We recently published a list of 10 S&P 500 Stocks That Outperformed Bitcoin in 2024. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Vistra Corp (NYSE:VST) stands against other S&P 500 stocks that outperformed bitcoin in 2024.
Bitcoin’s price has fluctuated dramatically since U.S. President Donald Trump’s inauguration, with the cryptocurrency staying around $100,000 since achieving the milestone in December. Trump’s ascension as the president has fueled more Bitcoin optimism, with many expecting a more favorable regulatory environment for digital assets. After the SEC approved the first U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF last year, Bitcoin surpassed the $70,000 price milestone set for 2021. The acceptance was largely regarded as a watershed event for the cryptocurrency, increasing its attractiveness to more mainstream investors. This year, Bitcoin’s price has more than doubled. The token is widely projected to see even stronger price movement in 2025, with numerous industry analysts estimating a doubling in value to $200,000.
In an interview with CNBC, James Butterfill, head of research for crypto-focused asset management CoinShares, stated that Bitcoin values in 2025 might range between $80,000 and $150,000. Butterfill stated that in the long run, it would not be “unreasonable” to anticipate Bitcoin to be worth around 25% of gold’s market share, up from roughly 10% presently. Should Butterfill’s $80,000 call be met, it will be due to President Trump’s failure to implement his promised pro-crypto measures.
Hedge Fund Managers’ Stance on Bitcoin
Of course, a few hedge fund managers have joined to claim a piece of the Bitcoin pie as well. ARK Invest’s Cathie Wood, for example, remains unwavering in her prediction that Bitcoin will reach $1.5 million by 2030. Known for her ambitious tech projections, the financial expert outlined the scenario at Ark’s Big Ideas 2025 conference, revealing that the chances of attaining this massive sum had actually grown. The investor has proposed three options: a middle-ground of $710,000, a cautious estimate of $300,000, and the bull scenario of $1.5 million.
Given all of this, is Bitcoin a worthwhile investment? Even the most popular cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, have fluctuated in value, the market isn’t as transparent as it is for stocks, transactions are irreversible, and consumer safeguards are low or nonexistent. According to Charles Schwab, as long as Bitcoin is extremely volatile and susceptible to large transaction fees, it appears that it will have little utility as a means of trade or a store of wealth. With that in mind, it is understandable that equities tend to be less volatile than cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin.
Our Methodology
For this list, we focused on stocks in the S&P 500 with a price performance greater than that of BTC (92.73%) as of February 17. These stocks are ranked in ascending order according to their 1-year price performance. In addition, we mentioned hedge fund sentiment around each stock to provide further insight into their market standing.
Why do we care about what hedge funds do? 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).
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Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST)
1-Year Price Performance: 263.29%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 97
Located in Texas, Vistra Corp (NYSE:VST) is a vertically integrated energy corporation with a wide range of businesses, including fuel manufacturing, wholesale energy sales, logistics, and power generating. The company supplies natural gas and electricity to its commercial, industrial, and residential clients.
On January 21, BMO Capital Markets raised its price target for Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) shares to $191 from $151, while maintaining an Outperform rating. The adjustment comes following a fire at the company’s Moss Landing BESS facility in January. Despite the possibility of an extended schedule to restart the facility, the analyst believes the impact on Vistra Energy’s performance in 2025 and 2026 will be tolerable.
Vistra Corp (NYSE:VST) announced revenues of $6.29 billion in the third quarter of 2024, up 54% from the previous year and above expert projections of $5.01 billion. Earnings per share were $1.24, more than the expected $1.16. In addition, Vistra’s Board authorized an extra $1 billion for repurchases, with $2.2 billion remaining, which is projected to be completed by the end of 2026.
Overall, VST ranks 2nd on our list of S&P 500 stocks that outperformed bitcoin in 2024. While we acknowledge the potential of VST as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that certain AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than VST 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.
