Amidst ongoing concerns about inflation and trade tariffs from the Trump era, the stock market remains in a state of fluctuation, leaving investors slightly jittery as the earnings season unfolds. To navigate these uncertainties, it’s crucial for investors to identify companies equipped to handle these challenges and deliver robust, long-term returns. Here, insights from top Wall Street analysts provide a valuable compass, steering investors through thorough research and deep analysis.
With this strategic mindset, let’s dive into three stocks currently gaining favor among leading analysts, as highlighted by TipRanks, a platform known for ranking analysts based on their track records.
First up this week in the spotlight is Pinterest (PINS), the social media and image-sharing giant. Investors were pleasantly surprised by Pinterest’s impressive fourth-quarter results, especially as the company announced its first-ever billion-dollar revenue quarter. Notably, its global monthly active users saw an 11% increase year-over-year, reaching 553 million.
In response to these figures, Evercore analyst Mark Mahaney reaffirmed his buy rating on Pinterest and boosted the price target from $43 to $50, citing the stock’s surge following results that exceeded expectations.
Mahaney noted that the sentiment before the Q4 releases was fairly pessimistic, particularly regarding the Q1 2025 revenue projections, due to tough prior comparisons. Yet, Pinterest surpassed Wall Street’s estimates for Q4 revenue and EBITDA by 1% and 6%, respectively, and provided a promising top-line growth forecast with only a minimal deceleration, even on challenging comparisons.
Furthermore, Mahaney emphasized that after Q1 2025, Pinterest will confront easier year-over-year comparisons. He also pointed out that unlike other advertising companies, Pinterest has limited political exposure, suggesting potential for sustained revenue growth into fiscal year 2025. This sustained growth could act as a significant catalyst for the stock’s performance.
Looking ahead, Mahaney sees multiple ongoing product cycles contributing to Pinterest’s consistent revenue growth in the mid to high teens percentage, excluding currency fluctuations.
Mark Mahaney is ranked 24th out of over 9,300 analysts tracked by TipRanks, with profitable recommendations 64% of the time, achieving an average return of 29.1%. You can explore more on Pinterest’s hedge fund activity at TipRanks.
Monday.com
Moving on, the focus shifts to Monday.com (MNDY), a player in the workplace management software space. The company recently delivered impressive fourth-quarter results, driven by innovation and robust market strategies. The management is particularly optimistic about boosting demand through artificial intelligence.
JPMorgan analyst Pinjalim Bora responded to these results by reaffirming a buy rating and raising the price target from $350 to $400. Bora highlighted the solid performance, noting Monday.com outperformed consensus estimates in key areas after a quieter previous quarter.
The analyst was encouraged by the forecasted 2025 revenue growth of over 26% at constant currency mid-point, which exceeded both firm and market expectations. Bora observed that demand in the U.S. has recovered since September, while European demand remains steady, albeit with some variation.
Bora believes Monday.com offers unique potential as it evolves from a collaborative platform into a multi-product narrative. He sees this evolution as a chance to embed itself into AI-driven workflows with clients over time.
Bora views Monday.com as a standout among peers due to its strategic execution in an uncertain economic landscape and perceives it as a multi-year opportunity for substantial returns to long-term investors.
Pinjalim Bora ranks 541st among more than 9,300 analysts on TipRanks, achieving success 64% of the time with an average return of 15.2%. Check out Monday.com’s stock charts on TipRanks.
Amazon
Lastly, we turn to Amazon (AMZN), the e-commerce and cloud computing titan. Amazon delivered stronger-than-expected fourth-quarter results for 2024 but issued a conservative outlook for the first quarter of 2025, acknowledging forex challenges.
Following the earnings release, Mizuho analyst James Lee maintained his buy rating on Amazon, setting a price target of $285. Despite the cautious guidance and a sizable increase in capital expenditures, Lee noted that Amazon’s margins exceeded expectations, and its cloud division, AWS, performed well against competitors.
Lee commented that Amazon’s management is confident in increasing investments due to evident robust demand. They’re optimistic about reduced computing costs from moving to custom ASICs and AI model training advancements, which should accelerate AI integration.
Additionally, Lee forecasts growth in Amazon’s retail sector thanks to a revamped inbound network, more local delivery centers, and automation enhancements.
"Despite a slow start to 2025, Amazon’s fundamental story remains unchanged," says Lee, reiterating Amazon as a top pick for Mizuho.
James Lee is ranked 191st among over 9,300 analysts on TipRanks, with profitable ratings in 63% of cases and an average return of 15.5%. Discover more about Amazon’s ownership structure via TipRanks.
