For a second straight year, investors have been given every reason to smile. As of this writing, with one trading day left in 2024, the iconic Dow Jones Industrial Average, benchmark S&P 500, and growth stock-powered Nasdaq Composite have respectively gained 13%, 24%, and 30%!
Regardless of whether the bulls remain in firm control or the feisty bear returns to Wall Street, bargains can still be found in the new year for opportunistic investors.
What follows are 10 magnificent stocks that can make you richer in 2025.
Image source: Getty Images.
1. Meta Platforms
The first sensational stock that can pad investment portfolios in 2025 is social media titan Meta Platforms (META 0.90%), which remains relatively inexpensive given annual sales growth of around 20%.
Though most investors are focused on Meta's artificial intelligence (AI) and metaverse ambitions, they continue to underestimate its social media dominance. While advertising isn't the game changer AI is, it's important to recognize that no social media company comes close to attracting the 3.29 billion daily active users Meta did from its family of apps during the third quarter. Businesses will pay a premium to get their message in front of users, which bodes positively for the company's growth prospects.
Meta is sitting on a treasure chest of capital, as well. It closed out September with $70.9 billion in cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities, and looks to be on track to have generated north of $85 billion in operating cash flow in 2024. This cash affords Meta the opportunity to aggressively invest in high-growth initiatives (AI and the metaverse), which can set the company up for even faster growth in the latter-half of the decade.
2. Pfizer
Perhaps no company has a greater chance to bounce back stronger in 2025 than pharmaceutical stock Pfizer (PFE -0.07%). Although shares of the company have been pressured by a decline in sales for COVID-19 therapies Comirnaty and Paxlovid, Pfizer's novel-drug portfolio is in better shape now than it was four years ago.
Excluding Pfizer's COVID-19 therapies, Pfizer's sales jumped by 14% during the September-ended quarter, with double-digit sales growth from its oncology and specialty care segments. Inclusive of Comirnaty and Paxlovid, Pfizer's sales are forecast to have grown by 49% (around $20.6 billion) between 2020 and 2024.
Furthermore, Pfizer's $43 billion acquisition of Seagen, which closed in December 2023, paves the way for an expansive cancer-drug pipeline and substantial cost savings that should result in meaningful earnings per share (EPS) accretion beginning this year.
Pfizer's forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 9 and 6.5% yield scream "bargain!"
NextEra Energy has delivered a positive total return for investors in 20 of the last 23 years. NEE Total Return Level data by YCharts.
3. NextEra Energy
America's largest electric utility by market cap, NextEra Energy (NEE 0.53%) is another stock that can make investors richer in the new year. NextEra has delivered a positive total return, including dividends, to its shareholders in 20 of the last 23 years.
One thing investors get with NextEra Energy is cash flow transparency and predictability. No matter how well or poorly the U.S. economy is performing, the energy needs of American households don't change much from one year to the next. Since most electric utilities operate as monopolies or duopolies in the areas they service, it leads to consistent cash flow.
NextEra Energy is also a clear leader in renewable energy. No company in the world generates more capacity from solar or wind power than NextEra. Though investing in green-energy solutions hasn't been cheap, it's notably reduced the company's electricity-generation costs. The end result is high-single-digit annual EPS growth and targeted double-digit annual growth in its dividend.
Realty Income pays a monthly dividend and has increased its payout for 109 consecutive quarters. O Dividend data by YCharts.
4. Realty Income
Wall Street's premier retail real estate investment trust (REIT) and monthly (yes, monthly!) dividend payer Realty Income (O 1.29%) can make investors richer in 2025, as well. Though REITs have been weighed down by higher Treasury yields -- income seekers may opt for the safety of government bonds when yields are comparable to REITs -- a Federal Reserve rate-easing cycle can open the door for REITs to thrive, once more.
Realty Income's not-so-subtle secret to success is that it leases to predominantly well-known, time-tested, stand-alone businesses that lure foot traffic in any economic climate. Examples include grocery stores, convenience stores, dollar stores, drug stores, and automotive service locations, which provide basic need goods and services. This leads to predictable funds from operations for Realty Income.
This is also a company that's expanding its reach beyond retail. It formed a joint venture with Digital Realty Trust for build-to-suit data centers, entered into two leasing deals in the gaming industry, and acquired Spirit Realty Capital in January 2024 to complement its commercial real estate assets and diversify into new verticals.
Realty Income is valued at less than 12 times forecast cash flow in 2025, which represents a 29% discount to its average multiple to cash flow over the trailing-five-year period.
Image source: Pinterest.
5. Pinterest
Another social media stock that looks to be a no-brainer buy in 2025 is Pinterest (PINS 1.18%). Even though Wall Street was less-than-thrilled with the company's fourth-quarter sales guidance, Pinterest's key performance indicators continue to move in the right direction.
As of the end of September, Pinterest had 537 million monthly active users. While this doesn't rival Meta's 3.29 billion daily active users, it does afford Pinterest improved ad-pricing power over time. Pinterest's average revenue per user (ARPU) has continued to grow globally, with double-digit ARPU increases in emerging markets.
