In this article, we will take a detailed look at the 10 Stocks Everyone is Talking About After Trump’s New Tariffs.
Countries are beginning to react to President Donald Trump’s new reciprocal tariffs and analysts believe things might not go according to the White House’s expectations, with American workers and consumers likely to see the impact of new duties.
Fred Kempe from Atlantic Council said in a latest program on CNBC that many countries can impose strong retaliatory tariffs against the US.
“I think we have to recognize what’s going to be implemented is going to be the highest effective tariff tariff rate since the 1930s. What also happened in the 1930s is you had new trading blocks, you had new trading partners finding their way to each other, and you could find that that happens as well. And let’s not forget what also happened in the 1930s afterwards. We hope that’s not going to happen now, but, um, you know, a trade war just really never serves, in the end, global stability, global peace.”
Kempe said investors failed to realize that Trump does not “care” about falling stock prices as he is looking to change the global trade system.
READ ALSO: 7 Best Stocks to Buy For Long-Term and 8 Cheap Jim Cramer Stocks to Invest In.
For this article, we picked 10 stocks Wall Street analysts are talking about. With each stock, we have mentioned the number of hedge fund investors. 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 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).
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10. British American Tobacco PLC (NYSE:BTI)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 24
Tim Seymour, founder and Chief Investment Officer of Seymour Asset Management, said in a latest program on CNBC that he likes British American Tobacco PLC (NYSE:BTI).
“Smoke them if you got them. British American Tobacco now. Tobacco stocks have been running, and I think this one will continue to run.”
9. Duke Energy Corp (NYSE:DUK)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 46
Jessica Inskip from StockBrokers said in a latest program on Schwab Network that she recommends Duke Energy Corp (NYSE:DUK) as a dividend play to offset volatility.
“Longer term upside potential, but what’s great when we find these neutral-type securities is a dividend play. We’re in this more for not necessarily capital appreciation, but adding some income, smoothing out that volatility, getting some cash on the sidelines. When we find a bottom, we can deploy,” she said.
8. FedEx Corp (NYSE:FDX)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 55
FedEx Corp (NYSE:FDX) shares recently cratered after the company’s disappointing outlook. However, some analysts believe the stock is a buy for long-term and patient investors.
Ariel Rosa, Senior Analyst at Citi, said in a latest program on CNBC that most of the key issues facing FedEx Corp (NYSE:FDX) stem from macroeconomic uncertainties.
“It’s always a difficult balance. Right, and you see the stock price reaction; obviously, investors are not liking this cut to the outlook. That said, look, FedEx is a cheap stock, and it has been cheap for some time. So, for us, as we look at kind of where do we go with the stock in terms of our advice to investors, we’re continuing to say, look, it’s a buying opportunity, but you’re probably going to have to wait some time to see that play out and to see that earnings growth reacelerate. Because the reality is, FedEx has been executing well. They’ve had a number of cost-cutting initiatives underway, but the reality is FedEx, like any company, really can’t avoid a disappointing macro outlook. And amidst economic challenges, obviously, they’re going to be subject to that, and especially for a company like FedEx, which really is a bit of an economic bellwether. You see that playing out in their results.
So, the disappointing outlook is not so much a function of issues internal to FedEx; it’s really more a function of this challenging macro environment. So, the stock is cheap. We do think it’s a reasonable buy here, but for investors, you might have to be patient to see that materialize in the form of a higher share price.”
Sound Shore Management stated the following regarding FedEx Corporation (NYSE:FDX) in its Q3 2024 investor letter:
“Meanwhile, detractors of note for the quarter were connected by a common theme: signs of a slowing economy. NXP Semiconductors, a leading chip maker for the auto industry, was lower on uncertain auto demand and package hauler FedEx Corporation (NYSE:FDX) lagged on muted volume trends. Importantly, both of these companies have ways to increase earnings outside of the business cycle, but are not entirely immune to the recent slowdown. Business cyclicality requires investor patience and a long-term perspective – we have both.”
