We recently compiled a list of the 10 Best Performing S&P 500 Stocks So Far in 2025. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Newmont Corporation (NYSE:NEM) stands against the other stocks.
Emily Rowland, co-chief investment strategist at John Hancock Investment Management, joined a discussion on CNBC’s ‘Squawk Box’ on February 13 to share her insights on the markets and the upcoming PPI (Producer Price Index) report. She thinks that the S&P earnings are highly underappreciated right now. She noted that the market’s reaction to inflation data has been asymmetric. While higher inflation numbers are often shrugged off, any relief from softer inflation prints tends to cause bigger moves in the markets. This was evident in the response to the CPI (Consumer Price Index) report. Regarding market performance, Rowland highlighted that the S&P 500 earnings were coming in with strong growth (16% year-over-year for the fourth quarter) and this growth is broad-based across sectors like healthcare and utilities. Financials also showed significant gains with a 50% increase.
On discussing President Trump’s announcement of retaliatory tariffs via Truth Social, Rowland said that her team avoids making tactical investment decisions based on political outcomes due to their unpredictability and rapid changes. In terms of attractive sectors for investment within US markets, she highlighted healthcare and industrial companies as promising areas due to their strong fundamentals and potential benefits from ongoing supply chain reshoring activities within the US. While acknowledging political factors can influence sector performance, her strategy focuses on longer-term economic trends rather than short-term political developments when considering investments in key indices like those represented by major US equities such as those found in the S&P 500 index.
Methodology
We first sifted through the Finviz stock screener to compile a list of the best-performing S&P 500 stocks. We then picked the top 10 stocks with the highest year-to-date performance, as of February 17. The stocks are ranked in ascending order of their year-to-date performance. We’ve also added the hedge fund sentiment for each stock which was sourced from Insider Monkey’s database.
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).
A gold mine entry with a conveyor belt transporting minerals from the depths of a shaft.
Newmont Corporation (NYSE:NEM)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 63
Year-to-Date Performance as of February 17: 25.04%
Newmont Corporation (NYSE:NEM) is a gold producer and explorer, that also explores copper, silver, zinc, and lead. It is headquartered in Denver, Colorado, and has operations and assets across numerous countries in the Americas, Australia, and Africa.
Its stock price surge is driven by rising gold prices and the company’s strategic shift towards higher-quality assets. Its gold production, which totaled 2.1 million gold equivalent ounces in Q3 2024, is the core of its business and a key factor in its stock performance. Its focus on Tier 1 operations, which are large, long-life, and cost-efficient, is paying off. By divesting non-core assets, such as the recent sales of Porcupine, Musselwhite, and Éléonore, the company is streamlining its portfolio and concentrating on its most profitable mines. These divestitures have contributed to a $1.4 billion debt reduction effort.
Newmont Corporation (NYSE:NEM) benefits from the favorable environment of rising gold prices. This tailwind amplifies its profitability and reinforces investor confidence. The combination of strong gold production, a focus on high-quality assets, debt reduction, and a supportive gold price environment positions the company for success. Hence, its consensus price target of $53.44 implies a 23.98% upside.
Overall NEM ranks 9th on our list of the best performing S&P 500 stocks so far in 2025. While we acknowledge the potential of NEM as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold great promise for delivering high returns and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than NEM but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and Complete List of 59 AI Companies Under $2 Billion in Market Cap.
Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
