NASDAQ CEO and chair Adena Friedman appeared on CNBC’s ‘Squawk Box’ on April 24 to discuss what to make of the market volatility, as well as the IPO landscape. Friedman reported that NASDAQ achieved 12.5% overall revenue growth in the quarter, with every division posting double-digit increases. Specifically, the index business grew by 26%, which was supported by $27 billion of inflows during the quarter. Half of these inflows were directed into NASDAQ 100 index products, while the other half went into various other indexes offered by NASDAQ. Friedman also acknowledged that the economy entered the year with resilience but faced increasing uncertainty and volatility as the quarter progressed. However, she explained that such environments often drive clients to turn to NASDAQ as the market operator of choice to manage their trading volumes and capital flows. She noted that even amid market value fluctuations, NASDAQ saw inflows into its index products and strong demand for its fintech services.
The discussion also indicated that while short-term market volatility can boost trading activity and liquidity, longer-term IPO prospects depend on broader economic conditions. Friedman said that IPO activity and investor behavior could change more significantly if the economy were to enter an extended recession. But for now, NASDAQ benefits from a strong start to the year and remains a preferred venue for investors to express their views. The conversation then turned to global capital flows, particularly as Chinese sovereign wealth funds may reduce investments in US venture capital and private equity firms. Friedman stated that the capital flows where returns are the strongest. She emphasized that asset owners and managers have ‘fiduciary’ responsibilities to their ultimate beneficiaries and will prioritize returns over the long term. Acknowledging the influence of geopolitical and political factors on investment decisions, Friedman stressed that NASDAQ’s role is to provide the infrastructure that allows capital to flow efficiently regardless of shifts.
With that acknowledged, we’re here with a list of the 11 best young stocks to buy according to hedge funds.
A financial planner analysis their portfolio and making decisions on stocks and assets.
Our Methodology
We first used the Finviz stock screener to compile a list of young stocks that went public in the last 3 years. We then selected the 11 stocks that were the most popular among elite hedge funds and that analysts were bullish on. The stocks are ranked in ascending order of the number of hedge funds that have stakes in them, as of Q4 2024.
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 Young Stocks to Buy According to Hedge Funds
11. Amer Sports Inc. (NYSE:AS)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 48
Amer Sports Inc. (NYSE:AS) designs, manufactures, and sells sports equipment, apparel, footwear, and accessories. It operates through three segments: Technical Apparel, Outdoor Performance, and Ball & Racquet Sports. The company distributes its products through several channels, such as retail stores, general sporting goods retailers, and independently operated partner stores.
Arc’teryx, one of Amer’s Technical Apparel segments, concluded 2024 with over $2 billion in sales. The overall Technical Apparel segment reported a 29% omnichannel comparable sales growth in Q4. Arc’teryx’s growth relies on its differentiated DTC model, with 8 new retail stores opened in Q4, which brought the total openings for 2024 to 33. 6 of these locations were in China. The brand plans to maintain a similar pace in 2025 with 25-30 net new store openings.
On April 28, Citi lowered the price target on Amer Sports Inc. (NYSE:AS) to $30 from $36 while keeping a Buy rating on the shares. The adjustment reflects the impact of tariffs and a weakening sales backdrop. Citi’s new estimates use 10% tariffs for the rest of the world and 60% tariffs on China. For the full year 2025, Amer Sports anticipates ~20% revenue growth in the Technical Apparel segment.
10. Vestis Corp. (NYSE:VSTS)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 48
Vestis Corp. (NYSE:VSTS) provides uniform rentals and workplace supplies in the US and Canada. The company’s products include uniform options, such as shirts, pants, outerwear, gowns, scrubs, high visibility garments, particulate-free garments, and flame-resistant garments. It also offers shoes and accessories, along with workplace supplies.
In 2023, Aramark broke out its Aramark Uniform Services division to become a new independent, publicly listed company that was eventually called Vestis. This company then went on to make $665.25 million in quarterly revenue in Q2 2025, which declined by 5.69% year-over-year.