Additionally, Pinterest's operating model is well-insulated from the changes app developers have made that allow users to block data-tracking tools. Whereas most social media platforms rely heavily on data-tracking tools to help advertisers target users, Pinterest's entire platform is built on its users willingly and freely sharing the things, places, and services that interest them.
A forward P/E of 16 and a price-to-earnings-growth ratio (PEG ratio) of well below 1 make Pinterest a phenomenal value.
6. SentinelOne
Cybersecurity up-and-comer SentinelOne (S 1.06%) is the sixth magnificent stock that can make investors richer this year.
The great thing about cybersecurity solutions is they've evolved into a basic necessity service. With businesses shifting their data and that of their customers online and into the cloud at an accelerated pace, third-party providers like SentinelOne are increasingly being relied upon to protect this data.
To build on the above, SentinelOne is a subscription-driven model, which means consistent cash flow quarter after quarter. More importantly, subscriptions tend to keep existing clients loyal to its suite of AI- and machine learning-powered software-as-a-service solutions. This annual recurring revenue grew by 29% in the company's latest quarter.
With subscriptions lifting its adjusted gross margin to 80%, investors should expect SentinelOne's losses to shrink in the new year.
Image source: Getty Images.
7. Alibaba Group
Despite the concerns investors have about China stocks with Donald Trump readying to take office for his nonconsecutive second term, leading e-commerce company Alibaba Group (BABA 0.69%) is ripe for the picking.
Although e-commerce sales have long since matured in the U.S., they're still a sizable growth opportunity in the world's No. 2 economy, thanks in part to its burgeoning middle class. Alibaba's Taobao and Tmall combined to account for around half of all online retail sales market share in 2023, according to the International Trade Administration.
What's more, Alibaba Cloud is currently the No. 1 provider of cloud infrastructure services in China. Cloud services offer substantially juicier margins than online retail sales, which should lead to margin and profit expansion for Alibaba throughout the decade.
The icing on the cake is that Alibaba has over $33 billion in net cash on its balance sheet, which allows it to buy back its own shares and makes its microscopic forward P/E of 9 look even more attractive.
8. BioMarin Pharmaceutical
Specialty biotech BioMarin Pharmaceutical (BMRN 0.51%) is another phenomenal company that can help fatten up investor's portfolios in 2025. Even though new competitors may be entering the arena to treat achondroplasia, which would be bad news for BioMarin's fast-growing drug Voxzogo, there are still plenty of catalysts to be excited about.
For starters, Voxzogo may hold a competitive advantage with regard to label expansion opportunities. Being able to treat younger achondroplasia patients should lift Voxzogo's sales and give the drug an opportunity to eventually peak above $1 billion in annual revenue. As a reminder, BioMarin's orphan drug focus gives the company exceptional pricing power.
Secondly, BioMarin's pipeline remains promising. The company's September Investor Day meeting forecast two new drug launches by 2027 and a total of 11 by 2034. Perhaps most important, BioMarin has narrowed its pipeline down to its most-promising candidates and expects total sales to reach $4 billion by 2027, which represents expected sales growth of 42% over the next three years.
With BioMarin's EPS projected to top $5 per share by 2027, the time to buy is now.
Image source: Getty Images.
9. Fiverr International
For those of you looking for something a bit more off the radar, online-services marketplace Fiverr International (FVRR 1.87%) has all the necessary tools to make investors richer in the new year.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, we've witnessed a discernable shift in how Americans work. While some have returned to the office, more are working remotely than when this decade began. This plays in perfectly to Fiverr's platform, which is designed to connect freelancers with buyers through its marketplace.
Price transparency is one reason Fiverr stands out from other freelancer marketplaces. Whereas most freelancers price their services by the hour on other platforms, they do so as a completed service on Fiverr. This cost transparency is likely a big reason why spend per buyer keeps climbing for Fiverr.
Further, Fiverr is netting a take rate of 33.9% -- this is the percentage of each deal negotiated on its platform, including fees, it gets to keep. Fiverr's take rate is nearly double that of its rivals and should lead to superior margins.
Visa has delivered steady returns for its shareholders since going public in March 2008. V Total Return Level data by YCharts.
10. Visa
The 10th magnificent stock that can make you richer in 2025 is none other than payment-processing goliath Visa (V 0.16%). While financial stocks are highly cyclical, Visa has shown that its competitive advantages allow it to outperform in virtually any economic climate.
One of Visa's keys to success is that it strictly sticks to payment facilitation. Even though some of its peers also lend, its management team has avoided such temptations. The advantage of this approach is that when recessions do occur, Visa doesn't have to set aside capital to cover loan losses or credit delinquencies.
Investors shouldn't overlook Visa's mouthwatering international opportunity, either. Sustained double-digit growth in cross-border payment volume is indicative of emerging markets still being predominantly underbanked. Visa has the operating cash flow necessary to organically or acquisitively enter new markets in order to take advantage of this outsized growth potential.
