With 2025 on the horizon, investors are sharpening their concentrate on the 12 months ahead, choosing portfolio additions that aim to bring solid returns.
“There may be reason to be bullish,” says Jordan Jackson, a JPMorgan strategist covering the markets. He highlights positive trends in inflation and rates of interest, noting that consumer spending is more likely to respond in kind. “I feel over the course of next 12 months, we should always proceed to see consumers begin to feel a bit bit more confident about their wallet share and what they can spend,” Jackson added.
Meanwhile, the stock analysts at JPMorgan are beginning to reveal their top picks for 2025 – stocks the bank’s experts expect to perform well in the approaching 12 months.
We’ve turned to the TipRanks database to tug up the main points on two of their picks and have found that Wall Street shares an optimistic outlook, giving each names Strong Buy consensus rankings. Let’s take a more in-depth look.
Vistra Energy(VST)
First up is a utility-scale energy company, Vistra. This Texas-based electricity provider is the most important competitive power generation company currently working within the US market, with roughly 5 million customers and 41,000 megawatts of electrical generation capability. Vistra boasts a market cap over $48 billion, a workforce 6,800 strong, and a big selection of power facilities that features gas, coal, nuclear, and solar generation capacities. As well as, Vistra has a robust commitment to producing zero-carbon power; its nuclear power generation capability is the nation’s second-largest.
That nuclear power capability is impressive, and Vistra has been working to expand it. In March of this 12 months, Vistra accomplished a vital acquisition move, adding 4 gigawatts of nuclear power from Energy Harbor to its portfolio, together with some 1 million customers. As well as, the corporate, in July, received approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to maintain its Comanche Peak nuclear plant in operation for an additional 20 years, through 2053.
Vistra isn’t just resting on its nuclear laurels. The corporate can also be moving to expand its natural gas-fueled power production capabilities. It announced earlier this 12 months an intention to extend ‘dispatchable, natural gas-fueled electricity capability’ by greater than 2,000 megawatts. The corporate already added greater than 200 megawatts of upgrades in the course of the second quarter of the 12 months. The rise in gas-powered capability is meant to enhance Vistra’s grid reliability.
On the financial side, Vistra saw $6.28 billion in revenues during 3Q24,a figure that was up 54% year-over-year and beat the forecast by a powerful $1.27 billion. At the underside line, the corporate realized $1.84 billion in net income. The corporate has a robust money position, and generated $1.7 billion in money from operations within the quarter.
Writing on Vistra for JPM, 5-star analyst Jeremy Tonet sees loads of potential in the corporate, based on its strong production capability. He says, “Top pick VST offers the optimal mixture of all angles, in our view. We see very attractive upside from current levels, with a healthy step up in a blue sky scenario. Along with nuclear upside, we see meaningful gas power leverage for VST, particularly as islanded gas in West TX (with the gas bottleneck wall moving east across TX) and Appalachia should support spark spreads, particularly given Permian electrification demand growth and a terrific call on gas attributable to PJM tightening.”
Quantifying this stance, Tonet puts an Obese (i.e. Buy) rating on the stock, with a $178 price goal that suggests a 28.5% gain within the 12 months ahead. (To observe Tonet’s track record, click here)
The Strong Buy consensus rating on Vistra is unanimous, based on 10 recent positive analyst reviews. The shares are trading for $138.46, and the $156 average price goal suggests that the stock could see a one-year gain of nearly 12.5%. (See VST stock forecast)
EverQuote(EVER)
The second stock we’ll take a look at is EverQuote, an internet insurance marketplace. EverQuote’s platform connects the players within the insurance industry, allowing agents and agencies to publicize their offerings and buyers to browse, contact, and select. The corporate’s umbrella covers most elements of the insurance industry, including such major products as life insurance, automotive and vehicle insurance, and residential and renter insurance.
The platform is designed to be intuitive and straightforward to make use of. Agents can post policies, together with pricing, and buyers can use search functions to locate insurance products and specific pricing points. These services are provided for gratis; Everquote takes its own fees after policies are purchased, in the shape of fees paid by the insurance policy issuers.
EverQuote relies in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where it was founded in 2011. Since then, the corporate has built up a market cap of $713 million. Last 12 months, EverQuote brought in $287.92 million in total revenue – and the corporate has already surpassed that total by a large margin this 12 months.
That was clear from the Q3 financial results. EverQuote saw quarterly revenues of $144.54 million, beating the forecast by $4.19 million and growing by a powerful 162.8% from the prior-year period. The corporate realized a bottom line figure of 31 cents per share, or 10 cents per share higher than had been expected. Looking ahead, EverQuote published Q4 revenue guidance within the range of $131 million to $136 million, which might mark year-over-year growth of 140% on the midpoint.
This stock is roofed by JPM’s Cody Carpenter, who notes each the strong Q3 results and the solid prospects going forward, writing, “EVER reached record revenue and profit in 3Q, but expects healthy Auto carrier growth to proceed in 2025 as more states re-open and carrier spend broadens. EVER shares have traded down 28% since 2Q earnings (vs. RTY +9%) on investor concern that the auto carrier recovery is usually played out and uncertainty across the pending 1×1 consent rule, but we predict the insurance cycle still has more room to run with impact from the 1×1 consent change manageable.”
Carpenter goes on to stipulate where he thinks this stock will go, adding, “We expect one other 12 months of outsized industry growth in 2025, and while the magnitude of beats/raises likely moderates going forward, we’re still increasing our 2025/26 revenue by a healthy ~5% and our adj. EBITDA by 8%/13%, with our estimates above the Street’s. We reiterate our Obese rating and EVER stays a top pick.”
The stated Obese (i.e. Buy) rating is accompanied by a $28 price goal that points toward a one-year upside potential of 49%. (To observe Carpenter’s track record, click here)
All in all, it’s clear that Wall Street agrees with Carpenter’s call on this. The stock has 6 recent analyst reviews on file, 5 Buys and a single Hold, making the consensus a Strong Buy. With a mean price goal of $31 and a current trading price of $18.81, this stock shows a one-year upside of 65%. (See EverQuote stock forecast)
To search out good ideas for stocks trading at attractive valuations, visit TipRanks’ Best Stocks to Buy, a tool that unites all of TipRanks’ equity insights.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this text are solely those of the featured analysts. The content is meant for use for informational purposes only. It is vitally necessary to do your personal evaluation before making any investment.
