The S&P 500 is down 8.6% in a month while the Nasdaq has lost nearly 13%. Markets continue to scare retail investors as stock after stock struggles to deal with the aftermath of Donald Trump’s unpredictable and aggressive policies.
While it is advisable to stay out of the market till the dust settles, one also can’t deny that it is times like these that bring opportunities. We decided to come up with a list of stocks that are expected to go up even in the existing gloomy environment.
To come up with the list of 10 stocks that Wall Street is bullish on, we looked at stocks that were recently upgraded by analysts and have performed well in the last 5 days of trading.
A development team working together to create the next version of Windows.
10. Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ:CHKP)
Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. is a marketer, developer, and supporter of a variety of products and services for IT security. It provides a multilevel security architecture, mobile devices, IoT solutions, networks, endpoints information, and cloud. The stock was just upgraded from Equal Weight to Overweight at Wells Fargo, and the reason has to do with the new CEO.
Nadav Zafrir, who became the CEO of CHKP at the end of last year, is the former commander of Unit 8200. Unit 8200 is an intelligence unit of the Israel Defense Force. As someone with hands-on experience in how to deal with cybersecurity at a national level, he brings immense value to the company. Wells Fargo had this to say about the new CEO:
“While many other CEOs in the cybersecurity landscape have strong relationships with executives in the Fortune 500, very few (if any) have the ‘hands-on’ experience of defending against a nation-state cyber attack as Mr. Zafrir has.”
Wells Fargo also upgraded the target price from $200 to $280. Last month, JP Morgan boosted its price target on the stock to $255 from the previous target of $221. The company is expected to grow at 6% this year as well as in 2026 with the free cash flow also projected to grow at a rate of 13%-14% in the next two years.
9. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG)
Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. is the operator and owner of Chipotle Mexican Grill restaurants. The company supplies a variety of food including burrito bowls, tacos, salads, burritos, quesadillas, and others. It also offers delivery and related services through its website and app.
Loop Capital just upgraded the stock from Hold to Buy assigning it a price target of $65, a 33% upside from current levels. While the business isn’t necessarily booming, the 17% year-to-date fall in the stock price has a lot to do with the upgrade.
In addition to the share price dip, there’s one metric that has attracted analysts’ attention. The company was able to maintain comparable traffic growth in 2024 despite an extremely challenging environment for the restaurant industry. Analyst estimates continue to factor in this challenging environment but CMG could surprise to the upside as soon as things ease out for the industry. Loop Capital doesn’t rule out a 7% to 8% upside surprise to the 2025 EPS estimate of $1.3.
Last month, Morgan Stanley also upgraded the stock citing the fundamental strength of the business that powers its bull thesis. While the stock price stays under the radar, CMG continues to be a good share to accumulate.
