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S&P 500 Achieves a Milestone After Two Decades - 5 Top Picks
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The S&P 500 Index has been able to recoup all losses suffered due to the Trump administration’s tariff-led market mayhem at a lightning speed. On May 2, the broad-market index recorded a nine-day winning streak, for the first time since November 2004.
With this, Wall Street’s most observed stock index recovered all losses since April 2, when President Donald Trump announced the imposition of reciprocal tariffs. The index is currently around 7% away from its all-time high recorded in February.
During the tariff-led April turmoil, at one point, the S&P 500 was down nearly 20% from its all-time high and was on the verge of entering the bear market zone. In addition, the index also posted two consecutive weeks of a winning run.
At this stage, we recommend investing in five S&P 500 stocks with a favorable Zacks Rank that have provided more than 20% returns year to date. These are: Netflix Inc. (NFLX - Free Report) , Philip Morris International Inc. (PM - Free Report) , Newmont Corp. (NEM - Free Report) , CenterPoint Energy Inc. (CNP - Free Report) and Exelon Corp. (EXC - Free Report) .
These stocks have strong revenue and earnings growth potential for 2025 and have seen positive earnings estimate revisions in the last 60 days. Each of our picks carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
The chart below shows the price performance of our five picks year to date.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Netflix Inc.
Netflix handsomely beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for bottom line while the top line was mostly in line with the consensus mark in first-quarter 2025. Despite trade and tariff-related doldrums, NFLX seems to have maintained healthy engagement levels. NFLX reaffirmed its 2025 guidance irrespective of the possibility of a near-term recession.
The primary reason for positive revenue and earnings estimates revisions by brokerage firms is the strong visibility of NFLX’s business. On April 1, Netflix launched its Ad Suite in the United States. The company will ramp up this Ad Suite in international markets in the ensuing second quarter. The ad-supported offerings will enable management to witness impressive subscribers and ARPU (average revenue per user) growth.
Netflix’s policies of offering an ad-supported lower-priced tier, abolishing password sharing and effective price increase, should help it to become a defensive play ahead of a possible economic downturn.
Furthermore, Netflix uses artificial intelligence (AI), data science and machine language (ML) extensively to provide consumers with more appropriate and intuitive suggestions. Netflix's AI platform takes into account an individual’s viewing habits and hobbies and accordingly provides recommendations.
NFLX’s AI model compiles subscriber information and recommends content based on their preferences, which can be customized by end users. AI applications enable NFLX to offer a high-quality streaming service at reduced bandwidths.
Netflix has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 14% and 27.7%, respectively, for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 3.1% over the last 30 days.
Philip Morris International Inc.
Philip Morris has benefited from strong pricing power and an expanding smoke-free product portfolio. PM has been making significant progress with its smoke-free transition, with products like IQOS and ZYN contributing to strong performance. In fact, PM aims to become substantially smoke-free by 2030.
Philip Morris is set for another year of robust growth in 2025, driven by increasing demand across all product categories. PM anticipates positive volume growth for the fifth consecutive year, with an expected increase of 2%. Smoke-free products remain a key growth driver, projected to expand by 12-14%, reinforcing PM’s strategic shift toward reduced-risk alternatives.
Philip Morris has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 8.1% and 13.7%, respectively, for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 4.6% over the last 30 days.
Newmont Corp.
Newmont is making notable progress with its growth projects. NEM is likely to gain from several projects, including the Tanami expansion. The acquisition of Newcrest also created an industry-leading portfolio and provided opportunities for significant synergies. NEM also remains focused on improving operational efficiency and returning value to shareholders.
Newmont has received full funds approval for its Ahafo North project and the project has reached the execution stage. Commercial production for the project is expected to commence in second-half 2025. NEM remains committed to Ghana, investing $950 million to $1,050 million in development capital for Ahafo North.
Newmont has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 0.1% and 16.7%, respectively, for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 23.4% over the last 30 days.
CenterPoint Energy Inc.
CenterPoint Energy is likely to benefit from increasing electricity demand, backed by rapid electrification of transportation amid rising investments in renewable energy. CNP aims to invest substantially in upgrading its infrastructure. Successful returns from these investments should boost CNP’s long-term growth. CNP boasts a solid solvency position.
With the rapid electrification of the transportation sector, backed by growing clean energy adoption among industries across the board, the utilization of electric vehicles (EVs) has increased manifold in recent times.
To tap the growth benefits of the EV market, CenterPoint Energy has been investing significantly in building a smarter, cleaner and more resilient ecosystem to meet the needs of EV drivers and fleet operators. To this end, CNP has been actively promoting off-road electrification, including electric forklifts and carts.
CenterPoint Energy has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 3.4% and 8%, respectively, for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 0.1% over the last 60 days.
Exelon Corp.
Exelon’s investment will strengthen its transmission and distribution infrastructure and help in providing reliable services to customers. EXC’s initiatives in grid modernization will improve the resilience of its operations, and revenue decoupling will mitigate the impact of load fluctuation. A stable cash flow allows EXC to pay out regular dividends. The development of data centers will increase demand.
Exelon has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 4.3% and 6.8%, respectively, for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 0.4% over the last 30 days.
