John Alfred Paulson is an American billionaire hedge fund manager who founded Paulson & Co. in 1994. It is a New York-based fund management firm that specializes in private equity and hedge funds. Paulson graduated as valedictorian of his class with a summa cum laude distinction in finance from NYU’s College of Business and Public Administration in 1978. He also pursued an MBA at Harvard Business School as a George F. Baker Scholar, which is a prestigious recognition awarded to the top 5% of his class. It’s supported by the Sidney J. Weinberg/Goldman Sachs scholarship, which he earned in 1980. With a client base of 20, the firm’s latest 13F filing for Q4 2024 revealed ~$1.65 billion in managed 13F securities and a top 10 holdings concentration of 98.55%.
The firm is known for its expertise in event-driven arbitrage strategies, such as merger arbitrage, bankruptcy reorganizations, and other corporate events. Paulson & Co. also pursues investments in distressed debt opportunities throughout the US and Western Europe, with the help of its strategic insights and extensive market experience. John Paulson is now also bullish on gold after 15 years and expects its price to reach ~$5,000 per ounce by 2028. He is the largest shareholder in Perpetua Resources. On April 29, Reuters reported that in a recent interview, Paulson reinforced that his conviction in gold is underpinned by the analysis of central bank buying trends and rising global trade tensions. He highlighted the inclination of central banks and individuals to seek stable stores of value now and suggested that gold will therefore enhance its global standing. Paulson believes that the Western confiscation of Russia’s foreign reserve holdings following the Ukraine invasion is one of the reasons behind the anticipated appreciation of gold prices.
That being said, we’re here with a list of billionaire John Paulson’s 10 stocks with huge upside potential.
A businessman examining a portfolio of stocks and bonds as he plans his next move.
Our Methodology
To compile the list of billionaire John Paulson’s 10 stocks with huge upside potential, we sifted through Q4 2024 13F filings of Paulson & Co. from Insider Monkey. From these filings, we checked each stock’s upside potential from CNN and ranked the stocks in ascending order of this upside potential. We have also added Paulson & Co.’s stake in each company and the hedge fund sentiment around each stock.
Note: All data was sourced on May 2.
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).
Billionaire John Paulson’s 10 Stocks with Huge Upside Potential
10. Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)
Paulson & Co.’s Stake: $1.90 million
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 234
Average Upside Potential as of May 2: 23.99%
Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is a technology company that offers products and platforms through its Google Services, Google Cloud, and Other Bets segments. Google Services provides popular tools like Search, YouTube, and Android, while Google Cloud delivers AI infrastructure and enterprise solutions.
The company’s Google Cloud is experiencing strong demand for its solutions, particularly in AI infrastructure and agents. This was highlighted at Cloud Next, where more than 500 companies shared their positive business outcomes from partnering with Google Cloud. In Q1 2025, Google Cloud made $12.3 billion in revenue, which was up 28% year-over-year due to the performance across the segment’s core offerings and its AI products.
BofA Securities recently maintained a Buy rating on Alphabet Inc.’s (NASDAQ:GOOGL) stock. Later on April 25, BMO Capital analyst Brian Pitz also reiterated his bullish stance on the stock. The analyst highlighted that the AI overviews in search, which were introduced recently, are being adopted quickly and drove this sentiment. AI overviews now reach over 1.5 billion users per month. This reflects a 50% increase in users since October 2024.
Oakmark Equity and Income Fund stated the following regarding Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:
“Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) was the top contributor during the quarter. Despite ongoing litigation with the Department of Justice in its antitrust case, the U.S.-headquartered interactive media and services company’s stock price rose after posting solid third-quarter earnings. In the Search division, the company generated low-teens year-over-year revenue growth and management highlighted that they’re seeing strong user engagement with their new AI Overviews feature. The biggest upside surprise came from the Cloud division, where revenue growth accelerated to 35% and margins reached a record of 17%. This performance was driven by client demand for AI Infrastructure and Generative AI Solutions as well as core Google Cloud Platform (GCP) products. We continue to believe Alphabet is a collection of great businesses that can unlock further value over the long term through its world-class AI capabilities.”
