The top stock picks for 2021 from William Blair included Uber and Ulta Beauty

Published Mon, Dec 28 202011:54 AM ESTUpdated Mon, Dec 28 202012:55 PM EST

(This story is for CNBC Pro subscribers only.) The stock market will likely keep ascending on the back of an economic recovery next year, and some companies are well-positioned to lead the comeback rally, according to Wall Street firm William Blair. In the large-cap space, the firm is bullish on Uber in 2021. The stock has rallied more than 70% this year thanks to its stable food delivery business, which created a hedge against its declining ride-hailing revenue. "Uber had triple-digit Delivery gross bookings growth year-over-year in last two quarters and is modeled to continue in the fourth quarter," the analysts said. Its mobility segment "is rebounding off pandemic lows — doubling gross bookings sequentially in the third quarter. ... The bottom line is, in our view, there is upside to 2021." William Blair also has a high conviction on cloud software company Workday , which has seen its stock rise nearly 50% this year. The Wall Street firm said Workday will continue to benefit from increased cloud adoption from companies in the years ahead. "Although the workforce will eventually return to the office, we believe that large enterprises are becoming more willing to replace legacy on-premises [enterprise resource management] systems and that Workday stands to benefit on the HCM [human resources system] and financials front," the analyst said. On the mid-cap front, William Blair likes Ulta Beauty and Planet Fitness among others. The firm said Ulta Beauty will see a rebound in demand for cosmetics as the vaccines eventually lead to more social events and gatherings. Shares of Ulta are up about 9% this year, underperforming the broader market. "The beauty industry as a whole should experience solid growth in 2021 following a pandemic-challenged 2020," the analysts said. "As vaccines roll out in the next several months and the world returns to "normal," we believe that beauty will be among the first categories to rebound given its inherent social characteristics." Gym company Planet Fitness is also well-positioned for a recovery as things start to go back to normal, William Blair said. The stock is up only 3% as its locations were forced to shut down due to the pandemic. "We believe Planet Fitness's stock is poised to perform well in 2021, and project a return to member growth and accelerating unit development translating to record profitability," the analysts said. In the small-cap universe, the firm recommends Accolade , Valmont Industries and Eventbrite.

A pedestrian walks by a sign in front of the Uber headquarters on May 18, 2020 in San Francisco, California.

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(This story is for CNBC Pro subscribers only.)

The stock market will likely keep ascending on the back of an economic recovery next year, and some companies are well-positioned to lead the comeback rally, according to Wall Street firm William Blair.