Apple Is the Best-Performing "Magnificent Seven" Stock This Year. But It Has Still Lagged This Unassuming Dividend Stock (That Remains a Top Buy Now).

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) is checking off a lot of boxes that investors like to see this year. Its new line of iPhone devices is turning heads, building on the momentum it generated with last fall's iPhone 17 rollout. Later this week, Apple kicks off fiscal 2027, which analysts expect to culminate with the consumer tech tastemaker posting back-to-back years of double-digit revenue growth for the first time in 15 years.

The market is rewarding the uptick in top-line growth, sending Apple to an all-time high last week. Its 25% year-to-date increase may not seem like a lot, but the class act of Cupertino is this year's top gainer among the "Magnificent Seven" giants.

There is a surprising dividend stock that is doing even better. Target (NYSE: TGT) is up a blistering 61% in 2026. It's well ahead of Apple's performance, and absolutely trouncing the other Magnificent Seven members. It's the underdog story nobody expected, but let's dive into why the mass-market retailer remains a buy, even after it has more than quadrupled the market's gains this year.

Image source: Apple.

It's a moving Target

Target isn't raising the bar the way that Apple is with its new $1,999 foldable iPhone that's hitting the market next month. However, a year ago, the market did think that the chain was the one about to fold.

Target stock was cut in half over the previous four years, with negative sales growth in the last three of those fiscal years. After decades of successfully building out its "cheap chic" empire, Target was losing both market share and its identity.

This year has been remarkable for a company with a bullseye logo in the storefront of every store that had been missing the mark in recent years. It brought in a new CEO, but the market initially dismissed Michael Fiddelke's appointment. He was a longtime insider. Would 2026 be more of the same for the struggling chain?

Fiddelke came in as an agent of change. He has a four-pillar plan to turn Target around. He's budgeting for $2 billion in incremental operational improvements and store renovations.

Timing is everything. His ascent to CEO became official in February. Target's been on a roll ever since. Sales and comps turned positive. There have been upward earnings revisions. Naturally, it's too early to pin the turnaround on his ambitious turnaround plan. He's lucky. Now he needs to prove that he's good.

I like Fiddelke's chances. The right turnaround plan at the start of an organic reversal can be like fuel on a birthday cake with lit candles. In the meantime, you have a business that has managed 55 consecutive years of dividend hikes. Despite the strong year-to-date chart, Target still yields a robust 2.95%. That is more than the yield of all the Magnificent Seven stocks combined. With its profit targets rising, the retailer is trading at a more-than-reasonable 15 times this fiscal year's earnings estimates.

Target is cheap. It's now chic. It's still a top buy in 2026.

Rick Munarriz has positions in Apple. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Apple and Target. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.