On August 7, Jonathan Krinsky, BTIG technician, joined CNBC’s ‘Closing Bell’ to discuss his thoughts on the current market standing. Krinsky explained what the charts indicated about the market’s future. He confirmed his belief that a pullback is likely and cited the structure of the market this year. The S&P 500 peaked around 6,100 in February before a decline in April. Since the index has now broken through that resistance level, Krinsky anticipates a check back to retest 6,100 as a new support level. This would represent only a 5% pullback from current highs and, he believes, would present an opportunity for investors to buy.
When asked about what might cause this pullback, Krinsky explained that while the overall bull market was driven by the tech and AI sectors, other areas are showing vulnerability. He mentioned consumer-focused names like transports, retail, and restaurant stocks. He also said that the tech sector had a great run, but the semiconductor industry looked vulnerable. He noted that software stocks tend to perform better than semiconductors in August, as noted for the past 5 years.
That being said, we’re here with a list of the 11 best performing S&P 500 stocks to buy now.
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Our Methodology
We used the Finviz stock screener to compile a list of the 11 best-performing S&P 500 stocks with the highest year-to-date performance (more than 45%), as of August 11. We narrowed down our selection to stocks with the most hedge fund ownership. The stocks are ranked in ascending order of their year-to-date performance. We’ve also added the hedge fund sentiment for each stock, as of Q1 2025, which was sourced from Insider Monkey’s database.
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).
11 Best Performing S&P 500 Stocks to Buy Now
11. IDEXX Laboratories Inc. (NASDAQ:IDXX)
Year-to-Date Performance as of August 11: 57.73%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 51
IDEXX Laboratories Inc. (NASDAQ:IDXX) is one of the best performing S&P 500 stocks to buy now. On August 11, Piper Sandler raised the firm’s price target on Idexx Laboratories to $700 from $510 following the company’s Q2 2025 financial results. The firm kept a Neutral rating on the shares.
IDEXX Laboratories reported total revenues of $1,109 million in Q2, which was an increase of 11% as reported and 9% organically, compared to the prior year. This was driven by a strong performance from its Companion Animal Group/CAG and Water segments, which saw revenue increases of 11% and 9% as reported, respectively.
Within the Companion Animal Group, IDEXX VetLab consumables revenue grew by 15% as reported and 14% organically. The company also saw a 66% reported increase in CAG Diagnostics capital instrument revenues, driven by record placements of its new IDEXX InVue Dx instrument. Rapid assay products revenues, however, declined by 3% as both reported and organic, as some testing shifted to new modalities.
IDEXX Laboratories Inc. (NASDAQ:IDXX) develops, manufactures, and distributes products for the companion animal veterinary, livestock and poultry, dairy, and water testing industries in the US and internationally.
10. eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY)
Year-to-Date Performance as of August 11: 53.83%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 51
eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) is one of the best performing S&P 500 stocks to buy now. Susquehanna analyst Shyam Patil raised the firm’s price target on eBay to $95 from $70 and kept a Neutral rating on the shares. This decision followed the company’s Q2 2025 earnings report, which was driven by strength in the US and solid GMV (Gross Merchandise Volume) growth acceleration in its focus categories.
eBay reported revenue of $2.7 billion, which was an increase of 6% on an as-reported basis and 4% on an FX-neutral basis compared to the previous year. GMV was $19.5 billion, also up 6% as reported and 4% on an FX-neutral basis. The company’s total advertising offerings generated $482 million in revenue, accounting for 2.5% of GMV.
For Q3, eBay is providing guidance that projects revenue between $2.69 and $2.74 billion, and GMV in the range of $19.2 to $19.6 billion. The company expects FX-neutral year-over-year growth for both revenue and GMV to be between 3% and 5%.
eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) operates marketplace platforms that connect buyers and sellers in the US, the UK, China, Germany, and internationally.
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