highs printed late last year. Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) designs and manufactures semiconductors. The government acquired a roughly 10% stake in Intel through an $8.9 billion conversion of CHIPS Act funding in August 2025, making the government a major shareholder in the chipmaker.
Intel operates through three segments:
- Intel Products
- Intel Foundry
- All Other
Its Intel Products segment includes:
- The Client Computing Group (CCG), which is focused on long-term operating systems, system architecture, hardware, and application integration that enable PC experiences.
- Data Center and AI (DCAI) offers workload-optimized solutions for cloud service providers and enterprise customers, as well as silicon devices for communications service providers.
- Network and Edge (NEX) helps networks and edge compute systems transition from inflexible, fixed-function hardware to general-purpose compute, acceleration, and networking devices that run cloud-native software on programmable hardware.
The Intel Foundry segment comprises:
- Foundry Technology Development
- Foundry Manufacturing and Supply Chain
- Foundry Services organizations
The All Other segment includes Altera and Mobileye.
Tigress Financial has a Buy rating with a $66 target price.
L3Harris Technologies
This is an excellent industrial/defense stock to own now, and also pays shareholders a reliable 1.41% dividend. L3Harris Technologies Inc. (NYSE: LHX) provides end-to-end technology solutions that connect the space, air, land, sea, and cyber domains in support of national security. In a landmark deal announced on January 13, 2026, the Pentagon agreed to invest $1 billion in L3Harris’s Missile Solutions business via convertible preferred securities.
The funding aims to expand production of solid rocket motors that power key missile systems, including Tomahawk, Patriot (PAC-3), THAAD, and Standard Missiles. Under the terms, the investment will automatically convert into common equity upon an initial public offering (IPO) of the spun-off division planned for the second half of 2026, with L3Harris retaining majority ownership and control, while the government secures a single-digit stake to bolster domestic supply chain resilience.
Its segments include:
- Space & Airborne Systems (SAS)
- Integrated Mission Systems (IMS)
- Communication Systems (CS)
- Aerojet Rocketdyne (AR)
The SAS segment supplies complete mission solutions as a prime and subsystem integrator in the space, airborne, and cyber domains.
The IMS segment delivers differentiated mission capabilities and prime systems integration to support:
- Intelligence
- Reconnaissance, and surveillance (ISR)
- Passive sensing and targeting
- Electronic attack
- Autonomy
- Power and communications
- Networks and sensors
CS enables warfighters across all domains with solutions critical to mission success, even in contested environments.
The AR segment provides propulsion, power, and armament products and systems.
Citigroup has a Buy rating with a huge $418 target price.
Lithium Americas
Trading below $5 with a sought-after product, this could be a huge home run for investors. Lithium Americas Corp. (NYSE: LAC) is a Canada-based lithium company. The company focused on developing, building, and operating lithium deposits and chemical processing facilities.
Lithium America’s flagship asset is Thacker Pass, a sedimentary-based lithium deposit located in the McDermitt Caldera in Humboldt County, in northern Nevada. The company is focused on developing the 100%-owned Thacker Pass lithium project in northern Nevada.
Thacker Pass is approximately 100 kilometers (km) north-northwest of Winnemucca, Nevada, approximately 33 km west-northwest of Orovada, Nevada, and 33 km due south of the Oregon border.
The Thacker Pass area encompasses approximately 7,900 hectares and lies within and is surrounded by public lands. The company’s subsidiaries are LAC Management, Lithium Nevada Ventures, KV Project, and others.
Jefferies has a Buy rating with a $7 target.
MP Materials
Headquartered in Las Vegas, this company operates the only rare earth mine in the United States. MP Materials Corp. (NYSE: MP) produces specialty materials vital to electrification and other advanced technologies. In July 2025, the government, through the Department of Defense, secured domestic rare-earth production. The Pentagon acquired a $400 million position of preferred stock, with warrants to purchase additional shares.
The company owns and operates the Mountain Pass Rare Earth Mine and Processing Facility (Mountain Pass) located in California. Its Materials segment operates Mountain Pass, which produces refined rare-earth products, rare-earth concentrate, and related products. The Materials segment primarily generates revenue from sales of rare earth concentrate, sold for further distribution to a single principal customer in China, and from sales of neodymium-praseodymium oxide and metal, sold to customers in Japan, South Korea, and broader Asia.
It is also developing a rare-earth metals, alloys, and magnet manufacturing facility in Fort Worth, Texas (Independence Facility), where it produces magnetic precursor products.
BMO has an Outperform rating with a large $76 target price.
Trilogy Metals
This is another stock that could attract traders and investors priced below $5. Trilogy Metals Inc. (NYSE: TMQ) is a metal exploration and development company. The government acquired a 10% stake in the company, including warrants to purchase additional shares, which could add another 7.5%.
Trilogy Metals holds a 50% interest in Ambler Metals, which holds a 100% interest in the Upper Kobuk Mineral Projects (UKMP) in northwestern Alaska. The UKMP is located within the Ambler Mining District, a well-known, copper-dominant district worldwide. It hosts polymetallic volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) deposits containing copper, zinc, lead, gold, and silver, as well as carbonate replacement deposits.
Its exploration focuses on two deposits in the Ambler Mining District: the Arctic VMS deposit and the Bornite carbonate-replacement deposit. Both deposits are located within a land package that spans approximately 190,929 hectares. The Arctic deposit is a polymetallic VMS deposit located more than 470 km northwest of Fairbanks, Alaska. The Bornite deposit is a carbonate-hosted copper-cobalt deposit located near Kobuk, Alaska, and is approximately 25 km southwest of the Arctic Project.
Cantor Fitzgerald has a Buy rating with a $10 target price.
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