We recently published a list of 13 Best NASDAQ Stocks to Buy So Far in 2025. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) stands against other NASDAQ stocks to buy in 2025.

On April 4, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives appeared on CNBC to discuss the potential impact of current tariffs and compared the situation to an economic armageddon. If the current tariffs remain in place, Ives thinks it would lead to a 15% to 20% demand reduction across the board. He thinks that investor anxiety is much higher considering how things were in the March 2020 COVID-19 crash earlier. The analyst thinks that investors should now focus on the likelihood of tariff adjustments from comments about negotiations, the impact on consumer-focused companies, and the potential for demand destruction. He even thinks that companies may refuse to provide guidance in the first-quarter earnings calls due to the persistent tariff uncertainty.

Ives thinks that a lot of tech companies will not be able to absorb high tariff increases and rather this cost will be passed on to the consumers which will lead to significant margin erosion and even potential sales declines. He indicated that tech stocks are currently pricing in a 10% to 15% cut to numbers. He suggests that investors should now look at companies with strong long-term potential as he believes earnings may normalize in 2025 and 2026. The analyst also addressed the defensive performance of defense contractors. While acknowledging the relative stability here, Ives cautioned that even these even such sectors are not immune to tariffs. He noted the significant foreign component, specifically 40% to 50% in some instances, in hardware and other sectors.

Our Methodology

We sifted through the financial media reports to compile a list of the top NASDAQ stocks to buy for 2025. We then selected the 13 stocks that were the most popular among elite hedge funds and that analysts were bullish on. The stocks are ranked in ascending order of the number of hedge funds that have stakes in them, as of Q4 2024. The hedge fund data was sourced from Insider Monkey’s database which tracks the moves of over 900 elite money managers.

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).

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 262

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) enables people to connect and share with friends and family through mobile devices, personal computers, AR/VR, and wearables worldwide. It operates through two segments. The FoA (Family of Apps) segment offers Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp among other popular apps. The RL (Reality Labs) segment provides VR, AR, and mixed reality-related products.

On April 2, Deepak Mathivanan at Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an Overweight rating on the company with a $790 price target. The analyst believes that the company’s advanced AI capabilities are reflected in its upcoming AI models and computing infrastructure and are the primary driver of its growth. As AI agents become rampant and revolutionize the way consumers interact in the next few years, Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META) will become a dominant force in the AI space.

Over 3.3 billion people use at least one Meta Platforms, Inc.’s (NASDAQ:META) apps daily. This is why in Q4 2024, the revenue for the company’s FoA rose by 21% year-over-year. Ad revenue alone rose by 21%, and it uses AI to enhance ad ranking and targeting through Advantage+ for better monetization. The company is also integrating its AI assistant across FoA. It’s called Meta AI and reached over 700 million monthly active users.

Nightview Capital highlighted the company’s strong growth potential, due to its AI leadership with Llama model, advertising ecosystem, and AR capabilities. It stated the following regarding Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:

“Core Opportunity: Meta Platforms, Inc.’s (NASDAQ:META) platforms—Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, and Messenger—reach nearly half the world’s population daily, making it one of the most powerful advertising ecosystems globally. With investments in AI and augmented reality (AR), we believe Meta is also creating significant optionality for long-term growth.

Competitive Advantage: Thriving Core Platforms: In Q3, we saw Meta achieve a 23% YoY revenue growth,—a testament to strong user engagement across its ecosystem. The advertising landscape as a whole continues to evolve and we believe Meta’s existing platforms offer a defined advantage in this new world. Existing platforms in the age of AI continue to be the most powerful indicator of future success in our opinion.

AI Leadership: Meta’s AI capabilities and the Llama AI model are driving efficiency and product innovation. In our view, these assets have been under-appreciated by the market while enhancing Meta’s ability to further scale and innovate its leading advertising business…” (Click here to read the full text)

Overall, META ranks 3rd on our list of the best NASDAQ stocks to buy so far in 2025. While we acknowledge the growth potential of META, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold great promise for delivering high 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 META but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.

READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.