9. Equinox Gold Corp. (NYSEAMERICAN:EQX)
Paulson & Co.’s Stake: $12.55 million
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 20
Average Upside Potential as of May 2: 25.41%
Equinox Gold Corp. (NYSEAMERICAN:EQX) acquires, explores, develops, and operates mineral properties in the Americas. It primarily explores gold and silver deposits. It holds interest in properties in California, Mexico, Brazil, and Canada.
The company made $575 million in Q4 2024 revenue, which marked an improvement of 93.08% year-over-year. This was partly driven by 214,000 ounces of gold production. Equinox sold 218,000 ounces at an average price of $2,636 per ounce in this quarter. Despite facing higher costs of $1,458 per ounce, the company saw its adjusted EBITDA jump to $218 million. The net income reached $28 million.
Equinox Gold Corp. (NYSEAMERICAN:EQX) also managed to pay off $180 million in debt and finished the full year 2024 with $239 million in cash on hand. The company is positioned for growth because of its $5.7 billion merger with Calibre Mining, as well, which was announced in February 2025. This deal will create a diverse gold producer focused on the US, operating under the name New Equinox Gold. The merger makes it Canada’s second-largest gold producer.
Massif Capital made the following comment about Equinox Gold Corp. (NYSE:EQX) in its Q1 2023 investor letter:
“Equinox Gold Corp. (NYSE:EQX) was our best-performing investment during the first quarter, returning 57%, outperforming the broader gold sector as measured by the GDX and GDXJ by more than 40% and outperforming gold by roughly 50%. The outperformance was not driven by fundamental factors at the company but rather by a combination of sector sentiment and a beta to the gold price of 3.1. We believe that fundamental factors, specifically the conclusion of construction and eventual ramp-up of the Greenstone mine during the first half of next year, represent potent catalysts for EQX, but this quarter’s appreciation was not fundamentally driven.
While we are pleased with the excellent performance during the first quarter, we would be remiss if we did not point out that the stock remains well below the high of roughly $13.50 achieved in 2020, a price at which we owned the stock. While we are in the black on the position despite a 62% fall from the stock peak, our failure to exit the position at that time remains a painful portfolio management misstep…” (Please click here to read the full text)
8. Madrigal Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:MDGL)
Paulson & Co.’s Stake: $630 million
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 40
Average Upside Potential as of May 2: 26.03%
Madrigal Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:MDGL) is a biopharmaceutical company that delivers novel therapeutics for metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis/MASH in the US. It offers Rezdiffra, which is a liver-directed thyroid hormone receptor beta agonist for treating MASH.
Following its FDA approval in March 2024, Rezdiffra has shown a strong performance in treating F2-F3 MASH in the US market. In its first 12 months, the drug made $317 million in net sales and treated more than 17,000 patients who previously lacked approved treatment options. Q1 2025 reported $137 million in net sales, which was 33% sequentially. The number of patients actively on Rezdiffra grew from 11,800 at the end of Q4 2024 to over 17,000 by the end of Q1 2025.
Notably, 70% of the company’s top 6,000 target prescribers have already prescribed Rezdiffra within the first year of its launch, and ~50% of the total 14,000 target prescribers have done so. Madrigal Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:MDGL) is concentrating its disease and product education efforts on the 315,000 diagnosed F2-F3 MASH patients currently under the care of its target prescribers, of which only about 5% are currently being treated with Rezdiffra.
7. Perpetua Resources Corp. (NASDAQ:PPTA)
Paulson & Co.’s Stake: $264.31 million
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 14
Average Upside Potential as of May 2: 26.92%
Perpetua Resources Corp. (NASDAQ:PPTA) is a development-stage company and engages in the acquisition of mining properties in the US. It explores for gold, silver, and antimony deposits. Its principal mineral project is the 100% owned Stibnite Gold project, which includes 1,674 unpatented lode claims, mill sites, and patented land holdings covering an area of ~11,548 hectares located in Idaho.
In 2024, Perpetua achieved key milestones in de-risking the Stibnite Gold project. This project is positioned to become a domestic source of antimony, a critical mineral, and one of the largest and highest-grade open-pit gold mines in the US. The company was awarded additional funding of up to $34.4 million under the Defense Production Act, bringing the total TIA funding to $59.2 million
The site holds 4.8 million ounces of gold and 148 million pounds of antimony. Perpetua plans to produce 450,000 ounces of gold annually in the first 4 years and could meet up to 35% of US antimony demand early on. On January 8, HC Wainwright maintained a Buy rating on Perpetua and upgraded the price target to $25 from $22. The firm believes that the company’s approval from the US Forest Service for its Stibnite Gold project marks a major milestone after 8 years of reviews and public input.
