following the federal reserves most recent interest rate hike investors are becoming increasingly worried that the central bank will push the us into recession to tame high inflation to protect their assets and potentially continue to see gains investors are looking to pivot their portfolios into stocks that are poised to outperform during recessions some names such as defensives are wellpositioned to withstand economic weakness and some are liked by wall street to determine a list of such stocks to withstand a potential downturn from the tightening cnbc pro screed the s  p 1500 for companies with at least five analysts covering them that have gained in value during the last three recessions – in 2020 20072009 and 2001 then we found the stocks where analysts expect an upside of at least 10 in the next year the list includes a solid group of defensive names and early cyclical plays the stock that gained the most in the 2020 recession w as royal gold inc a precious metals company the defensive name also has a healthy increase to analysts target price – wall street sees the company surging more than 19 in the coming year southwestern energy is the only energy company on the list but it has the largest upside to its target price analysts see the stock surging more than 68 in the coming year even after its gained 34 this year in energys boom some stocks on the list have slumped year to date especially technology names semtech and skyworks down nearly 67 and 37 respectively healthcare companies illumina and edwards life sciences have fallen nearly 45 and 415 this year as well that could provide good buying opportunities for investors looking to snap up shares at a discount analysts see semtech gaining more than 43 next year and put potential gains for skyworks illumina and edward life sciences at 123 186 and 168 technology company qualcomm is an interesting name on the list especially following its weak quarterly earnings where it offered downbeat fourthquarter guidance and said it was implementing a hiring freeze at the start of the quarter still wall street is bullish on the stock which has shed more than 33 this year and sees a potential 23 gain in 2023 credit suisse recently initiated coverage on qualcomm with an outperform rating and nearly 20 upside  the analysts said that qualcomm has more shortterm security than other semiconductor names as investors have priced in all bad news overall analysts are bullish on semis longterm it could also be an early cyclical win meaning that investors may bet on the stock when they see signs that an economic comeback is on the horizon the fed delivered a 05 percentage point hike wednesday raising its benchmark rate to the highest level in 15 years the federal open market committees chart of expected rate movements also signaled more increases on the horizon – the terminal rate where the fed expects to end rate hikes is now expected to hit 51 in 2023