Stocks that could outperform in 2025 include artificial intelligence poster child Nvidia and discount retailer Ross Stores , according to Bank of America. This year, Bank of America’s Savita Subramanian believes that the bull market rally has more room to grow. The strategist’s year-end target for the S & P 500 is 6,666, representing 9% upside from the benchmark’s Friday closing level of 6,101.24. “Savita is calling for a ‘cyclical inferno’ driven by: (1) Red sweep, (2) Fed cuts, (3) accelerating profits, (4) reshoring, (5) productivity cycle, (6) shift from everyone spending on Tech to Tech spending on everything, (7) municipalities refurbishing to court corporates, (8) tight capacity / decades of underspend in manufacturing, and (9) lightest positioning in cyclical sectors since at least the [global financial crisis],” Bank of America wrote in the note to clients. Against this backdrop, the bank released a selection of its top stock picks for 2025. The table below includes 10 of the names Bank of America analysts highlighted as their year ahead picks: One name is spice manufacturer McCormick . Shares have risen almost 14% in the past 12 months, but analyst Peter Galbo’s $96 price objective implies additional upside ahead of more than 28%. Galbo pointed to the stock’s relative valuation versus the market and its peers as one catalyst. “We also expect MKC to build on the gross margin expansion momentum as cost inflation continues to ease and productivity takes hold,” he said. “We expect FY24 volume growth to continue into FY25 as laps easy compares and executes on its initiatives.” Most analysts covering the name have rated it as a hold, although the average price target corresponds to a 16% upside, according to LSEG. Bank of America also pointed to life sciences company Danaher as another potential winner. Shares of Danaher have added 7.5% in the last 12 months. “Following the 2016 spinoff of industrial-themed Fortive, Danaher became one of the premier standalone life sciences companies,” wrote analyst Michael Ryskin. “The acquisition of GE’s Life Sciences (now called Cytiva) business and the divestiture of the lagging dental segment are transformational for the company as they should sharply improve organic sales growth, margin profile, and free cash flow generation potential.” Ryskin’s $290 price objective is approximately 18% above where shares of Danaher closed on Friday. Wall Street analysts across the board are bullish on Danaher, with most analysts covering the name assigning it either a “strong buy” or “buy” rating. The average price target implies a 15% upside for the stock from here. Discount retailer Ross Stores has popped almost 8% in the last 12 months, but analyst Lorraine Hutchinson’s $180 price objective corresponds to an additional rally of more than 20%. “We expect Ross to gain market share as inventory flow normalizes and it benefits from a trade down. The company has a long history of being able to grow in good and bad macroeconomic environments,” she wrote. Hutchinson pointed to Ross’ solid track record of returning excess cash to shareholders as an additional catalyst. The analyst added that the company has the potential to nearly double its existing footprint. Most analysts covering the stock have assigned it either a “strong buy” or “buy rating,” while the average price target is approximately 13% higher than where shares of Ross are currently trading. Artificial intelligence beneficiary Nvidia also made the list. The “Magnificent Seven” titan has surged 132% in the last 12 months. Despite this rally, analyst Vivek Arya’s $190 price target implies the stock still has upside of about 33% ahead. “Our positive view on Nvidia is based on its underappreciated transformation from a traditional PC graphics chip vendor, into a supplier into high-end gaming, enterprise graphics, cloud, accelerated computing and automotive markets,” he remarked. “The company has executed consistently and has a solid balance sheet with demonstrated commitment to capital returns.” Analysts covering Nvidia have overwhelmingly assigned the stock either a “strong buy” or “buy” rating. The consensus price target is nearly 20% above where shares are currently trading, LSEG said. Other names on Bank of America’s list of year-ahead top picks included airline carrier United Airlines , energy producer Chevron and e-commerce giant Amazon .
10 favorite stocks from Bank of America research for 2025