We recently compiled a list of the 10 Best Monopoly Stocks to Buy. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) stands against the other monopoly stocks.
Morgan Stanley believes the bull market might not be finished, and the S&P 500 might close the year with single-digit gains. There can be further declines in the S&P 500, which can result in attractive entry points. Historically, when stocks decline 15%, the average returns after a year tend to be attractive, says Morgan Stanley. Furthermore, the returns are even more attractive when a 20% drop becomes an entry point. That being said, a major risk to the broader equity market can be a resurgence of inflation and the US Fed increasing rates, along with tariff impacts.
S&P 500 Can Deliver Single-Digit Returns
Morgan Stanley Investment Management’s Applied Equity Team believes that 2025 can be a “pause” year for the broader S&P 500, posting single-digit gains. This remains consistent with the firm’s outlook, which was shared at the beginning of the year, suggesting that 3rd year of a bull market tends to deliver mediocre—but positive returns, together with increased volatility. Analyzing 12 times since 1950 that the broader S&P 500 declined a minimum of 20% from its peak, there was a recession in 9 of such instances, says the investment firm. In the current instance, the combination of the market decline or the recession talk appeared to be sufficient to spur a policy response.
READ ALSO: 7 Best Stocks to Buy For Long-Term and 8 Cheap Jim Cramer Stocks to Invest In.
Pockets of Opportunities
Morgan Stanley believes that stocks can retest lows seen in early April. The base case outlook is for gains in 2025, and the market is open 251 days a year. If stocks decline 20% or more, the investment firm opines that investors will do well to consider increasing the equity allocations more aggressively. In the 12 times since 1950 in which the S&P 500 fell 20%, the average subsequent 1-year return with that fall as an entry point is 19%. Fidelity International believes that, in this market, which is characterised by increased uncertainty, a focus on dividends as a component of total return can offer support.
Furthermore, the firm believes that it is critical to combine an emphasis on high-quality businesses with valuation discipline in a bid to avoid overpaying for companies and have a better chance of generating strong long-term returns. In difficult market environments, earnings resilience remains critical. This doesn’t mean a top-down allocation to defensive industries, but selecting companies possessing resilient business models throughout a broad range of sectors with the help of detailed bottom-up analysis. Owning resilient businesses, diversified across industries, leads to increased earnings persistence as compared to the broader market indices, says Fidelity International.
Our Methodology
To list the 10 Best Monopoly Stocks to Buy, we scanned through monopoly ETFs and several online rankings. After getting an extensive list, we chose the ones that were the most popular among hedge funds. Finally, the stocks were arranged in ascending order of their hedge fund sentiment, 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).
A close-up of a modern payments terminal with a pile of credit cards on the side.
Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 181
Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) operates as a payment technology company. The company’s dominant market position in the debit card payment processing market provides it with the ability to control pricing and access to its network. Therefore, its growth is expected to stem from its network effect, strong presence in the global payments landscape, and scale. TD Cowen analyst Bryan Bergin reiterated a “Buy” rating on the company’s stock, setting a price objective of $380.00. The analyst’s rating is backed by a combination of factors demonstrating Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)’s healthy Q2 2025 performance, which was characterized by strong net revenue growth and robust core payments performance.
In Q2 2025, the company saw 9% net revenue growth, aided by healthy trends in payments volume, cross-border volume, and processed transactions. The payments volume went up by 8% YoY. Furthermore, Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) demonstrated consumer resilience and gave a solid outlook for Q3 2025, says the analyst. For Q3 2025, the company expects net revenue growth (on an adjusted constant-dollar basis) of low double-digit on a YoY basis. As per the analyst, Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)’s diversification and durability remain key strengths, making it an attractive investment. Its investment in innovation resulted in increased diversification, with a growing mix of Value-Added Services (VAS) and Commercial Services (CMS) offerings.
Investment advisory firm Ithaka Group released its Q1 2025 investor letter. Here is what the fund said:
“Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) is one of two leading companies (along with MasterCard) that helps share information and transfer funds between banks that have relationships with card-carrying consumers and banks that have relationships with merchants, ensuring payment transactions are reliable and secure. Since the company’s founding in 1958, Visa has been benefiting from growth in personal consumption expenditure, a strong secular shift from cash and checks to credit and debit cards, and an asset-light, high-margin business model that generates strong free cash flow and resilient earnings, even in volatile macro environments. In the first quarter Visa saw its stock trade up in a tumultuous market tape, as investors tend to flock to more steady earning compounders, of which Visa is an ideal candidate.”
Overall V ranks 2nd on our list of the monopoly stocks to buy. While we acknowledge the potential of V as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some deeply undervalued AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher 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 a deeply undervalued AI stock that is more promising than V 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.
Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.