In this article, we will take a detailed look at the 10 Stocks Wall Street is Talking About These Days.
Gene Muster from Deepwater Asset Management said in a recent interview with CNBC that investors should take a “targeted” approach while investing in major tech companies and look for “pockets” of opportunities.
“I think that when you answer the question more holistically, there’s still—if you look at, uh, we looked at 20 different companies, tech companies, and their reporting season and graded each of them—and of the six Mag Seven, five of the six we gave an A grade, and so there’s still this outperformance that you’re seeing with the fundamentals on these companies, but that doesn’t mean that the best opportunities to invest is necessarily with them, and so again, more of a targeted approach.”
Munster also talked about some major tech companies and said he believes Jensen Huang’s AI chip giant is still “cheap” when it comes to its stock price. However, the analyst advised investors to look for smaller companies:
“You have to be uh strategic in terms of what you’re buying. If you wanted to buy a basket, I would buy a basket of smaller tech companies, sub 500 billion dollars, and focus on those. It’s probably where your bigger outperformance is.”
READ ALSO: 7 Best Stocks to Buy For Long-Term and 8 Cheap Jim Cramer Stocks to Invest In.
For this article, we picked 10 stocks currently making moves on Wall Street. With each stock, we have mentioned the number of hedge fund investors. 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).
10. Hasbro Inc (NASDAQ:HAS)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 30
Jim Cramer said in a latest program on CNBC that Hasbro Inc (NASDAQ:HAS) has the “lead” compared to Mattel.
“Well okay. You know I like Mattel. I have them on, but I also have Hasbro on. And right now Hasbro is in the lead. They’ve got a bunch. They’ve got this card game that’s really good.”
ClearBridge Mid Cap Strategy stated the following regarding Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAS) in its fourth quarter 2023 investor letter:
“Stock selection in the consumer discretionary sector also weighed on performance. This included two of the portfolio’s top individual detractors in Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAS) and Aptiv. Hasbro, which owns global entertainment brands such as Monopoly, My Little Pony, and Nerf, has struggled over the past few quarters due to lackluster demand for toys and games in favor of other forms of digital entertainment. Persistent underperformance has undermined our optimism over the company’s legacy businesses, and ultimately led us to exit the stock.”
9. Ulta Beauty Inc (NASDAQ:ULTA)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 40
A caller recently asked Jim Cramer for advice on his daughter’s investment idea related to Ulta Beauty Inc (NASDAQ:ULTA). Cramer said he’s bullish on the stock:
“I’ve been thinking a lot about it. One of the reasons I’ve been thinking about is, you know, that Sephora is in Kohl’s and Kohl’s is doing so poorly that I think people are going to gravitate away from Sephora and come back to Ulta. Ulta’s got new management. We have to check out the Ulta store that’s in Midtown. I love going there. I’m with your daughters. I think they got horse sense.”
Diamond Hill Long-Short Fund stated the following regarding Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) in its Q2 2024 investor letter:
“Still-rising valuations have made identifying attractively valued, long ideas increasingly challenging — though we still found a few in Q2 that we believe the market is overlooking amid its increasingly narrow focus on the mega-cap technology stocks dominating the major indices. We established new long positions in VeriSign, Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA), Sysco Corporation and Lamb Weston Holdings during the quarter.
Ulta is a leading US specialty beauty retailer. As inflation has remained relatively elevated and consumers have found ways to economize and moderate discretionary spending, we believe Ulta is well-positioned to take share given its compelling portfolio of beauty brands across a range of price points, including its own private-label brand. We believe the current share price fails to account for an attractive outlook for the company and capitalized on a low valuation to initiate a position in Q2.”
8. Okta Inc (NASDAQ:OKTA)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 47
A caller recently asked Jim Cramer about his thoughts on Okta Inc (NASDAQ:OKTA). Here is what Cramer said:
“I think Okta is terrific. It’s one of the greatest companies. I’ll tell you, anybody who works there has a great time and they have done remarkable things. And Todd McKinnon (CEO) is terrific and so is cyber security. Anti-stops, this one is a winner.”