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S&P 500 Achieves a Milestone After Two Decades - 5 Top Picks
The S&P 500 Index has been able to recoup all losses suffered due to the Trump administration’s tariff-led market mayhem at a lightning speed. On May 2, the broad-market index recorded a nine-day winning streak, for the first time since November 2004.
With this, Wall Street’s most observed stock index recovered all losses since April 2, when President Donald Trump announced the imposition of reciprocal tariffs. The index is currently around 7% away from its all-time high recorded in February.
During the tariff-led April turmoil, at one point, the S&P 500 was down nearly 20% from its all-time high and was on the verge of entering the bear market zone. In addition, the index also posted two consecutive weeks of a winning run.
At this stage, we recommend investing in five S&P 500 stocks with a favorable Zacks Rank that have provided more than 20% returns year to date. These are: Netflix Inc. (NFLX - Free Report) , Philip Morris International Inc. (PM - Free Report) , Newmont Corp. (NEM - Free Report) , CenterPoint Energy Inc. (CNP - Free Report) and Exelon Corp. (EXC - Free Report) .
These stocks have strong revenue and earnings growth potential for 2025 and have seen positive earnings estimate revisions in the last 60 days. Each of our picks carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
The chart below shows the price performance of our five picks year to date.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Netflix Inc.
Netflix handsomely beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for bottom line while the top line was mostly in line with the consensus mark in first-quarter 2025. Despite trade and tariff-related doldrums, NFLX seems to have maintained healthy engagement levels. NFLX reaffirmed its 2025 guidance irrespective of the possibility of a near-term recession.
The primary reason for positive revenue and earnings estimates revisions by brokerage firms is the strong visibility of NFLX’s business. On April 1, Netflix launched its Ad Suite in the United States. The company will ramp up this Ad Suite in international markets in the ensuing second quarter. The ad-supported offerings will enable management to witness impressive subscribers and ARPU (average revenue per user) growth.
Netflix’s policies of offering an ad-supported lower-priced tier, abolishing password sharing and effective price increase, should help it to become a defensive play ahead of a possible economic downturn.
Furthermore, Netflix uses artificial intelligence (AI), data science and machine language (ML) extensively to provide consumers with more appropriate and intuitive suggestions. Netflix's AI platform takes into account an individual’s viewing habits and hobbies and accordingly provides recommendations.
NFLX’s AI model compiles subscriber information and recommends content based on their preferences, which can be customized by end users. AI applications enable NFLX to offer a high-quality streaming service at reduced bandwidths.
Netflix has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 14% and 27.7%, respectively, for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 3.1% over the last 30 days.
Philip Morris International Inc.
Philip Morris has benefited from strong pricing power and an expanding smoke-free product portfolio. PM has been making significant progress with its smoke-free transition, with products like IQOS and ZYN contributing to strong performance. In fact, PM aims to become substantially smoke-free by 2030.
Philip Morris is set for another year of robust growth in 2025, driven by increasing demand across all product categories. PM anticipates positive volume growth for the fifth consecutive year, with an expected increase of 2%. Smoke-free products remain a key growth driver, projected to expand by 12-14%, reinforcing PM’s strategic shift toward reduced-risk alternatives.
Philip Morris has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 8.1% and 13.7%, respectively, for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 4.6% over the last 30 days.
Newmont Corp.
Newmont is making notable progress with its growth projects. NEM is likely to gain from several projects, including the Tanami expansion. The acquisition of Newcrest also created an industry-leading portfolio and provided opportunities for significant synergies. NEM also remains focused on improving operational efficiency and returning value to shareholders.
Newmont has received full funds approval for its Ahafo North project and the project has reached the execution stage. Commercial production for the project is expected to commence in second-half 2025. NEM remains committed to Ghana, investing $950 million to $1,050 million in development capital for Ahafo North.
Newmont has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 0.1% and 16.7%, respectively, for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 23.4% over the last 30 days.
CenterPoint Energy Inc.
CenterPoint Energy is likely to benefit from increasing electricity demand, backed by rapid electrification of transportation amid rising investments in renewable energy. CNP aims to invest substantially in upgrading its infrastructure. Successful returns from these investments should boost CNP’s long-term growth. CNP boasts a solid solvency position.
With the rapid electrification of the transportation sector, backed by growing clean energy adoption among industries across the board, the utilization of electric vehicles (EVs) has increased manifold in recent times.
To tap the growth benefits of the EV market, CenterPoint Energy has been investing significantly in building a smarter, cleaner and more resilient ecosystem to meet the needs of EV drivers and fleet operators. To this end, CNP has been actively promoting off-road electrification, including electric forklifts and carts.
CenterPoint Energy has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 3.4% and 8%, respectively, for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 0.1% over the last 60 days.
Exelon Corp.
Exelon’s investment will strengthen its transmission and distribution infrastructure and help in providing reliable services to customers. EXC’s initiatives in grid modernization will improve the resilience of its operations, and revenue decoupling will mitigate the impact of load fluctuation. A stable cash flow allows EXC to pay out regular dividends. The development of data centers will increase demand.
Exelon has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 4.3% and 6.8%, respectively, for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 0.4% over the last 30 days.