The US stock market has gone through a turbulent journey this year. Following a correction in March and a lull in April, the S&P 500 recovered its losses in May and June. The index is now on the verge of hitting a record high, which is interesting since just two months ago, it was on the brink of a bear market.
The S&P 500 came to its lowest point of the year on April 8, down 18.9% from its February record high, following President Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs on April 2. However, in April, after the President retracted his substantial “reciprocal” tariffs, it experienced a significant rally. The recovery then picked up speed, and the index rose 6.15% throughout May.
According to Ross Mayfield, an investment strategist at Baird, as the market has rebounded, momentum surrounding US tech and AI has started to pick up pace. Stocks from these industries are starting to regain their “leadership” in US markets, which is helping propel the key indexes higher. Speaking on this, Mayfield added the following:
“Does it become a bubble at some point? I think it’s possible, but I don’t think we’re there yet. And in the meantime, getting leadership from these big tech names is huge for a US market that’s hyper-concentrated in that area.”
Other factors that could affect market sentiment and investor attitude include geopolitics and second-quarter earnings reports starting in mid-July. Christopher Brigati of SWBC, however, thinks investors should refrain from acting hastily based on the market’s immediate response.
“The main message for investors is to stay invested and avoid reacting sharply to any news or market reaction that may have a short-term negative impact upon equity prices. It is nearly impossible to attempt to time the market, therefore maintaining a disciplined and long-term investing approach serves investors well.”
Our Methodology
To compile our list for the 30 stocks expected to beat the market, we first identified US-listed companies with solid financials and growth prospects. From this pool, we narrowed downs stocks that analysts predict would surpass the S&P 500 by at least 20%. Lastly, these stocks were ranked based on the number of hedge funds holding positions in them as of the end of Q1 2025.
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).
30. VinFast Auto Ltd. (NASDAQ:VFS)
Analyst Upside: 69.48%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 8
VinFast Auto Ltd. (NASDAQ:VFS) ranks among our list of the 30 stocks expected to beat the market by 20 percentage points this year. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated its $6 price target and Overweight rating for VinFast Auto Ltd. (NASDAQ:VFS) on June 10 in response to the company’s 2025 first-quarter financial results.
VinFast Auto Ltd. (NASDAQ:VFS) reported a substantial increase in revenue from the previous year, with first-quarter revenues reaching $656.5 million. This figure was considerably greater than the $271.9 million recorded in the same quarter of the prior year and exceeded Cantor Fitzgerald’s projections of $447.5 million.
The company delivered 36,330 vehicles throughout the quarter, representing a significant increase from the 9,176 vehicles delivered during the first quarter of 2024. The VF3 and VF5 models from VinFast Auto Ltd. (NASDAQ:VFS) were considered the primary catalyst for this rise.
Despite falling short of Cantor Fitzgerald’s projections of negative 30.2%, the company’s reported gross margins for the quarter were about negative 35.2%, making it an improvement over the negative 79% gross margin in the fourth quarter of 2024.
VinFast Auto Ltd. (NASDAQ:VFS) is a Vietnamese multinational automotive company founded by Vingroup, one of Vietnam’s largest private corporations.
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