In this article, we will take a look at the 10 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).
10. 3M Company (NYSE:MMM)
1-Year Price Performance: 93.59%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 82
3M Company (NYSE:MMM) is a multinational industrial conglomerate that is involved in manufacturing adhesives, abrasives, ceramics, and nanotechnology.
On January 22, Wells Fargo upgraded 3M Company (NYSE:MMM) to Overweight and boosted its price target to $170 from $140, noting improved margins and the company’s proactive approach to capital deployment. Analysts at the bank cited strong efficiency potential and management’s trust in operational execution as important motivators for the upgrade. Looking ahead, Wells Fargo anticipates more precise targets during 3M’s investor day on February 27. The firm anticipates organic growth of 3-5%, as well as operational leverage and efficiency gains, resulting in a low double-digit to low-teens EPS CAGR over the medium term.
3M Company (NYSE:MMM) recently reported fourth-quarter earnings that surpassed analyst estimates. The industrial giant reported an adjusted EPS of $1.68 in the fourth quarter, above analyst expectations of $1.67. Revenue came in at $6.01 billion, crossing the average estimate of $5.78 billion and indicating a 0.1% rise year-over-year. 3M’s adjusted sales, excluding produced PFAS products, increased 2.2% year-over-year to $5.8 billion, while adjusted organic sales increased by 2.1% year-over-year, despite a 70 basis point headwind from product portfolio initiatives.
9. NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA)
1-Year Price Performance: 99.93%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 193
NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) is a world leader in the design and sale of Graphics Processing Units (GPUs), a sector that has grown significantly in response to increased demand for artificial intelligence models. Despite increased competition in the technology sector, NVIDIA remains a Wall Street darling.
On February 14, Jefferies analyst Blayne Curtis reiterated his Buy rating on NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) and set a $185 price target for the company. Curtis pointed to a favorable shift in expectations following Foxconn’s last revenue report, which showed a 3% increase. The update to Foxconn’s projection, which predicts that first-quarter sales growth in 2025 would likely exceed average estimates, is viewed as good news for NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA), especially given worries about potential delays in the company’s Blackwell product launch.
Manole Capital Management stated the following regarding NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) in its Q3 2024 investor letter:
“As of this publication, Nvidia is up roughly 150% year-to-date. NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) was the largest gainer in the S&P 500 last year and has more than tripled in value over the last year. It hit an eye-opening market capitalization of $3 trillion in June, less than four months after it eclipsed the $2 trillion mark. Enthusiasm for everything AI-related, especially for the primary chip maker whose products are essential to powering AI technology, continues to fuel the market. Last quarter, and for the fifth consecutive quarter, Nvidia reported sales and profits that blew past Wall Street expectations. The stock rose +37% in the second quarter alone.”
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