7. Chevron Corp (NYSE:CVX)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 63
Josh Brown, CEO of Ritholtz Wealth Management, explained in a latest program on CNBC the reasons he’s bullish on Chevron Corp (NYSE:CVX).
“I love it. So I think basically you’ve got a stock here approaching 52-week highs, 4% dividend yield, massive buyback in place, and two major overhangs that should be going away at some point this year. Strategically important assets to America all over the world, completely in sync with the president’s agenda. Berkshire Hathaway owns 118 million shares worth about $19 billion. Chevron is the fifth largest holding at Berkshire. It comprises about 6% of their portfolio. Come along with me and Warren Buffett—let’s own some Chevron.”
The two “overhangs” Brown talked about include Chevron potentially getting an extension from Trump for its projects in Venezuela and the increasing chances of it getting approval for its Hess acquisition.
6. Freeport-McMoRan Inc (NYSE:FCX)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 74
Jim Cramer in a latest program on CNBC said he’s bullish on Freeport-McMoRan Inc (NYSE:FCX) and talked about a potential demand driver for the mining company.
“There’s a JPMorgan piece out upgrading to overweight. Now, what’s important, David, is let’s say you believe in tariffs. Let’s say that everything is going wrong and you don’t like the president, or you love the president—it doesn’t matter. Freeport could have a 400 to 450 million EBITDA tailwind from tariffs. So, let’s say you’re like, “Woo, tariffs go buy some FCX.” And by the way, Jensen Huang is saying that copper is the dominant metal that goes into the data centers. It’s not in the report. The report mostly talks about, yes, Chinese stimulus, because a lot of the—almost the majority of copper is used in China. But I really like the call. The stock’s not that expensive. Go buy it.”
Diamond Hill Large Cap Concentrated Fund stated the following regarding Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:
“Among our bottom individual contributors in Q4 were HCA Healthcare and Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX). Copper-focused mining company Freeport-McMoRan faced declining copper prices amid a generally challenging macroeconomic environment, including a strong US dollar, ongoing US-China trade tensions, the potential for increased tariffs under President-elect Trump’s administration and general post-election uncertainty.”
5. Coca-Cola Co (NYSE:KO)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 81
Jessica Inskip from StockBrokers said in a latest program on Schwab Network that she likes Coca-Cola Co (NYSE:KO) as a dividend play to offset the current market volatility
“Wanted to pull a consumer staples name, and again, this showed up on the technical scan as well. A lot of those did, which I found very, very interesting. Steady dividend and cash flow, theirs is around 3%, but they also have global exposure, and I think that’s important when we’re considering the current environment—over 200 countries. There’s this trend where it’s less alcohol consumption and more bubbly drinks that have some type of health benefit but aren’t necessarily Coca-Cola. But Coca-Cola offers more than Coca-Cola, so therefore, I think it’s a great play where we can smooth out that volatility within your overall portfolio, add some dividend, and get some cash that we can deploy.”
4. Walmart Inc (NYSE:WMT)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 88
Simeon Gutman, Morgan Stanley retail analyst, said in a latest program on CNBC that he believes Walmart Inc (NYSE:WMT) e-commerce business is close to “turning the corner” and the company will start gaining new profit from its investments in the space.
“The stock has been appreciating, the multiple’s been going up for the last year or so, so the market sensed that this moment was happening. But for all of us who follow Walmart over its lifetime, especially the last decade, this is a watershed moment. Granted, there’s a lot of definitions of e-commerce profitability. I think people understand how costs are getting allocated. Walmart’s relatively conservative in how they look at it, and they don’t disclose this—this is our math, this is our estimate. But it looks like they’re turning the corner.
The most important point of that is leveraging these fixed investments, and in the next three years, it converts into $6 billion of incremental profits. On a base of, call it, $30 billion, that’s pretty significant—that’s 20% just from e-commerce crossing that threshold. The point at which they’ve put enough investment in the ground and the incremental sales are finally converting to new profit—that’s a big moment, and that’s confidence-building for the durability of their outlook.”
3. Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 99
Tom Narayan, RBC Capital Markets global autos analyst, said in a latest program on CNBC that he cut Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) price target amid rising competition in the full self-driving space. Narayan slashed his price target for the EV maker by $120 to $320.
“What changed is we’ve had a lot of discussions with different management teams at OEMs. We just had Mercedes on the road last week talking about their level two, level three plus autonomy product. We had Aptiv at CES, and a number of companies talked about how they view autonomy as a me-too product for brand differentiation, rather than pricing it as a profit center. We also heard about BYD’s God Eye product, where they’re trying to make it standard on lower models. When we look at all that, we consider Tesla FSD. We initially thought they would be at $100 a month pricing down the road. Now we’re thinking this may be more of a commoditized product as other car companies offer this. Let’s drop this to $50 a month, which we think is more realistic.”
Tesla’s EV sales are falling all over the world as the company faces challenges from competitors. For example, in California, the largest U.S. market for electric vehicle adoption and sales, Tesla sales fell about 12% year over year in 2024, causing its market share to drop from 60.1% in 2023 to 52.5% in 2024. Was it because Californians are buying fewer EVs? No. Californians purchased more than 2 million electric cars during the year, almost double when compared to the past two years.
Things aren’t looking good for Tesla in Europe, either. For example, in Germany, Tesla delivered just 1,429 new cars in February, down 76% from the same month last year. In contrast, battery-electric vehicle (BEV) registrations surged 30.8% during the month.
Tesla Inc’s (NASDAQ:TSLA) product lineup is showing signs of stagnation, with over 95% of sales still coming from the Model 3 and Model Y. Meanwhile, competitors are rolling out more advanced models. According to Reuters, Tesla’s market share in Europe is slipping as legacy automakers like BMW post stronger sales. Chinese competitor BYD is also gaining ground in Europe, despite talk of tariffs.
Polen Focus Growth Strategy stated the following regarding Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:
“The largest relative detractors in the quarter were Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) (not owned), Thermo Fisher Scientific, and Broadcom (not owned). We’ve spoken at length about our rationale for not owning Tesla. The stock enjoyed a 54% return during the quarter, with effectively all of the share price performance strength coming in the post-election period, as the market expressed a positive view on Elon Musk’s prominent role in the incoming Trump administration and its potential implications for Tesla. While we agree this development should be a net positive for Tesla and recognize the company’s interesting future prospects for autonomous driving and humanoid robots, its current valuation demands that shareholders pay primarily for potential innovations that have yet to materialize, with uncertain risks and timelines, presenting a different type of risk profile than we are comfortable with. Today, Tesla is an automobile manufacturer limited to the higher-income segment and is increasingly challenged to sell vehicles when interest rates are not zero. As such, we continue to question the company’s long-term growth profile, its ability to scale a large robotaxi service (which seems to be the source of euphoria in Tesla shares), and its corporate governance.”
2. NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 193
Bernstein Research Senior analyst Stacy Rasgon said in a latest program on CNBC that he liked Jensen Huang’s commentary at the GTC event and believes NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) will see strong demand for its chips going forward. The analyst answered a question about the future of the stock if a recession hits:
“Clearly, the AI spending is happening. There are business models, cost reductions, revenue models that are starting to get built on this stuff. There’s this whole like long-term trend that he talks about as you move from sort of more traditional computing to accelerated computing, which is a massive cost saver. So, there are other drivers. Again, in a recession, you want to save cost and dial back, and these are investments I think they can pay off. But I mean, if we go into like a significant like global or local recession, I don’t think anything in semis does all that well. At least Nvidia does have some of these structural drivers, and you know, I’ve said this before, but it’s not even expensive. You know, it’s like in the low 20s if the current numbers are low 20s price support earnings if the current numbers are close to being correct. And like there’s a lot of other things out there that are much more expensive that I think are likely to get hit just as bad or worse from a fundamental standpoint in a recessionary environment.”
