In this article, we will take a detailed look at Top 10 Stocks Everyone’s Talking About.
Investors are on tenterhooks amid the latest selloff as they keep up with President Donald Trump’s volatile tariff policies and assess the slowing enthusiasm in the AI trade. Trivariate’s Adam Parker said in a latest program on CNBC that while he wants to be bullish on the stocks for a rebound, he believes we haven’t seen the bottom yet. The analyst recommends going on the defense:
“I mean every part of me wants to get bullish again, right? You know, we had the good call of saying the market will be down in the first half and choppy with concerns about tariffs and all that. And you know, now we’ve seen a lot of people who were bullish before throwing in the towel and getting bearish, and I really want to do it, right? But I can’t. And the reason is because I don’t think we’ve seen enough of a blowoff on the positioning. I mean, if you look at the companies that were talking at big conferences in March, a lot of things are slowing. And so I think this is more than a growth scare already—this is actually like a growth slowdown. And so the question is, will we get negative guidance in April? Will we see companies guide down and the stocks not go down? If I see that behavior, then I’ll probably want to get more risk on. But until then, I think we have to play a little bit more defense.”
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For this article, we picked 10 stocks Wall Street analysts are showing interest in. With each stock, we have mentioned their hedge fund sentiment. 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. Altria Group Inc (NYSE:MO)
Number of Hedge Funds Investors: 32
Aquiles Larrea from Larrea Wealth Management explained in a latest program on Schwab Network the reasons why investors are flocking to Altria Group Inc (NYSE:MO).
“When people see this type of volatility and market calamity, they want to be in stable investments that have made them money over the years. If you look at the 6% plus dividend along with the growth that occurs when there’s a flight to quality, fund managers and hedge fund managers are all moving in at the moment. This might just be a quick trade for them, but they’re going to pick up 1% to 5% in an era of calamity during this short-term volatility that’s happening right now. We’re looking for them to make anywhere between 6% to 8% conservatively this year, and that may or may not include the dividend, which I believe is closer to 7% right now.”
Ashva Capital stated the following regarding Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) in its Q3 2024 investor letter:
“At Ashva Capital, our focus on intrinsic value–rather than market sentiment or temporary price metrics– sets our portfolio apart from peers. For example, we hold Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO), which has demonstrated resilience and strong performance within our portfolio, particularly following a robust Q3 earnings report. Altria’s results highlighted increased demand for smokeless products, underscoring both the adaptability of its business model and its long-term growth potential—a key factor in our investment decision.
This approach to intrinsic value echoes insights from renowned value investor Bill Miller, whose strategy emphasized fundamental value over market-driven factors. Key principles from Miller’s approach that inform our strategy include:..” (Click here to read the full text)
9. UiPath Inc (NYSE:PATH)
Number of Hedge Funds Investors: 34
Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest recently sold over 550,000 shares of UiPath (NYSE:PATH). The stock is down 16% so far this year.
Ark Invest sold a total of 558,280 shares across three of its actively managed exchange traded funds. The flagship ARK Innovation ETF (NYSEARCA:ARKK) accounted for the largest portion, selling 400,811 shares. The ARK Next Generation Internet ETF (NYSEARCA:ARKW) sold 115,790 shares, while the ARK Autonomous Technology & Robotics ETF (BATS:ARKQ) unloaded 41,679 shares of the New York-based company.
8. Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT)
Number of Hedge Funds Investors: 50
Aquiles Larrea from Larrea Wealth Management said in a latest program on Schwab Network that he sees growth potential for Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT) in the long term.
“Here’s your opportunity for an entry. We that you’re going to get into this stock. Dividend is not too much to speak of—about 2% or so—but let’s talk about the growth. The growth opportunity—just take a look at the last two years that have occurred with this. There’s plenty of opportunity here. It’s not like your Home Depot of the world that are going to be really hit by the upcoming tariffs, but there’s still opportunity with Caterpillar to make more money. We’re looking to make close to double-digit returns in the long term, going out 12 to 18 months.”
Diamond Hill Large Cap Strategy stated the following regarding Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) in its Q3 2024 investor letter:
“Other top Q3 contributors included HCA Healthcare and Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT). Heavy construction machinery manufacturer Caterpillar has held up better than industry peers against a challenging macroeconomic backdrop and a generally slowing construction environment.”
7. AppLovin Corp (NASDAQ:APP)
Number of Hedge Funds Investors: 51
AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) shares are down 14% so far this year, but some analysts are reiterating their bullish view on the stock.
Citi Research remains bullish on the digital advertising and e-commerce company, keeping a Buy rating and a $600 price target.
Citi attributes the decline in stock value to “a series of bearish reports that, we believe, make spurious claims about AppLovin and a broader sell-off in momentum stocks.”
“Based on peer’s revenue growth rates, EBITDA margins and equity values, AppLovin should be worth $550 a share,” Citi analysts, led by Jason Bazinet, wrote in a note to investors. “The prevailing equity value (of $260) suggests the market is ascribing a ~50% likelihood that AppLovin’s equity is worth $0. That strikes us as remarkably high. We suspect this has less to do with the merits of the bears’ claims. More likely, in our view, it stems from AppLovin’s rapid success, opaque business model and investors’ long-held skepticism about AdTech business models.”
