In this article, we discuss the 11 Best Guru Stocks to Buy According to Wall Street Analysts.
Wall Street seems to be breathing a little easier after the initial panic over President Trump’s tariffs earlier this month, but the rollercoaster is not over just yet. All three major indexes closed last week in the red, with the Dow and NASDAQ both dipping over 2%, and the broader market down more than 1%. Even though markets remain closed on April 18 for Good Friday, the general consensus is that the worst of the trade war headlines might be dying down.
Marko Papic, chief strategist of geomacro strategy at BCA Research, remains cautiously optimistic, noting that while the idea of President Trump striking 90 trade deals in 90 days sounds ambitious, they will likely be small, symbolic wins that still help calm markets. That said, volatility is expected to continue, and Papic predicts the broader market could dip again before bouncing back, potentially giving investors a buying opportunity.
Investors are deep in earnings season right now, and some of Wall Street’s biggest banks have reported solid first-quarter results. A big part of their success came from their trading desks, which cashed in on the recent market volatility, especially in equities. However, despite strong numbers on paper, bank CEOs remain cautious and are hesitant to make big moves right now because of the market uncertainty. The US dollar also just had its worst weekly performance since 2022. Meanwhile, investors are playing it safe and rapidly buying bonds, which pushed the 10-year Treasury yield down to around 4.28%.
While some investors are seeing the current market dip as a buying opportunity, Daniel Von Ahlen from GlobalData TS Lombard says otherwise. He believes the risks of a recession are being seriously underestimated. Even though Trump’s recent tariff halt gave markets a bit of a boost, Ahlen thinks that bounce will not last. In his view, this is not the time to scoop up stocks on the cheap, he is actually advising people to sell into rallies and avoid the usual buy-the-dip strategy. Ahlen suggests getting a bit more cautious and selective. Instead of jumping into the whole market, he recommends focusing on defensive sectors, like utilities, consumer staples, and healthcare, that tend to hold up better in downturns.
The market uncertainty is reflected in ETFs as well, which are often considered wiser investment options due to active management strategies and lower risk compared to individual investing. For example, the Guru ETF is down 8.30% year-to-date as of April 18. However, over the last 12 months, the fund has posted share price returns of 13.38%. Similarly, five-year share returns stand at an impressive 51.57%. GURU gives retail investors a way to tap into the top stock picks of major hedge funds at a relatively low 0.75% expense ratio. It offers a more affordable and flexible way to try and beat the broader market using expert insights. So, let’s take a look at the best Guru stocks to buy.
A man in black suit holding a tablet looks at stock market data on a monitor. Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko on Pexels
Our Methodology
For this article, we looked up the GURU ETF, which had 82 holdings as of April 18. Next, we manually searched for the average upside potential of each stock and selected 11 stocks with the highest values. The list below is ranked in ascending order of the upside potential as of April 18. We have also mentioned the hedge fund sentiment as of Q4 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 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).
11. Nuvalent, Inc. (NASDAQ:NUVL)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 50
Average Upside Potential: 61.51%
Nuvalent, Inc. (NASDAQ:NUVL) is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company that develops new cancer treatments. The company specializes in making medicines that can help when other treatments stop responding or cause side effects, especially in cancers that spread to the brain. On March 14, UBS analyst David Dai upgraded NUVL from Neutral to Buy with a price target of $100. Nuvalent is considered undervalued despite strong progress in developing lung cancer treatments, which could potentially bring in up to $3.3 billion in sales. The company is also speeding up the release of key data for its drug zidesamtinib, now expected in early 2025, boosting investor optimism and growth potential.
The company ended 2024 with a strong cash position of $1.1 billion, which should be sufficient to finance operations through 2028. Nuvalent invested $69.4 million in R&D during Q4, bringing the total for the year to $217.8 million. Nuvalent, Inc. (NASDAQ:NUVL) was not profitable last year, reporting a net loss of $74.8 million in the fourth quarter and $260.8 million for all of 2024.
According to Insider Monkey’s fourth quarter database, 50 hedge funds were bullish on Nuvalent, Inc. (NASDAQ:NUVL), compared to 34 funds in the preceding quarter. James E. Flynn’s Deerfield Management was the leading stakeholder of the company, with nearly 18 million shares worth $1.40 billion.
10. NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 223
Average Upside Potential: 68.36%
NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) is one of the top AI, semiconductor, and computer graphics companies in the world. It ranks 10th on our list of the best Guru stocks. On April 17, Stifel analysts maintained a Buy rating on NVDA with a price target of $180. The company is taking a $5.5 billion inventory hit after the US implemented new export controls requiring special licenses to sell specific chips to China, including Hong Kong and Macau. However, analysts think NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA)’s long-term growth story remains strong despite the near-term challenges.
On April 14, NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) announced the production shift of its AI supercomputers to the US. The company plans to invest up to $500 billion over the next four years. The move follows sharp tariffs on imports from Taiwan and China, where Nvidia currently manufactures most of its chips. New factories are being built in Texas with Foxconn and Wistron, aiming for mass production in 12 to 15 months. Nvidia will also use its tech to create digital factory models and automate processes.
According to Insider Monkey’s fourth quarter database, 223 hedge funds were bullish on NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA), up from 193 funds in the prior quarter. Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management was a prominent stakeholder of the company, with 98.3 million shares valued at $13.20 billion.
