This year has been a busy one for investors, especially given the US presidential election, growing enthusiasm for artificial intelligence and the continued focus on increased interest rates.
While macroeconomic conditions are expected to improve in the new year, concerns remain about a possible US-China trade war and high valuations could weigh on the stock market in 2025.
Nonetheless, top analysts continue to focus on stocks that can withstand near-term pressures and offer robust growth potential, backed by solid execution and fundamentals.
Here are three stocks that are favored by the Street's top pros, according to TipRanks, a platform that ranks analysts based on past performance.
Salesforce
This week's first choice is Salesforce (CRM), a customer relationship management platform. Earlier this month, the company issued solid guidance for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025, highlighting the role of Agentforce, its suite of autonomous AI agents, in driving its transformation.
On December 17, Salesforce announced the launch of Agentforce 2.0, the latest version of its flagship AI product with expanded capabilities. In response to the launch, Mizuho analyst Gregg Moskowitz reiterated his Buy rating on CRM shares with a price target of $425. The analyst called Agentforce 2.0 an “impressive innovation with a significant increase in value.”
Moskowitz mentioned some of the enhanced version's features, including improved workflow integration with Slack, Tableau and MuleSoft offerings, better reasoning and data retrieval skills, and an expanded library of pre-built skills.
The analyst also highlighted Agentforce's appeal as the company closed more than 1,000 paid deals, a steep increase from the 200-plus deals by the end of the fiscal third quarter. Overall, Moskowitz believes Agentforce can be a “game-changing technology” because it can significantly increase customer productivity while driving booking and revenue growth.
Moskowitz continues to see Salesforce as a top choice and believes the company is well positioned to help its extensive clientele with process optimization and revenue management.
Moskowitz ranks No. 212 among more than 9,200 analysts tracked by TipRanks. Its valuations were profitable 60% of the time and delivered an average return of 13.9%. (See Salesforce stock charts on TipRanks)
Booking stocks
Another Mizuho analyst, James Lee, is optimistic Booking stocks (BKNG), a provider of online travel and other services. Lee reiterated a Buy rating on BKNG stock and increased the price target to $6,000 from $5,400, reflecting higher growth estimates and a favorable outlook.
Lee said a regional analysis by Mizuho showed encouraging growth in room nights for fiscal 2025. Based on estimated growth rates for Europe, Asia, the US and the rest of the world, Lee expects room nights to grow by 8.2% (over a percentage point higher). than the consensus estimate).
The analyst expects BKNG's fiscal 2025 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization to rise in the mid-teens, a faster growth rate than the nearly 11% revenue growth estimate. In fact, taking buybacks into account, Lee expects earnings to grow by around 20% in FY25, making the stock's valuation attractive at 16x FY26 EBITDA at current levels.
Overall, Lee believes BKNG deserves a higher valuation compared to its competitors due to its “significant advantage in digital marketing, expansion of offerings in alternative accommodations and other new product verticals, and higher share of hotel bookings.”
Lee is ranked #291 among more than 9,200 analysts tracked by TipRanks. His reviews were successful 61% of the time and delivered an average return of 13.4%. (See Booking Holdings insider trading activity on TipRanks)
DraftKings
Finally, there is a sports betting provider DraftKings (DKNG). The company operates mobile sports betting in 25 states and Washington, D.C. The iGaming business operates in five US states. The Company's sports betting and iGaming products are also available in Ontario, Canada.
In a research note on the outlook for the gaming and lodging space in 2025, JPMorgan analyst Joseph Greff named DraftKings as one of the top picks. The analyst reiterated his buy rating on DKNG shares and increased the price target from $47 to $53.
Greff views DraftKings as “the pure play in gaming's most attractive growth market.” He expects DKNG to benefit from tailwinds in this space, including solid same-store sales and new growth opportunities.
The analyst highlighted DraftKings' lucrative revenue growth profile and discussed the company's ability to leverage its scale and leadership position in the U.S. online sports betting and iGaming space to deliver better margins, EBITDA and free cash flow, supported by Efforts to Control Operating Costs.
Greff expects DraftKings to achieve revenue growth of 31% in 2025 and 13% in 2026. The analyst said Wall Street's 2026 revenue growth estimate of over 17% looks quite achievable, along with the possibility of higher margin.
Finally, Greff pointed to DKNG's “superior product capabilities, customer acquisition capabilities and scale, which have enabled the company to compete with new entrants such as ESPN BET and Fanatics, similar to how it has successfully competed with newer entrants in the past.”
Greff is ranked #987 among more than 9,200 analysts tracked by TipRanks. Its valuations were profitable 51% of the time and delivered an average return of 7.6%. (See Draftkings options activity on TipRanks)