ClearBridge Mid Cap Strategy stated the following regarding AppLovin Corporation (NASDAQ:APP) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:
“Stock selection in IT was the greatest contributor to performance on strength in AppLovin Corporation (NASDAQ:APP) and Marvell. AppLovin is the world’s leading mobile game and app advertising platform, providing software for marketing and monetization, powered by its proprietary AI targeting engine Axon. We see opportunity for AppLovin to continue to expand and grow its share of the market for mobile app marketing at a time when mobile gaming ad spend is recovering from a higher-rate-driven trough. We also see the potential for the company to expand its addressable market to include e-commerce advertising, around which initial forays have been encouraging. With strong incremental margins and management keeping expenses controlled, the company should be able to drive significant free cash flow growth as revenue continues to scale.”
6. Toll Brothers Inc (NYSE:TOL)
Number of Hedge Funds Investors: 54
Jim Cramer in a latest program on CNBC said that Toll Brothers Inc (NYSE:TOL) shares lost value amid rising interest rates but the stock can rebound amid the changing environment:
“If you take up a chart of Toll Brothers, if you look at a chart right now, that is just a year and a half. Okay, so it’s now lost everything that it made since July of last year. That was, that’s a rather remarkable. Now, it did trade as low as 75, you know, two years ago, but it’s important to remember we’re sitting here and we’re saying, “Oh my God, oh my God.” Well, one, interest rates are going the direction of the Bulls. Just when interest rates are going now, are people going to buy, not buy homes because they’re worried? Sure, but how about if mortgage rates go lower? Maybe they think they have their chance. So, I just want to urge people to realize that it isn’t like the market woke up and said, “Oh my God, the president’s anti-stocks.” The president’s been consistent the whole way, terrible for the market, terrible. So, if people wake up today and say, “Oh my God, he’s terrible,” I would say, “You know what, where you been?” And that the markets figure that out, right? And if interest rates plummet, then I don’t care what Trump says. I know the consumer’s weak. I’m sure the numbers are going to be bad, but there doesn’t have to stay the way.”
Baron Real Estate Fund stated the following regarding Toll Brothers, Inc. (NYSE:TOL) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:
“As noted earlier in this letter, we chose to decrease the Fund’s homebuilder exposure in D.R. Horton, Inc., Lennar Corporation, and Toll Brothers, Inc. (NYSE:TOL) in the most recent quarter following exceptional share price performance over the prior two years. From September 30, 2022, through September 30, 2024, shares of Toll Brothers, Lennar, and D.R. Horton increased 269%, 155%, and 184%, respectively. Homebuilder valuations for our investments had approached near peak valuations from prior cycles (at or above 2 times tangible book value). We also have concerns that the recent 100 basis point increase in interest rates will further crimp housing affordability. This could lead to flattening home prices and elevated homebuilder incentives to entice buyers to purchase a home. Further, the new administration policy decisions around tariffs, immigration, and deportation may increase the cost for labor and materials. The issues cited above may lead to pressure on homebuilder gross margins in 2025.
The shares of several homebuilders and residential-related building product/ services companies foreshadowed some of these concerns in the fourth quarter and valuations are becoming more compelling. We are monitoring developments closely and may look to acquire additional shares in 2025…” (Click here to read the full text)
5. Crowdstrike Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:CRWD)
Number of Hedge Funds Investors: 74
Josh Brown, co-founder and CEO of Ritholtz Wealth Management, said in a latest program on CNBC that he’s a holder of Crowdstrike Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:CRWD) and would not react to price target cuts on the stock from Wall Street.
“Look, it’s in this cohort of high beta, high octane growth stocks, and when they sell eight of them, the other two don’t get spared. These things are traded in baskets. Also, you have a sell-the-news situation. You have a company that had really good earnings, but everyone expected them—really good earnings, you know that based on how much the stock had gone up over the prior six months. So that’s really all it takes: sell the news, profit taking, momentum washout. Why would CrowdStrike be higher? Makes no sense. What I do in situations like this: I already own it, so I’m not adding to it. I own it in the low hundreds. But take the $361 mentally and just say, all right, $36 stock. The average Wall Street price target, let’s say, is like $420 to $440. Can a $36 stock recover quickly to $42? Yes, obviously yes. So it’s a big dollar amount. The shares have pulled back in the last week or two, but in the grand scheme of things, we’re still in a major uptrend here, and I would not be reacting to sell-side price target cuts.”
Aristotle Atlantic Core Equity Strategy stated the following regarding CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWD) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:
“CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWD) provides cybersecurity products and services that offer endpoint protection and threat intelligence solutions, enabling customers to prevent damage from targeted attacks, detect advanced malware and search all endpoints. The company’s open cloud architecture enables it and third-party partners to rapidly innovate, build and deploy new cloud modules that can provide customers with enhanced functionality across a myriad of use cases.
We see the cloud cybersecurity market as positioned to experience strong growth over the next few years, driven by continued migration from on-premises to cloud-based architecture. We believe CrowdStrike can benefit from this trend due to its early-mover advantage, multiple product offerings and native integrations with leading cloud platforms. The increasing threats from state-sanctioned cybercriminals using high-performance computing and AI necessitate higher spending on advanced cybersecurity products. The total addressable market (TAM) is projected to grow significantly over the next four calendar years. Additionally, CrowdStrike’s cloud-native architecture and unified platform approach provide competitive advantages, resulting in high customer retention and widespread adoption of multiple modules.”