On Friday, stocks finished lower only one day after the S&P 500 posted a new record high. This drop came after President Donald Trump announced a 35% tariff on Canada and threatened to raise tariffs even more on other countries.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.63% while the S&P 500 went down 0.33%. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.22%.
These losses on Friday were driven by growing tensions in the trade war. Just the previous day, on Thursday, all three major averages had gone up.
After the markets closed on Thursday, Trump pointed out that the higher tariffs on Canada were because of fentanyl. He also warned that if Canada retaliates, the tariffs would go even higher.
However, Trump said in a letter posted on Truth Social that if Canada helps stop the flow of Fentanyl, he might reconsider the tariffs.
Additionally, Trump told NBC News that he was planning blanket tariffs of 15% to 20% on other countries, which is higher than the 10% rate that investors had gotten used to.
Trump also said that he thinks the “tariffs have been very well-received,” while pointing out that the stock market had reached a new high on Thursday.
After Friday’s losses, all three major indexes ended the week lower. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1% for the week, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq lost 0.3% and 0.1%, respectively.
With this background in mind, let’s take a look at the 13 best large-cap stocks to buy right now.
A computer display with stock graphs revealing the performance of large-mid capitalization U.S. equities.
Our Methodology
To compile our list of the 13 best large-cap stocks to buy right now, we used the Finviz stock screener to look for stocks with a market capitalization between $10 billion and $200 billion. We sorted our results based on market capitalization and picked the top 50 stocks. Next, we focused on the top 13 stocks most favored by institutional investors. Data for the hedge fund sentiment surrounding each stock was taken from Insider Monkey’s Q1 2025 database of 1,000 elite hedge funds. Finally, the 13 best large-cap stocks to buy right now were ranked in ascending order based on the number of hedge funds holding stakes in them as of Q1 2025.
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 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).
13 Best Large Cap Stocks to Buy Right Now
13. Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 96
Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) is one of the best large-cap stocks to buy right now. On June 26, Baird increased its price target for Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) from $163 to $200 while keeping an “Outperform” rating.
The research firm pointed to accelerated gains in the company’s share of the high-bandwidth memory (HBM) market.
Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) expects to hit its HBM market share goal in the second half of 2025, sooner than previously expected. The company is shipping HBM in large amounts to four customers across both graphics processing units (GPUs) and application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs).
Baird noted that customer inventories are healthy across all end markets. So far, any tariff-related pull-ins have been described as modest. Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) expects to finish fiscal 2025 with tight DRAM inventories, much lower NAND inventories, and overall inventories reaching targeted levels.
The research firm described Micron Technology, Inc.’s (NASDAQ:MU) progress and growth potential in HBM and low-power DRAM as “transformational.” These areas are seen as important growth drivers for the companies, especially as demand for memory in AI applications grows.
Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) is an American producer of computer memory and computer data storage that is known for its innovative memory and storage solutions.
12. The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 96
The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) is one of the best large-cap stocks to buy right now. On June 25, Redburn-Atlantic upgraded The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) rating to “Buy” from “Neutral” and increased its price target from $180 to $275.
The research firm noted positive changes in The Boeing Company’s (NYSE:BA) financials, culture, industrial processes, and overall strategy. Redburn-Atlantic also pointed out that the company’s health is improving after years of difficulties.
The firm’s analysis focused especially on the production potential at Boeing Commercial Aircraft (BCA), highlighting that The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) can increase deliveries of the 737 and 787 models. Redburn-Atlantic projects these models could reach production rates of 63 and 14 aircraft per month, respectively.
This boost in production could generate an additional $1.7 billion in post-tax cash profits compared to current models. This represents a 13% potential upside to the firm’s 2029 cash flow estimates for The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA).
Redburn-Atlantic believes that the company’s free cash flow could surpass $14 billion by the end of the decade, exceeding the previous highest free cash flow of $13.6 billion achieved by The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) in 2018.
The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) is a leading global aerospace company that manufactures and services commercial airplanes, defense products, and space systems.