However, these results also revealed headwinds that impacted the company’s growth trajectory. Vestis Corp.’s (NYSE:VSTS) revenue from existing customers decreased by $5.8 million, particularly. There was also a $6.8 million decrease in direct sales. Barclays analyst Manav Patnaik lowered the price target on Vestis to $5 from $10 on May 9 while maintaining an Underweight rating on the shares after the company released its Q2 2025 earnings report.
9. Astera Labs Inc. (NASDAQ:ALAB)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 51
Astera Labs Inc. (NASDAQ:ALAB) designs, manufactures, and sells semiconductor-based connectivity solutions for cloud and AI infrastructure. It offers an intelligent connectivity platform that comprises semiconductor-based and mixed-signal connectivity products. The company serves hyperscalers and system original equipment manufacturers.
Morgan Stanley analyst Joseph Moore upgraded Astera to Overweight from Equal Weight with an unchanged price target of $99 on May 12. Astera is capitalizing on the demand for scale-up connectivity solutions within the expanding AI and cloud infrastructure market. This is evident by the increasing size of accelerator clusters, the necessity for higher-speed interconnects, and the growing complexity of overall system architectures.
In Q1 2025, Astera Labs Inc. (NASDAQ:ALAB) made $159.4 million in revenue, which was up 144% year-over-year. The company has announced the upcoming introduction of the Scorpio X-Series solutions, which optimize the utilization of AI accelerators. Astera anticipates that the adoption of the Scorpio X-Series will increase its silicon content per accelerator, potentially reaching ‘hundreds of dollars’. Pre-production shipments of the Scorpio X-Series are slated to commence in late Q2 2025.
8. Viking Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:VIK)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 52
Viking Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:VIK) engages in the passenger shipping and other forms of passenger transport. It operates through the River and Ocean segments. It also operates as a tour entrepreneur for passengers and related activities in tourism. The company commands a 52% market share within the river cruise sector.
This segment has a focus on European itineraries and delivered impressive results in 2024. The River Cruise division experienced a 3.7% year-over-year increase in capacity PCDs, which was fueled by the full operation of vessels acquired in 2023, the partial deployment of new ships from 2024, and the introduction of European winter sailings. This translated into a 15.8% year-over-year surge and reached $1.6 billion.
As of February 23, 2025, bookings for Viking’s river cruises had already reached ~$2.6 billion, which marked a 24% increase year-over-year. In 2025, Viking Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:VIK) is committed to expanding its river capacity by 12% through the introduction of 10 new river ships, with a strong emphasis on its core European market, where 7 of these new vessels will be deployed. On April 25, Northcoast initiated coverage of Viking with a Buy rating and $51 price target.
Artisan Mid Cap Fund stated the following regarding Viking Holdings Ltd (NYSE:VIK) in its Q1 2025 investor letter:
“During the quarter, we initiated new GardenSM positions in Baker Hughes, Snowflake and Viking Holdings Ltd (NYSE:VIK). Viking is a leading operator in river and luxury ocean cruising, with a business model built around affluent US travelers. Originally focused on European rivers, the company has expanded into the US and Egypt and has added ocean cruises to tap into adjacent destinations. Unlike peers, Viking emphasizes destination-focused itineraries over onboard amenities, which supports higher profitability. Given strong demand (2025 bookings are nearly full) and a differentiated offering, we view Viking as a top-tier franchise well positioned for revenue growth and margin expansion.”
7. Maplebear Inc. (NASDAQ:CART)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 60
Maplebear Inc. (NASDAQ:CART) does business as Instacart and provides online grocery shopping services to households in North America. Its service can be provided through the company’s mobile application or website. The company also provides advertising services and SaaS solutions.
Maplebear’s Advertising and Other Revenue segment grew by 14% year-over-year and outpaced the Gross Transaction Value growth of 10% while exceeding the company’s internal expectations in Q1 2025. This was fueled by contributions from both large, established brand partners and emerging brands using Maplebear’s advertising platform. Despite potential headwinds from macroeconomic uncertainty and evolving trade policies, the underlying trends in its advertising business remain strong.
Maplebear Inc. (NASDAQ:CART) is also using AI to enhance its advertising capabilities. Tools like universal campaigns, which provide brands with a scalable way to connect with customers across Maplebear’s advertising ecosystem, are powered by AI. For Q2, the company anticipates that Advertising and Other Revenue growth will modestly outpace its anticipated GTV growth. Still, on May 5, Seaport Research lowered the price target on Maplebear to $54 from $58 while keeping a Buy rating.
