Covista is among the small-cap stocks Ariel Investments’ John Rogers is currently focusing on as the artificial intelligence trade continues sucking all the oxygen out of the market. Rogers, Ariel’s chairman, co-CEO and chief investment officer, noted on CNBC’s ” Power Lunch ” on Thursday that in his career, he’s never seen as much short-term volatility as the AI trade is currently creating in the market. “I think the broad, broad market is expensive, driven by the AI craze,” Rogers said during the interview, conducted in Chicago from the trading floor of the Cboe. “Us value investors have been suffering as these hot companies just go booming higher and higher and higher. I do think that the AI craze will end the same way things ended at the end of the century, when the internet bubble finally burst.” To that end, Rogers listed Covista as one Chicago-based small-cap stock he’s currently bullish on. “Covista is a for-profit education company focused primarily on educating doctors and nurses. As you know, throughout the world there’s a shortage of nurses, a shortage of doctors, and having a great for-profit company like Covista to be able to bring that education is really, really important,” Rogers said. “Stephen Beard, the CEO, has done a fabulous job of getting them on track, and we still think there’s a lot of room to run for this great Chicago company.” CVSA YTD mountain Covista in 2026 Shares of Covista have surged 20% this year. Rogers also pointed to Lazard and Carlyle Group as two financial stocks he likes within the current macroeconomic backdrop. The stocks have respectively tumbled 16% and 29% in 2026. “In the financial services sector, we’re finding some stocks have gotten incredibly cheap, and this is an environment where deals are getting done all the time, and it’s going to happen even more in this deregulated environment,” he said. Rogers highlighted Lazard as “being a premier investment banking company with a money management subsidiary.” He applauded the leadership skills of CEO Peter Orszag. “He’s brought in a lot of fresh perspectives, and Ray McGuire, one of his top deputies, is also a brilliant investor. They’re going to benefit from the deals happening,” Rogers added. McGuire is president of Lazard and co-head of financial advisory, North America. Meanwhile, Carlyle Group has been under pressure this year alongside the broader private equity industry, with Rogers noting “a lot of headlines that are discouraging people who invest in companies like Carlyle.” However, he added that the stock now appears to be trading at a cheap valuation. “These companies now are selling at 9, 10, 11 times next year’s earnings — historically very, very, very cheap,” the investor said. “A lot of value in some of these smaller, mid-sized financial services companies.” Rogers also pointed to electronics manufacturer Littelfuse and components producer Knowles as two other Chicago-based small-cap companies he currently owns. The stocks have surged about 89% and 90% this year, respectively.