The market will keep punishing Nvidia for not coming up to its gigantic (and sometimes unrealistic) growth expectations. About 50% of the company’s revenue comes from large cloud providers, which are rethinking their plans amid the DeepSeek launch and looking for low-cost chips. Nvidia’s Q1 guidance shows a 9.4% QoQ revenue growth, down from the previous 12% QoQ growth. Its adjusted margin is expected to be down substantially as well to 71%. The market does not like it when Nvidia fails to post a strong quarterly beat. The stock will remain under pressure in the coming quarters when the company reports unimpressive growth.
Nvidia is facing challenges at several levels. Competition is one of them. Major competitors like Apple, Qualcomm, and AMD are vying for TSMC’s 3nm capacity, which could limit Nvidia’s access to these chips. Why? Because Nvidia also uses TSMC’s 3nm process nodes. Nvidia is also facing direct competition from other giants that are deciding to make their own chips. Amazon, with its Trainium2 AI chips, offers alternatives. Trainium2 chips could provide cost savings and superior computational power, which could shift AI workloads away from Nvidia’s offerings. Apple is reportedly working with Broadcom to develop an AI server processor. Intel is also trying hard to get back into the game with Jaguar Shores GPU, set to be produced on its 18A or 14A node.
Parnassus Growth Equity Fund stated the following regarding NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:
“NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) continued to lead the market for graphics processing units and semiconductor chips needed to power AI applications. Because our position in the stock is an underweight relative to the nearly 12% of the benchmark it now represents, it was a relative detractor for the year.”
1. Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 158
Bryn Talkington, Requisite Capital Management managing partner, said in a latest program on CNBC that Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) is fundamentally a hardware company and that has become its vulnerability since it has to rely on third parties for software. The analyst says Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) needs more than just an executive shakeup to fix its issues. She was referring to Apple’s latest executive reorganization following the Siri update delay.
“They need to do more than shake up, you know. I sold half my position in December. I’m in that camp of Steve of saying the people that thought we were going to have some super cycle—I never saw that even remotely happening. Apple had a Trojan horse in Siri. The problem, though, is that horse is still in the barn, and that could ultimately be the AI agent that everybody uses. But the problem and the vulnerability with Apple today is Apple is a hardware company. They’ve always been a hardware company—75% of the revenues come from hardware. They are now reliant on third parties to do a venture with them, whether it’s BU, Alibaba in China, or OpenAI here. And I think that makes them incredibly vulnerable to being able to pull this off and actually have an upgrade cycle, which is what they need to get revenues going because this is a hardware, not a software company.”
Apple’s last quarterly results were helped by Services revenue in the latest quarter, but the key challenges haunting the company remain as they were. Many analysts believe just a few AI apps would not be enough to trigger a broader upgrade cycle for iPhone. Apple is dealing with currency headwinds as the stronger US dollar is expected to reduce top-line growth by 2.5% next quarter. For Q2 FY2025, management expects overall revenue to grow in the low to mid-single digits. Apple’s stock is trading at a premium valuation, with a price-to-earnings ratio of 39-40x, a price-to-free-cash-flow ratio of 33-34x, and a PEG ratio exceeding 3x. Upcoming quarters would be difficult for Apple and its current valuation is not justified.
Columbia Seligman Global Technology Fund stated the following regarding Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:
“The fund maintained a position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) throughout the quarter through the release of the company’s new iPhone 16 in September. Company leaders were excited about the release of the new model, as this is the first model that will feature enhanced AI capabilities through the Apple Intelligence features. Sales for the first few weeks in October and November trailed behind year over year sales from the iPhone 15, as availability of Apple Intelligence was not compatible with all iPhone models. Apple announced a partnership with OpenAI that has allowed the integration of ChatGPT into the Apple ecosystem, separate from the core Apple Intelligence features. This partnership highlights continued progress from Apple to introduce AI capabilities into its products and we expect the iPhone 17 to have even more expansive AI capabilities, increasing potential demand for the new model that is on track to be released in 2025.”
While we acknowledge the potential of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter time frame. There is an AI stock that went up since the beginning of 2025, while popular AI stocks lost around 25%. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than AAPL but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
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