6. SharkNinja Inc. (NYSE:SN)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 63
SharkNinja Inc. (NYSE:SN) is a product design and technology company that operates under the Shark and Ninja brands. It offers consumer solutions like cleaning, cooking, food preparation, beauty, and home appliances. Its products are sold through various retail and online channels. Oppenheimer analyst Rupesh Parikh maintained a Buy rating on SharkNinja on May 9 and set a price target of $120.
While SharkNinja experienced growth across all 4 of its major product categories in Q1 2025, the Food Preparation Appliances segment had its net sales increase by $92.4 million, or a 45% year-over-year, to make $297.4 million. This was fueled by strong consumer demand within the frozen drinks sub-category, specifically for the company’s Slushi maker, and the ice cream makers sub-category. The overall company net sales growth was 14.7% for the quarter.
SharkNinja Inc. (NYSE:SN) is expected to continue innovating within the Food Preparation Appliances category to maintain this growth trajectory. The overall strategy emphasizes introducing disruptive products and expanding its portfolio. For this reason, the continued investment in R&D increased by 25.9% to $87.6 million in Q1 2025.
Munro Global Growth Small & Mid Cap Fund believes in the company’s transformative potential and stated the following regarding SharkNinja, Inc. (NYSE:SN) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:
“SharkNinja, Inc. (NYSE:SN) contributed -34bps to Fund performance for the quarter. SharkNinja, based in Needham Heights, Massachusetts, is a leading designer and marketer of electrical household appliances.
Originally known for its vacuums and long infomercial advertising across late hours of the night, SharkNinja has transformed itself into a leading household appliance company, continuing to move laterally into new areas of the home. Their proposition is simple, create innovative, best-in-class products at price points that attract all consumer demographics. SharkNinja is the epitome of positive customer perception, one of the six qualitative characteristic traits in Munro’s investment process.
Roughly 12 months ago, fresh off its IPO, SharkNinja remained an undiscovered story, trading at less than 15x earnings. The company had forecasted its revenue to grow by 7-9% in 2024. Fast forward to today, the company is really catching the eye of consumers on a global scale, which has led to a big acceleration in revenue, likely, in our view, to be over 30% for 2024 when the company reports its result in mid-February.…” (Click here to read the full text)
5. GE HealthCare Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:GEHC)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 64
GE HealthCare Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:GEHC) develops, manufactures, and markets products, services, and complementary digital solutions. These are used in the diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring of patients in the US, Canada, and internationally. It has four segments: Imaging, Advanced Visualization Solutions/AVS, Patient Care Solutions/PCS, and Pharmaceutical Diagnostics/PDx.
The Pharmaceutical Diagnostics segment generated 8% year-over-year organic revenue growth in Q1 2025 due to the introduction of new products. This growth was also driven by a focus on radiopharmaceuticals. In Q1 2025, GE Healthcare achieved the first commercial doses of Flyrcado, which is its novel PET myocardial perfusion imaging agent designed to detect coronary artery disease. This tracer has also received CMS pass-through pricing, paving the way for a successful rollout.
The company also strengthened its position by acquiring the remaining 50% stake in Nihon Medi-Physics/NMP in Q1. NMP is a radiopharmaceutical company in Japan that is expected to contribute ~$150 million of inorganic revenue over the remaining three quarters of 2025. Patrick Wood from Morgan Stanley maintained a Hold rating on GE Healthcare with a price target of $78 on May 7.
Oakmark Fund stated the following regarding GE HealthCare Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:GEHC) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:
“GE HealthCare Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:GEHC) is a leading global medical technology company that was spun off from General Electric in January 2023. As a standalone company, we expect GE HealthCare to benefit from increased focus, better aligned management and incentives, and an improved corporate culture. We believe these changes will help drive higher margins and organic growth. In addition, we think GE HealthCare is well-positioned to capitalize on technology trends as a greater portion of the value proposition comes from AI-enabled software and a shift toward precision care. A lack of appreciation for the company’s self-help potential coupled with short-term concerns around weak demand in China provided us with the opportunity to purchase shares at a low valuation relative to other high-quality medical technology companies and at the lowest price relative to the S&P 500 since the IPO.”
