In this article, we will discuss the 10 Best S&P 500 Stocks to Buy According to Hedge Funds.
As per AXA Investment Managers, the US dominated financial markets this year. The investment firm believes that the broader economy has been stronger than anticipated with GDP growth running at an annualized rate of 3.0% in Q2. The blue-chip benchmark, S&P 500 index, has surged ~22% on a YTD basis. Also, the US fixed-income markets saw strong returns. Overall, the financial markets were supported by the success of the US Fed in dealing with inflation.
Interest rates have started to move lower, with credit markets reflecting the strength of the broader US corporate sector, per AXA Investment Managers. At the start of October 2024, the investment firm mentioned that a 50:50 allocation to the S&P 500 Growth equity index and the ICE US High Yield bond index might have resulted in a return of ~18% YTD.
S&P 500 Index – The Road Ahead
Forbes believes that the prevailing outlook for 2025 is cautious optimism. While the momentum in technology innovation, together with the environment of lower interest rates, should help the broader S&P 500 index, investors are required to be wary of certain risks. These include elevated valuations, global tensions, and uncertainty regarding the US presidential election.
According to ClientFirst Wealth, Legacy & Estate Planning, which is an independent, fee-only registered investment advisor (RIA), the ongoing innovation in AI and lower rates should help the S&P 500 Index see growth in the range of 14.5% – 19.6%. Another firm, Running Point Capital Advisors, expects the S&P 500 to see an increase of 7% – 11% in 2025, with some volatility. As per the company, the influencing factors include economic growth, expansion in earnings, higher mergers and acquisitions activity, and a favorable interest rate environment.
READ ALSO: 7 Best Stocks to Buy For Long-Term and 8 Cheap Jim Cramer Stocks to Invest In.
Sectors To Keep on Radar
Forbes highlighted that investors are required to keep certain sectors, like technology, healthcare, and energy, on the radar in 2025. As per IDC, worldwide spending on AI, which includes AI-enabled applications, infrastructure, and associated IT and business services, should more than double by 2028 to reach $632 billion. The incorporation of AI, and generative AI (GenAI) in particular, in a range of products should result in a CAGR of ~29.0% over 2024-2028, which should help the broader technology sector.
Definitive Healthcare believes that investors should see more device makers and pharmaceutical companies jump on the D2C bandwagon in 2025. Also, ICRA, a Credit Rating Agency, expects a strong financial outlook for the broader hospital industry in FY 2025. The optimistic outlook stems from the increasing incidence of non-communicable lifestyle diseases, a rise in per capita healthcare spending, increased medical tourism, and penetration of health insurance.
US Energy Information Administration, in its short-term energy outlook report (October 2024), mentioned that the summer temperatures this year were warmer in the US as compared to last summer, mainly in the upper Midwest and Northeast regions, which supported pushing up the US electricity demand. EIA expects 2% more U.S. sales of electricity to ultimate customers in 2024 as compared to 2023, followed by another 2% expected growth in 2025. Overall, it expects electricity sales to increase throughout economic sectors. It projects that commercial electricity sales will rise by 3% this year followed by a 1% growth in 2025.
With all of these trends in context, let’s take a look at the 10 Best S&P 500 Stocks to Buy According to Hedge Funds.
A professional financial analyst studying data on a computer, illustrating the company’s index investment decisions.
Our Methodology
To list the 10 Best S&P 500 Stocks to Buy According to Hedge Funds, we extracted the stocks from the S&P 500 index. After getting the list, stocks that were the most popular among hedge funds were chosen. Finally, the stocks were arranged in the ascending order of their hedge fund sentiment, as of Q2 2024.
Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points (see more details here).
10 Best S&P 500 Stocks to Buy According to Hedge Funds
10) Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)
Number of Hedge Fund Holdings: 85
Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) is engaged in designing, developing, manufacturing, leasing, and selling EVs, and is also involved in the energy generation and storage systems markets.
Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)’s pivot from traditional vehicle sales and manufacturing to a focus on AI and autonomous driving technologies should continue to drive topline growth over the near term. The company took steps to increase the adoption of FSD. While Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) plans to launch FSD in China, it reaffirms its commitment to the global expansion of this technology.
Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)’s global manufacturing footprint, given the facilities in the US, China, and Germany, offers it economies of scale and the ability to serve several markets efficiently. Moreover, the company has the largest charging infrastructure in the industry, which should continue to act as a significant competitive advantage as EV adoption grows. Market experts believe that the success of Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)’s Robotaxi service and the adoption of its FSD technology should act as potential catalysts for future growth.
Through leveraging the current fleet of vehicles equipped with FSD hardware, Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) can deploy a large-scale autonomous ride-hailing service, which should help it capture a significant share of the global Robotaxi market. This transition will shift the company from mainly a vehicle manufacturer to a mobility services provider, which can result in generating high-margin recurring revenue streams.
Morgan Stanley reissued an “Overweight” rating on shares of the company, setting a $310.00 price target on 3rd October. Baron Funds, an investment management company, released its third quarter 2024 investor letter. Here is what the fund said:
Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) designs, manufactures, and sells EVs, related software and components, and solar and energy storage products. Tesla shares contributed to performance during the quarter, reflecting increased investor confidence and optimism in Tesla’s AI initiatives, stabilization in the company’s industrial operations, including strong growth in its energy segment, and the anticipated launch of new vehicle models in the first half of 2025. After years of industry-wide investments in autonomous vehicles, advancements in AI technology have accelerated the development of autonomous driving technology. Tesla deployed its AI-based Full Self Driving (FSD) solution last year and has demonstrated rapid improvements in driving performance. It has articulated a goal of achieving nearly a 20-fold improvement in miles driven between critical disengagements – soon exceeding 10,000 miles – over a two-month period this fall.
AI relies on vast amounts of high-quality data and computational power, and we believe Tesla possesses distinct assets that will serve as a strong foundation for its AI initiatives. Since 2016, every Tesla vehicle produced has been outfitted with cameras and essential hardware, resulting in millions of connected cars globally that gather data from billions of miles driven each year by the Tesla fleet. This rich and unique dataset is invaluable for FSD training. Tesla is also differentiating with its AI training compute factory. Tesla finished 2023 with close to 15,000 NVIDIA H100 chip equivalents in training computation power. By the second quarter of 2024, it doubled this capacity. In the third quarter, the company activated its advanced training data center in Texas, which should allow the company to harness up to 90,000 H100 equivalent compute power by the end of 2024 – six times the compute capacity it had at the beginning of the year and by far the world’s largest autonomous driving training cluster. Unlike any other automotive company, Tesla is investing billions of profits generated by its automotive segment in its AI initiatives aiming to capture material share in lucrative markets of autonomy and robotics…” (Click here to read the full text)
9) Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 95
Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) is engaged in the operation of retail, wholesale, and e-Commerce worldwide.
Wall Street believes that Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)’s long-term growth is expected to be aided by its competitive advantages, which stem from the cost advantage and scale-based efficiencies and capabilities. The company’s strategic initiatives and growth drivers revolve around private label development, technology and automation, international growth, among others. Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) has been expanding its private label offerings, which include the introduction of “bettergoods” at Walmart U.S. as well as strengthening the “Member’s Mark” brand at Sam’s Club. Such initiatives should improve brand loyalty and drive sales.
Notably, significant investments in supply chain automation and in-store technology are expected to reduce costs and improve operational efficiency. Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) continues to focus on high-margin businesses like Walmart Marketplace, Walmart Connect (advertising), and financial services to fuel profitability. The company’s focus on developing alternative profit streams, including digital advertising and financial services, offers a strong opportunity for margin expansion.
Over the long term, the company’s focus on price leadership, enhanced assortment, and convenience via digital and delivery services should continue to act as tailwinds. Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)’s value proposition is now beyond just price competitiveness as convenience is becoming an increasingly crucial factor for consumers. Analysts at UBS Group upped their price target on the shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) from $81.00 to $92.00, giving a “Buy” rating on 11th October.