6. IAMGOLD Corp. (NYSE:IAG)
Paulson & Co.’s Stake: $9.55 million
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 23
Average Upside Potential as of May 2: 27.48%
IAMGOLD Corp. (NYSE:IAG) is a gold producer and developer in Canada and Burkina Faso (West Africa). It owns 100% interest in the Westwood project in Quebec, 60% interest in the Côté gold project in Ontario, and 90% interest in the Essakane project in Burkina Faso.
In Q4 2024, IAMGOLD produced 667,000 ounces of gold, which was up 43% increase year-over-year. The company also posted a record revenue of $1.63 billion from selling 699,000 ounces of gold at an average price of $2,330 per ounce. This was fueled by favorable gold prices and better-than-expected results from Côté Gold. Despite higher costs due to Côté Gold’s ramp-up, IAMGOLD ended the year with $1.2 billion in cash.
The Côté Gold ramp-up is progressing smoothly, with production beating expectations and approaching full capacity. Essakane has also exceeded production targets. For 2025, IAMGOLD targets gold production between 735,000 and 820,000 ounces, with a focus on maximizing Côté Gold’s potential. The company aims to maintain cost controls and projects cash costs of $1,200 to $1,350 per ounce.
5. Bausch Health Companies Inc. (NYSE:BHC)
Paulson & Co.’s Stake: $213.10 million
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 36
Average Upside Potential as of May 2: 60.38%
Bausch Health Companies Inc. (NYSE:BHC) is a diversified specialty pharmaceutical and medical device company. It develops, manufactures, and markets a range of products primarily in gastroenterology, hepatology, neurology, dermatology, generic pharmaceuticals, over-the-counter products, aesthetic medical devices, and eye health.
The company’s Salix Pharmaceuticals segment is known for driving revenue through its gastrointestinal products, most notably the drug Xifaxan. In Q1 2025, Salix reported a revenue of $542 million, which was a 9% increase year-over-year. Xifaxan itself saw an 8% growth, where total retail scripts increased by 1.5%, and new patient starts on Xifaxan showed both year-over-year and quarter-over-quarter growth. Over 59,000 new patients initiated on the therapy in Q1 2025.
Bausch Health Companies Inc.’s (NYSE:BHC) RED-C program is also progressing with Phase 3 global studies fully enrolled. It’s studying a novel rifaximin formulation for patients with cirrhosis before their first decompensation event. This patient population in the US is estimated to be at least 3x larger than the current hepatic encephalopathy market served by Xifaxan. Initial data readout from the RED-C program is expected by early 2026.
4. Trilogy Metals Inc. (NYSEAMERICAN:TMQ)
Paulson & Co.’s Stake: $16.62 million
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 9
Average Upside Potential as of May 2: 63.04%
Trilogy Metals Inc. (NYSEAMERICAN:TMQ) explores and develops mineral properties in the US. It primarily explores copper, cobalt, lead, zinc, gold, and silver properties. It principally holds interests in the Upper Kobuk mineral projects that include the Arctic and Bornite.
The Bornite copper project is particularly rewarding for Trilogy Metals. The recently announced Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) shows the potential for an underground mining operation with a 17-year mine life, which would be capable of producing 1.9 billion pounds of copper. This PEA indicates a pre-tax net present value (NPV) at an 8% discount rate of $552 million and an internal rate of return (IRR) of 23.6%.
The development plan for Bornite anticipates a 6,000 tonne-per-day operation, using the infrastructure from the Arctic Project once that deposit is depleted, potentially extending the Upper Kobuk Mineral Projects’ activity to over 30 years. Trilogy Metals Inc. (NYSEAMERICAN:TMQ) will be using the positive results of the Bornite PEA to guide further project development and decision-making.
3. Thryv Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:THRY)
Paulson & Co.’s Stake: $63.34 million
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 23
Average Upside Potential as of May 2: 92.93%
Thryv Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:THRY) provides digital marketing solutions and cloud-based tools to small-to-medium-sized businesses in the US. It operates in two segments: Thryv Marketing Services and Thryv SaaS. It was formerly known as Dex Media Holdings Inc. and was incorporated in 2012.