4. Core Scientific Inc. (NASDAQ:CORZ)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 66
Core Scientific Inc. (NASDAQ:CORZ) is a digital asset mining company that offers infrastructure, software, and hosting solutions across the US. It operates through self-mining, hosted mining, and HPC hosting segments. It provides data center facilities, miner deployment & management, and essential infrastructure services to support blockchain transactions and digital asset operations.
On May 8, H.C. Wainwright analyst Kevin Dede maintained a Buy rating on Core Scientific with a $17 price target. The strategy centers on the company’s high-density co-location business, which is driven by its contracts with CoreWeave. These agreements are structured as take-or-pay and fixed-price contracts, which ensure a consistent revenue stream regardless of utilization. CoreWeave is funding the majority of CapEx for these deployments.
This model allows Core Scientific to maintain a light balance sheet, with its direct capital outlay on the largest 70-megawatt expansion being $104 million. The company expects to deliver 250 megawatts to CoreWeave by the end of 2025 and 590 megawatts by early 2027. It’s also building out 570 megawatts of billable capacity across 4 locations. The Denton, Texas, facility is projected to deliver 260 megawatts of buildable capacity and potentially host one of North America’s largest GPU clusters.
3. Talen Energy Corp. (NASDAQ:TLN)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 77
Talen Energy Corp. (NASDAQ:TLN) is an independent power producer and infrastructure company that produces and sells electricity, capacity, and ancillary services into wholesale power markets in the US. The company operates nuclear, fossil, oil, natural gas, and coal power plants, and owns and operates ~10.7 GW of power infrastructure.
Talen’s growth is fueled by its data center power supply segment, most notably through its contract with Amazon Web Services/AWS at its Susquehanna site. The contract involves the delivery of power to the company’s Susquehanna campus, which has now been electrified and is generating revenue. The initial phase of this agreement is a 300-megawatt Interconnection Service Agreement/ISA, and Talen is pursuing opportunities to expand beyond this capacity to meet AWS’s increasing needs.
BofA raised the price target on Talen to $255 from $247 and kept a Buy rating on May 5. This adjustment followed the firm’s updated EBITDA estimates and removed its prior 5% discount from the base business. This was due to the favorable political environment for coal, the collar on the next two capacity auctions, and the inclusion of Susquehanna’s base generation in this segment.
River Road Mid Cap Value Fund highlighted Talen as a top contributor to the firm and stated the following regarding Talen Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:TLN) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:
“Another top contributor was Talen Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:TLN), a leading independent power producer. TLN boasts a diverse 10.7 GW generation portfolio spanning nuclear (48%), natural gas (41%), and coal (11%) assets across the PJM (northeastern states) and WECC (western regions). The electrical grid faces mounting pressure from rapidly escalating demand, fueled by transformative technologies like artificial intelligence (AI). Consequently, the price of clean and reliable nuclear power is expected to increase significantly. TLN’s crown jewel, the Susquehanna nuclear facility, enjoys dual advantages: a tax credit safeguarding its cash flow downside and upside cash flow potential as power prices respond to new agreements. These benefits are exemplified by TLN’s recent contract with Amazon® and Constellation Energy Group’s (CEG) plans to reactivate Three Mile Island to meet Microsoft’s® demand.
This strategic positioning drove several powerful catalysts in the quarter despite the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC’s) rejection of the ISA amendment for increased Amazon Web Services (AWS) power capacity. The company demonstrated strong shareholder commitment by executing an additional $1B buyback, bringing total repurchases to 20% of shares in 2024, with $1.0B still authorized through 2026. The stock benefited from substantial passive fund demand, with over six million shares acquired in September alone following inclusion in five equity indices. Most importantly, the underlying business fundamentals remained robust, with expanded spark spreads driving increased generation margins across the fleet, while maintaining a conservative leverage ratio of 2.4x, well below the 3.5x target. The market particularly responded to the growing narrative around data center power demand, which is expected to surge from 25 gigawatts in 2024 to more than 80 gigawatts by 2030, positioning Talen’s existing generation capacity as increasingly valuable in a market facing significant supply constraints. We trimmed the position as it approached its assessed value.”
