We recently published a list of Why These 15 Defensive Stocks Are Surging In 2025. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Celsius Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:CELH) stands against other defensive stocks that are surging in 2025.
Defensive stocks are surging as investors have been shifting their focus. Growth stocks dominated the past two years. Now, slower economic signals and rising risks are changing the landscape due to market uncertainty.
Defensive stocks offer much more stability and tend to perform well even in tough times. People still need electricity, medicine, and food. That reliability draws investors when uncertainty grows.
Many are rotating into these stocks for safety. The surge suggests a broader trend. It could mark a turning point after years of growth-led rallies., so it’s worth looking into the defensive stocks that stand out right now.
Methodology
For this article, I screened the best-performing defensive stocks year-to-date.
I will also mention the number of hedge fund investors in these stocks. 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 hand pouring a cool can of a carbonated non-alcoholic beverage with a smiley face on it.
Celsius Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:CELH)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders In Q4 2024: 33
Celsius Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:CELH) is one of the biggest companies making energy drinks.
The stock is up significantly so far in 2025 as it reported strong Q4 2024 financial performance.
Celsius reported record revenue of $1.36 billion for 2024, driven by a 22% year-over-year increase in retail sales and a rise in market share to 11.8%. The company also improved gross margins to 48%.
Moreover, the negative impact of PepsiCo’s inventory optimization on Celsius’ revenue growth in late 2024 appears to have subsided.
Analysts now anticipate a rebound in revenue growth for 2025. Celsius announced its acquisition of Alani Nu for $1.8 billion in cash and stock.
This move creates a leading platform in the “better-for-you” functional lifestyle market by combining two fast-growing energy drink brands. The deal is expected to generate cost synergies of $50 million within two years and boost Celsius’ market share.
The consensus price target of $45 implies 48.17% upside.
CELH stock is up 15.30% year-to-date.
Overall, CELH ranks 13th on our list of defensive stocks that are surging in 2025. While we acknowledge the potential of CELH as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some 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 CELH but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
