This year was a busy one for investors, with the U.S. presidential election, growing excitement around artificial intelligence, and continued focus on elevated interest rates. Despite macro conditions expected to improve in the new year, concerns about a possible U.S.-China trade war and lofty valuations could weigh on the stock market in 2025.
However, top analysts continue to focus on stocks that can withstand near-term pressures and offer robust growth potential, backed by solid execution and fundamentals. Here are three stocks favored by the Street’s top pros, according to TipRanks, a platform that ranks analysts based on their past performance.
The first pick is Salesforce (CRM), a customer relationship management platform. Earlier this month, the company issued solid guidance for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025 and highlighted the role of Agentforce, its suite of autonomous AI agents, in driving its transformation. Mizuho analyst Gregg Moskowitz reiterated a buy rating on CRM stock with a price target of $425, calling Agentforce 2.0 an “impressive innovation, with a clear step-up in value.”
The second pick is Booking Holdings (BKNG), a provider of online travel and other services. Mizuho analyst James Lee is bullish on BKNG, reaffirming a buy rating and boosting the price target to $6,000 from $5,400, reflecting higher growth-rate estimates and a favorable outlook. Lee expects an 8.2% room night growth rate for fiscal 2025, higher than the consensus estimate, and sees earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization increasing by mid-teens, or 20% with buybacks.
The third pick is DraftKings (DKNG), a sports betting company. JPMorgan analyst Joseph Greff named DKNG as one of the top picks in his research note on the 2025 outlook for the Gaming and Lodging space, reiterating a buy rating and increasing the price target to $53 from $47. Greff views DKNG as the pure-play in the most attractive growth market in Gaming, expecting revenue growth of 31% in 2025 and 13% in 2026, and sees the company delivering better margins, EBITDA, and free cash flow.