2. Reddit Inc. (NYSE:RDDT)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 87
Reddit Inc. (NYSE:RDDT) enables users to engage in conversations, explore passions, research new hobbies, and exchange goods and services. It organizes communities based on specific interests that enable users to engage in conversations by sharing experiences, submitting links, uploading images and videos, and replying to one another.
Reddit’s advertising business reached $359 million in Q1 2025, which was up 61% year-over-year and was driven by broad-based strength across objectives, channels, verticals, and geographies. About 40% of this ad revenue came from advertisers focused on building brand awareness rather than direct sales. Notably, active advertisers at Reddit Inc. (NYSE:RDDT) increased by more than 50%.
On May 5, Baird analyst Colin Sebastian raised the price target on the stock to $140 from $125 and maintained a Neutral rating on the shares. Reddit now projects total revenue between $410 million and $430 million for Q2. The company is enhancing its advertising platform to drive further growth. This includes investment in ML and ad formats to improve performance for advertisers and simplify the usability for both advertisers and sales teams through new tools and AI-driven insights.
Reddit Inc.’s (NYSE:RDDT) strong quarterly earnings, user growth, and AI partnership news drove a stock surge, which made it a top performer for the Columbia Threadneedle Global Technology Growth Strategy. The fund stated the following in its Q4 2024 investor letter:
“Reddit, Inc. (NYSE:RDDT) was the single best-performing stock for the fund, as the stock surged during the quarter, with significant outperformance following its stellar quarterly earnings release. The capital-light social news aggregation platform — and the ninth most-visited website in the world — reported quarterly revenue, user growth and profit margins that came in considerably higher than even the most bullish of estimates, and the company also provided forward-looking guidance that came in well ahead of expectations on most metrics. After earlier announcing a data licensing partnership with AI pioneer OpenAI, investors ‘up-voted’ the evolving AI narrative for Reddit after gaining a better understanding of its unique and hard-to-replicate trove of content generated by its growing and increasingly global user base.”
1. GE Vernova Inc. (NYSE:GEV)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 111
GE Vernova Inc. (NYSE:GEV) is an energy company that provides various products and services that generate, transfer, orchestrate, convert, and store electricity in the US, Europe, Asia, the Americas, the Middle East, and Africa. The company operates through three segments: Power, Wind, and Electrification.
Barclays analyst Julian Mitchell maintained a Buy rating on GE Vernova on April 29 and set a $427 price target. In Q1 2025, GE Vernova’s Gas Power segment saw equipment orders increase by over 30%, with 29 heavy-duty gas turbines booked, which is ~2x the previous year. The total gas turbine backlog has grown to 29 gigawatts and is supplemented by 21 gigawatts in slot reservation agreements expected to convert to orders.
GE Vernova Inc. (NYSE:GEV) currently has 50 gigawatts of gas turbines under contract or reserved and anticipates shipping more than 10 gigawatts in the remainder of 2025, with the aim to end the year with over 60 gigawatts in backlog and reservations. The long-term outlook for gas power remains strong, with 2026 and 2027 largely sold out and commercial activity accelerating for deliveries in 2029 and 2030.
Artisan Global Opportunities Fund stated the following regarding GE Vernova Inc. (NYSE:GEV) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:
“Notable adds in the quarter included GE Vernova Inc. (NYSE:GEV) and Oracle. GE Vernova is the power, wind and electrification spinoff from the former GE conglomerate. The company benefits from large global market shares across its businesses, high barriers to entry and a substantial installed base that generates multiyear service revenue streams. Now that the company is standing on its own, we believe it is in the early innings of a turnaround story while benefiting from an attractive underlying demand environment. As the world continues to decarbonize, the resulting need for power, wind and electrification equipment is poised to drive attractive growth over the coming years. Our work on AI data center growth and electrification implications strengthened our conviction in GE Vernova in the quarter, particularly its natural gas business, which we believe will need to act as a bridge fuel as technology companies try to balance AI data center growth with decarbonization targets.”
While we acknowledge the growth potential of GE Vernova Inc. (NYSE:GEV), our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold great promise for delivering high 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 GEV but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires.
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