Sands Capital Select Growth Fund stated the following regarding Okta, Inc. (NASDAQ:OKTA) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:
“We decided to exit our position in Okta, Inc. (NASDAQ:OKTA) in favor of higher-conviction businesses. We initiated a position in Okta in December 2023, following a data breach that depressed the share price of the business. At that time, our research indicated that shares of the business presented an attractive risk-reward opportunity, as a long-term business impairment from the data breach was unlikely, and Okta remained a key provider of technology within a market—identity—that is large, growing, and consolidating amid private equity buyouts. Moreover, we saw potential tailwinds from changes to its go-to-market strategy and new product cycles.
Over our holding period, Okta delivered significant margin expansion, yet topline growth failed to accelerate. Similar to many software businesses, it continues to face the challenges of weak labor force trends for small and midsized businesses that are forcing clients to renew at lower seat counts, and management has failed to execute well enough to offset these headwinds. While we still see the potential for the business to accelerate growth, we chose to exit our position to fund holdings in businesses we have more confidence will execute on their growth potential.”
7. Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:NFLX)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 121
Steve Weiss, Founder and Managing Partner of Short Hills Capital Partners, explained in a recent program on CNBC why he’s piling into Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:NFLX). He believes the company has strong pricing power and it would not be impacted even during a recession:
“They will do well in a recession because you will cut down the number of streaming services that you have. They have the most content, and they still have pricing power. They can raise prices every year if they want, every 6 months. It won’t hurt demand. Plus, there are so many levers they can pull. We’ve seen them start to get into sports. I would expect more of that. So to me, it’s just a quintessential stock for this market. It may get overvalued shortly if this continues, but I’m not going to sell at that point. I did buy some for a trading position to get more exposure to the market, so I would let that go. But the core position will stay.”
Harding Loevner Global Developed Markets Equity Strategy stated the following regarding Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:
“During the quarter, we benefited from strong stocks within the Communication Services and Consumer Discretionary sectors. Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) was our top relative contributor; the company provided a favorable outlook for subscriber growth in 2025 and made progress in two key areas, live TV and advertising. The streaming service broadcast its first sporting events, including two National Football League games on Christmas, and said that the ad-supported plan it launched two years ago amassed 70 million subscribers, more than investors expected.”
6. Uber Technologies Inc (NYSE:UBER)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 136
Ben Harwood from New Street Research said in a latest program on Schwab Network that Tesla could pose a challenge to Uber Technologies Inc (NYSE:UBER) when it comes to the self-driving business:
“But of course the risk is that it opens up the market to some of these new entrants like Waymo, like Tesla. So far, as I mentioned, the company’s been able to navigate that risk very well, partnering with leading robotaxi companies. The benefit for Uber Technologies Inc (NYSE:UBER) is it gets access to that technology. The benefit for the robotaxi companies—they get access to Uber’s scale, Uber’s customer base. It can scale the technology without having to invest massively in terms of ramping this technology. However, the big unknown and big risk today is Tesla, and we know how Elon likes to approach things. He’ll go with a Tesla-first approach, and we see Tesla as one that could potentially scale without Uber Technologies Inc (NYSE:UBER). They’re launching in Austin in a couple of months, and we need to see how the reception of that product is. But largely an opportunity with a bit of a threat there.”
Ithaka US Growth Strategy stated the following regarding Uber Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:UBER) in its Q1 2025 investor letter:
“Uber Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:UBER) employs a marketplace-based technology platform used to match drivers and their vehicles with individuals, products, and packages moving from point A to point B. The company offers its ~6M independent contractors (drivers) access to its 170M monthly active users (riders), providing both parties real-time access to logistics services. Uber’s business consists of three segments: Mobility, Delivery, and Freight. These businesses combined for ~$160B in annual bookings across 11.3B trips in 2024. During the company’s fourth quarter earnings announcement CEO Dara Khosrowshahi laid out his vision why Uber will play an important role in the future where cars are largely autonomous. This written piece helped remove an overhang on the stock and got investors comfortable with Uber’s future prospects. Additionally, the stock was helped by the announcement that renowned investor Bill Ackman had taken a position in the company as a top 15 shareholder.”
5. Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 158
Craig Moffett, MoffettNathanson Founder, said in a latest program on CNBC that moving iPhone production to India would not solve Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) problems.
“You have a tremendous sort of menu of problems created by tariffs, and moving to India doesn’t solve all the problems. Now, granted, it helps to some degree. By the way, I would sort of question how that’s going to work. If the glass and all the materials for the entire phone is manufactured in China and yet it’s assembled in India, it’s not entirely clear the extent to which that will avoid Chinese tariffs.”
The analyst also talked about Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) struggles in China and declining iPhone sales amid competition:
“During the first quarter, we’ve seen declines or we expect we’ll see declines of something like 8% in China. But that’s against a backdrop of some pretty significant handset subsidies, and the volumes are really going to the Huawei’s and the Vivos and the local competitors in China rather than to Apple. Some of that is because of the price point. The subsidies were aimed at lower-tier phones. But some of it is that kind of nationalism that is—it’s viewed as patriotic in China to buy a Chinese-made phone.”
Apple investors are cheering the US-China tariff deal. However, the core threats haunting the company have not changed.
Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) is desperately in need of new catalysts. The company’s revenue in China fell 8% in fiscal year 2024, following a 2% decline the previous year. The Chinese market accounts for about 15% of Apple’s total revenue, so this downtrend cannot be ignored.
Investors had hopes from the Wearables, Home, and Accessories segment, but so far, its performance has been weak. Vision Pro faces tough competition from Meta’s $500 Quest and the more affordable Quest 3S, making it hard to justify its $3,500 price tag. The failure of Apple’s HomePod, unable to compete with Amazon’s and Google’s lower-priced offerings, further highlights the challenges in this market.
Apple’s iPhone 16 has not shown promising growth prospects yet, and investors are still in a wait-and-see mode on the AI platform.
Columbia Seligman Global Technology Fund stated the following regarding Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:
“The fund maintained a position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) throughout the quarter through the release of the company’s new iPhone 16 in September. Company leaders were excited about the release of the new model, as this is the first model that will feature enhanced AI capabilities through the Apple Intelligence features. Sales for the first few weeks in October and November trailed behind year over year sales from the iPhone 15, as availability of Apple Intelligence was not compatible with all iPhone models. Apple announced a partnership with OpenAI that has allowed the integration of ChatGPT into the Apple ecosystem, separate from the core Apple Intelligence features. This partnership highlights continued progress from Apple to introduce AI capabilities into its products and we expect the iPhone 17 to have even more expansive AI capabilities, increasing potential demand for the new model that is on track to be released in 2025.”
4. Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 160
During a recent interview on CNBC, Ben Reitzes, Melius Research Head of Technology Research, talked about the “existential threats” Alphabet is facing related to its search business.
“We compared it to Kodak in terms of the innovator’s dilemma, where your eyes saw digital cameras coming and the digital revolution. It didn’t matter if it was really ready for prime time that exact second, but you knew it was coming. Eventually, it caught up with you, and the existential threat did come to bear there in the worst way possible. That’s not going to be really the case for Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), because they could break up and they have a lot of great assets. But nonetheless, it does remind us of the innovator’s dilemma. They don’t really know what to do; they’re experimenting here, experimenting there. Actually, nobody even knows what’s going on. The regular search, we think, is being disrupted by AI very clearly though, and they’ve got to make a bet soon.”
Alphabet posted strong quarterly results, but the market remains reluctant about the stock amid threats to its search business due to the onslaught of AI tools like ChatGPT. However, Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) bulls believe these concerns are overstated.
Google has an edge over competitors because it’s easier for the billions of users of its search engine to switch to Gemini instead of opting for a completely new model. Google has over 1.5 billion monthly users interacting with its AI-powered Search overviews. OpenAI, Alphabet’s biggest competitor now when it comes to AI search, has less than 5% of its users paying, and its business model is still developing. Google’s first-quarter results showed continued strength in its cloud unit, with revenue up 28% year over year and solid operating income growth. This supports Google’s broader AI strategy and underscores the scale advantages of its cloud business.
The market is also ignoring Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s key secondary businesses and the stock remains undervalued despite concerns around AI search and regulatory onslaught.
Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s secondary ventures in AI, autonomous driving, and other areas are making solid progress, especially in the Waymo robotaxi segment. Waymo vehicles now average about 30.6 autonomous rides per day—substantially higher than Uber’s average of 4.18 rides per driver daily, based on Uber’s 31 million daily trips and 7.4 million drivers last quarter. This performance underscores Waymo’s competitive edge in autonomous ride volume compared to traditional ride-hailing.
Mairs & Power Balanced Fund stated the following regarding Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) in its Q1 2025 investor letter:
“The Fund’s holdings in the Communications Services sector dragged on portfolio returns during the quarter due primarily to security selection. Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) led underperformance as it fell in tandem with the other mega cap tech stocks. Additionally, there is increasing concern about the impact of generative AI on Alphabet’s search business and whether it will be able to meaningfully respond.”
3. NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 193
Jim Cramer in a program last month mentioned how and why he recommended investors trim their Nvidia stakes.
“I put out a piece yesterday that was quite painful for me to write to the club members. I do a big Sunday think piece, and it was about how you could no longer trust the government in NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA). You could just no longer do it. So therefore, you can’t own it like you used to, meaning you have to trim. And I said, “I’m going to have to sell some.” One of the reasons I did it—well, it turns out just this very evening, without any notice, different from even when I talked about it at the top of the show, the government decided, you know what, we’re going to put new restrictions on the H20, which is the dumbed-down version of the latest and greatest NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA) chip. And it’s really kind of shocking. But is it really? I wrote that piece because I expect stuff like this to happen, and it’s going to have a big charge. It’s a different world. Nvidia gives a huge amount of money, decides to build as much here like Apple—it buys them nothing. All that I know is that if you do a lot of business in China—and if you’re a club member, you know this—then your stock’s going to suffer. And that includes now NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA) too.”
Most of Cramer’s concerns were related to Nvidia’s China exposure. Now that the US has reached a 90-day deal with China on tariffs, it would be interesting to see Cramer’s response. Nonetheless, the core threats to Nvidia remain.
Nvidia is facing challenges at several levels. Competition is one of them. Major competitors like Apple, Qualcomm, and AMD are vying for TSMC’s 3nm capacity, which could limit Nvidia’s access to these chips. Why? Because Nvidia also uses TSMC’s 3nm process nodes. Nvidia is also facing direct competition from other giants that are deciding to make their own chips. Amazon, with its Trainium2 AI chips, offers alternatives. Trainium2 chips could provide cost savings and superior computational power, which could shift AI workloads away from Nvidia’s offerings. Apple is reportedly working with Broadcom to develop an AI server processor. Intel is also trying hard to get back into the game with Jaguar Shores GPU, set to be produced on its 18A or 14A node.
Ithaka US Growth Strategy stated the following regarding NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) in its Q1 2025 investor letter:
“NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) is the undisputed leader in accelerated computing, with dominant market share in Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) powering AI workloads across data centers, edge devices, and emerging platforms. Its end-to-end ecosystem—from silicon to software (CUDA, networking, and AI frameworks)—creates high switching costs and a widening competitive moat. With secular demand for AI infrastructure still in its early innings, Nvidia stands to benefit from sustained topline growth and strong operating leverage. In early January, a little known Chinese AI company, DeepSeek, released its large language model (LLM), DeepSeek-R1, to an unexpecting world. This model was purportedly trained on very few high-end Nvidia chips and was highly efficient when compared to other leading models. This release set off a chain reaction where investors have had to grapple with the idea that the world may not need as many GPUs as previously thought, which hampered the Nvidia buy case and sent the P/E multiple down to its cheapest level in the past 5 years.”
2. Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 235
Gene Munster, Deepwater Asset Management, said in a latest program on CNBC that Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg is on “Cloud9” because of the benefits the company is seeing from its AI investments.
“Zuckerberg is on cloud9 and the reason is that he raised guidance by 3%, but these AI tools are having a huge impact in terms of how customers are using them, increasing engagement by 7 to 30%. And so he’s on cloud9. They’re going to be continuing to aggress— invest aggressively in AI. And I think that point about the engagement increasing around AI is really important because as we look around and ask the question, how is AI—what’s the return on investment on AI, Meta is actually showing tangible examples of that increasing revenue. They lower their total expenses for the year by 1%. And so this company’s in a unique area where it’s actually been having this benefit from AI.”
Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META) biggest strength remains its huge user base, which continues to grow despite record levels. The company has 3.43 billion monthly active users as of March, up 6% year over year. This equals about half of the world’s total population, giving the company immense power for monetization and data processing. The company also raised its capex guide for the year from $60-$65 billion to $64-$72 billion, crushing concerns about an AI and data center slowdown.
Another overlooked element in Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META) business is its ads growth. The company, which depends on advertising for 98% of its revenue, is growing at a rate of 21% YoY. In comparison, Google Search grew by 9%, while Alphabet’s overall business, including Cloud and Services, expanded by 12%. Even YouTube’s year-on-year growth stands at 11%, well below Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META) rate.
Given Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META) current growth, Wall Street’s estimates of 21% EBIT growth and 18% OCF growth seem conservative compared to the tailwinds the company is benefiting from right now.
Nightview Capital stated the following regarding Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:
“Core Opportunity: Meta Platforms, Inc.’s (NASDAQ:META) platforms—Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, and Messenger—reach nearly half the world’s population daily, making it one of the most powerful advertising ecosystems globally. With investments in AI and augmented reality (AR), we believe Meta is also creating significant optionality for long-term growth.
Competitive Advantage: Thriving Core Platforms: In Q3, we saw Meta achieve a 23% YoY revenue growth,—a testament to strong user engagement across its ecosystem. The advertising landscape as a whole continues to evolve and we believe Meta’s existing platforms offer a defined advantage in this new world. Existing platforms in the age of AI continue to be the most powerful indicator of future success in our opinion.
AI Leadership: Meta’s AI capabilities and the Llama AI model are driving efficiency and product innovation. In our view, these assets have been under-appreciated by the market while enhancing Meta’s ability to further scale and innovate its leading advertising business…” (Click here to read the full text)
1. Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 279
Dan Niles from Niles Investment said in a latest program on CNBC that Microsoft’s results showed the company’s Cloud business has “done well.”
“Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT)—remember, this is the first time in the last four quarters that Azure, which is their cloud business, has actually done well. It disappointed the prior three quarters, and their Azure growth actually accelerated from 31% to 33% growth year-over-year. You look at Google Cloud or you look at Amazon Web Services—their growth actually decelerated by 2% each. And Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) this year is actually getting their spending under control, and I think there’s a reason why this is the best performer out of the Mag 7 so far this year. Last year, they were the biggest spender and ramped it up the fastest. There’s a reason they were the worst performer of the Mag 7 last year. So I think that one’s interesting.”
Mar Vista U.S. Quality Select Strategy stated the following regarding Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) in its Q1 2025 investor letter:
“Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) reported strong bookings, highlighted by an accelerating remaining performance obligation of nearly $300 billion, representing 36% year-over-year growth, as well as healthy cloud revenue growth of 21% year-over-year. Despite this solid performance, MSFT stock came under pressure as Azure revenue growth, at 31% year-over-year, came in at the low end of expectations. Additionally, guidance for the March quarter forecasted Azure revenue growth of 31% to 32%, reflecting a slowdown in non-AI related Azure growth.
We continue to believe Microsoft is well-positioned to gain market share as organizations of all sizes pivot toward a digital-first future and adopt generative AI solutions. With a strong presence in the enterprise and a comprehensive portfolio spanning infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS), platform-as-a-service (PaaS), and software-as-a-service (SaaS), Microsoft is a mission-critical IT provider across industries.
The company is executing effectively against a significant market opportunity by delivering a roadmap for digital transformation and the adoption of innovative AI tools like ChatGPT. This helps businesses boost productivity while reducing costs. Consequently, we expect Microsoft’s solutions to remain resilient even in a challenging macroeconomic environment, supporting low double-digit intrinsic value growth over our investment horizon.”
While we acknowledge the potential of Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) our conviction lies in the belief that under the radar AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter time frame. There is an AI stock that went up since the beginning of 2025, while popular AI stocks lost around 25%. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than MSFT but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
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