In this article, we will take a detailed look at Top 10 Stocks Wall Street is Discussing.
Bill Strazzullo, Bell Curve Trading chief market strategist, said in a latest program on CNBC that the market rally that started during the peak of the pandemic driven by fiscal stimulus seems to have “tapped out.” The analyst sees more pain ahead:
“The bottom line of all this is that we’ve only started this. We’ll be lucky if we get out of this top to bottom only down 20%. I think eventually, across the indices—Dow, S&P, NASDAQ 100—we’ll end up being down 25% before it’s all done.”
Asked what he would advise to long-term investors, the analyst recommended taking some money off the table and bracing for more impact:
“It’s not anything very esoteric. Take some money off the table—you’ll be able to deploy that capital at much better levels later in the year. But right now, Trump is taking us not only into a trade war but into a full-blown recession. I think the mistake people are making is that we’ve been spoiled with these V bottoms—we go down 10 or 12% and then right back up. This is not going to be like that. We are going to be in for a much deeper drawdown and I think something that’s going to last a significant amount of time.”
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For this article, we picked 10 stocks making moves on important news. With each stock we have mentioned the number of hedge fund investors. 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).
A person holding a cup of coffee while reading stock market data on the phone. Photo by Anna Nekrashevich on Pexels
10. IONQ Inc (NYSE:IONQ)
Number of Hedge Funds Investors: 17
Senior markets reporter George Tsilis in a recent program on Schwab Network discussed quantum computing software and hardware company IONQ Inc (NYSE:IONQ) results and pointed out the broader concerns about the business:
“They actually reported a much worse-than-expected earnings per share number at around $0.93 of a loss. That was estimated to be around $0.25 of a loss, which was still expected to be a little bit worse than last year, where they lost around $0.20 a share. Now, if you look at the top-line sales, they actually bested the estimates, but they were higher by almost double—$11.7 million versus $6.1 million for the same quarter last year. So obviously, this company has been growing its sales. But the structural challenge, I think, with all these quantum computing names is essentially, you know, the question of whether this technology is largely experimental or effectively, currently impractical. And that’s something we have to consider in the context of the technology stack right now. These stocks have made a tremendous run. There’s no doubt this name is still higher by over 150%, irrespective of the nearly 50% pullback in the past, you know, six weeks or so. But the company is still losing money.”
9. Altria Group Inc (NYSE:MO)
Number of Hedge Funds Investors: 32
Josh Brown, CEO of Ritholtz Wealth Management, said in a recent program on CNBC that Altria Group Inc (NYSE:MO) had the “best chart” in the S&P 500 amid strong gains. However, he believes the stock is now overbought.
“The actual best chart in the S&P right now is Altria. Thing is, you missed it—it went vertical. It looks like the Empire State Building. RSI is in the 80s. It’s the most overbought name on my list.”
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)
8. Corteva Inc (NYSE:CTVA)
Number of Hedge Funds Investors: 33
Josh Brown, CEO of Ritholtz Wealth Management, said in a recent program on CNBC that he likes Corteva Inc (NYSE:CTVA) and believes the stock is in the process of breaking out.
“This is going to be a slow mover but I think it’s in the process of breaking out. It’s not going to act like a like a tech stock. This is uh seeds branded seeds are about 60% of the business, 40% of the business is crop protection, so it’s in the chemical space. It was a spin out from Dow Dupont, which is why not a lot of people know the name. There’s a breakout happening here. It’s a really interesting chart and when they last reported they had a lot of good things to say. Fundamentally, operating EBITDA margin improved by 280 basis points last quarter, they said free cash flow was up by 40% to 1.7 billion. They also announced a billion doll buyback for the year 2025. Assuming they act on that, I think the stock should be okay. You’ve got an RSI here at 58, so not overbought yet, 6% above the 50, 12% above the 200. I like that Golden Cross, and she’s 3% from the 52-week high.”
7. Okta Inc (NASDAQ:OKTA)
Number of Hedge Funds Investors: 47
Ryan Shrout from Futurum said in a latest program on Schwab Network that Okta Inc (NASDAQ:OKTA) could see competition from Microsoft in the future.
“I don’t see CrowdStrike as a huge competitor yet. I know they’re trying to get into that kind of user security area as well, but I think the biggest competition is actually coming from Microsoft. Its ability to bundle services together with the operating system and the platforms is maybe the biggest possible avenue where you could see user and subscription rate loss for Okta.”
White Brook Capital Partners stated the following regarding Okta, Inc. (NASDAQ:OKTA) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:
“Okta, Inc. (NASDAQ:OKTA) was basically unchanged from where we bought it in 2024, although its had a good start to 2025. Okta’s products are used by customers and consumers to manage and secure identities. I believe we acquired shares at an attractive price and look forward to publishing a write up early this year.”
6. Gilead Sciences Inc (NASDAQ:GILD)
Number of Hedge Funds Investors: 59
Josh Brown, CEO of Ritholtz Wealth Management, said during a program on CNBC last month that he’s paying attention to Gilead Sciences Inc (NASDAQ:GILD).
“I haven’t personally bought or sold this stock in like 15 years but uh this is a longstanding sort of uh biotech pharmaceutical name used to be thought of as almost a blue chip it’s about a hundred billion dollar market cap popped up on our list of the best stocks in the market probably because was last week they beat on both the top and the bottom lines and this is a chart that’s spent about eight eight and a half almost nine full years in a consolidation now it’s starting to break out I don’t know the name well enough to have a very strong opinion about whether or not this breakout will hold but I think people that like this sector and they’re looking for ideas Gilead is a big liquid stock that nobody talks about anymore and if you dig in on the fun this might be an area where you want to take a a closer look.”
Polaris Global Equity Strategy stated the following regarding Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) in its Q3 2024 investor letter:
“U.S. biopharma/biotech companies topped the health care sector, with the majority of holdings posting returns in excess of 10%. Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) had two big announcements during the quarter: 1) the FDA approved its new liver disease treatment for biliary cholangitis and 2) its phase III HIV drug trial reduced new infections by 96% when compared to background HIV incidence, which could be a game changer for the disease.”