In Q1 2025, the company’s SaaS revenue reached $111.1 million, which was up 50% year-over-year. SaaS revenue now constitutes 61% of the company’s total revenue as of Q1. The Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) for SaaS also increased to $335 per month, fueled by newer products for existing customers. This is further supported by a seasoned net revenue retention rate of 103%. The total number of SaaS subscribers grew by 37% to 96,000.
Thryv has observed that when a customer adopts a second paid product, the churn rate drops significantly, sometimes by as much as half. Currently, 17.2% of the SaaS subscribers use multiple paid products, and the number of clients with two or more Thryv SaaS products grew to 16,000, up from 12,000 in the prior year. For Q2, Thryv Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:THRY) anticipates SaaS revenue to be in the range of $113 to $115 million.
Laughing Water Capital is optimistic about Thryv and stated the following regarding Thryv Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:THRY) in its Q2 2024 investor letter:
“Thryv Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:THRY) – Thryv, our growing SMB software business that is milking its declining Marketing Services business for cash flow, grew SAAS customers 30% YoY, increased full year guidance, announced that seasoned net dollar retention improved by 300 bps, refinanced their debt on better terms, and initiated a share repurchase program during the quarter. These are all undeniably positive developments, but on the negative side of the ledger, the decline of their Marketing Services business has accelerated a touch, and shares have sold off sharply.
Last quarter under separate cover I included a longer writeup on THRY where I explained what I think is happening under the surface at THRY with the Marketing Services business and the new Marketing Center SAAS product, and how I believe the economics of Marketing Center will prove to be wildly superior to the economics of the Marketing Services business. Thus far the market not only does not care, but in fact seems to be punishing THRY for what I believe will be a positive evolution of their business.
Management has indicated that revenue from the SAAS business will eclipse revenue from the Marketing Services business around this time next year, at which point THRY should start to trade more like the software business it is than the marketing business it was. Unsurprisingly, insiders at THRY once again bought shares in the quarter.”
2. Seabridge Gold Inc. (NYSE:SA)
Paulson & Co.’s Stake: $23.62 million
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 20
Average Upside Potential as of May 2: 208.44%
Seabridge Gold Inc. (NYSE:SA) acquires and explores gold properties in North America. It explores for gold, copper, silver, and molybdenum deposits. It was formerly known as Seabridge Resources Inc. and changed its name to Seabridge Gold Inc. in June 2002.
The company has about $150 million in cash as of Q3 2024, which puts it in a good position to push its main projects forward. Seabridge recently updated the resources at KSM’s Iron Cap and Kerr deposits and showed 5.9 million more ounces of gold, 3.3 billion more pounds of copper, and 55.4 million more ounces of silver.
In Q3, Seabridge Gold Inc. (NYSE:SA) also hit a key regulatory target when British Columbia declared the KSM project as ‘Substantially Started’. This status means KSM’s Environmental Assessment Certificate stays valid indefinitely. The company also got its Mitchell Treaty Tunnels License of Occupation extended by 20 years. Furthermore, KSM’s early-stage construction is advancing on schedule during the quarter.
1. International Tower Hill Mines Ltd. (NYSEAMERICAN:THM)
Paulson & Co.’s Stake: $29.24 million
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 4
Average Upside Potential as of May 2: 217.16%
International Tower Hill Mines Ltd. (NYSEAMERICAN:THM) is a development-stage company that acquires, explores, and develops mineral properties. It holds a 100% interest in the Livengood gold project and covers an area of ~19,546 hectares located in the northwest of Fairbanks, Alaska.
While the Livengood Gold Project is the company’s central focus, another segment driving growth for International Tower is the antimony mineralization identified within the gold deposit. Recent geological modeling detailed 54 veins of stibnite with antimony grades reaching up to 6.9%. To advance this segment, International Tower completed a $3.9 million non-brokered private placement in March 2025.
A portion of the net proceeds from this financing will be allocated to begin antimony metallurgical studies. The goal of these studies is to determine if the antimony can be recovered economically over the long life of the Livengood Gold Project. The company’s 2025 work plan includes a $3.7 million budget, with a key component being the commencement of this metallurgical study on the massive stibnite antimony mineralization.
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