Stocks are seeing some massive rallies in 2024, as investor interest in topics like artificial intelligence shows few signs of waning. As the end of the year approaches, CNBC Pro asked three fund managers which global stocks they would be buying by 2025 in an attempt to stay ahead of the times. Here are their top five companies: Novo Nordisk The Danish pharmaceutical company — behind the famous Ozempic and Wegovy weight loss pills — has become popular with investors, with its shares rising more than 50% this year in 2023. It’s up nearly 14%. Schneider points out that a recent Gallup poll showed that 6% of Americans, or 15.4 million people, use GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1) injections to lose weight. “Weight loss pills have changed the food we eat, the way we celebrate, exercise, travel, dress and talk about health and beauty,” she explains. “I have been following this theme since 2023 and now have it as one of my key investment themes for 2025. So far, Novo Nordisk has been an “underperformer,” she said. The pharmaceutical giant’s shares are listed on Nasdaq in Copenhagen, Denmark. Of the 32 analysts covering the stock, 21 have a buy or overweight rating, seven have a hold rating and four have a sell rating, according to FactSet data. Out or underweight rating. Their average price target is DKK 988.93 ($140.10), giving the stock a potential upside of 25%. Benefited from a $6.6 billion conditional loan from the U.S. Department of Energy to build production facilities in Georgia. Tax credits available to electric vehicle buyers. Rivian shares have fallen 44.6% since the beginning of the year. Analysts are mixed on the stock, with less than half giving it a Buy or Overweight rating. The average price target for Rivian is $14.74, with a potential upside of 13.4%, according to FactSet data. Meanwhile, Midea Group wealth manager Tariq Dennison is bullish on Chinese home appliance maker Midea Group. “Midea remains my largest position in A-shares, mainly because I think they are one of China’s more successful brands globally,” said GFM Asset Management co-founder and investment advisor. However, Denison noted , about 40% of Midea’s sales come from outside China, so it “directly became the focus of Trump’s further escalation of trade tensions.” He added that the company is also having trouble retaining consumers due to slower population growth and “a slowdown in the formation of new households.” “(It’s) all big trends, (but) I’m passionate about continuing to follow this name,” Denison said. Midea Group made headlines in September when it listed in Hong Kong and raised US$4 billion through expanded transactions. Since then, its share price, also listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, has risen by more than 20%. All 30 analysts covering the stock have a buy or overweight rating, with an average price of HK$97.89 ($12.60), according to FactSet data. This gives it an upside potential of 36.8%. Nestle Dennison, whose brands include Smarties, Häagen-Dazs and Maggi, is also betting on Nestle. The wealth manager called it a “wonderful business” and said the Swiss giant was “almost synonymous with mature, global, high-quality blue-chip stocks”. “I’m following it mainly because I’m interested in understanding how it operates in 188 countries, which few other companies can do,” he noted. Dennison said Nestlé shares are trading at a “reasonable price” after falling more than 40% over the past three years, “partly due to the strength of the Swiss franc and probably also because the market realizes this is not a growth stock” over the past year. Nestle’s shares in Switzerland fell 22%. It also trades as ADR under the symbol NSRGY. Of the 23 analysts covering the stock, nine have buy or overweight ratings, 13 have hold ratings and one has a sell rating, according to FactSet data. Their average price target is CHF 88.70 ($101), with a potential upside of 17%. Kinh Bac City Development In Southeast Asia, Thea Jamison, managing director and portfolio manager at Change Global, likes Kinh Bac City Development. She described the Vietnamese high-tech industrial park developer as “a leading company with sufficient land reserves to develop IT industrial parks in the next five to 10 years.” Its clients include technology giant Samsung Electronics and contract electronics manufacturer Foxconn. Jamieson expects the list to expand given “the trend of increased foreign investment in Vietnam.” However, Jamieson noted that, like all companies operating in emerging markets, KBC struggled to execute projects quickly while navigating complex legal and regulatory issues. Its shares, listed on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange, have fallen about 10% since the beginning of the year. All six analysts covering the stock have buy or overweight ratings, and the average price is VND37,514.30 ($1.50), giving the stock about 30% upside potential, according to FactSet data.
Five global stocks for pros to buy in early 2025 | Real Time Headlines
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