We recently published a list of the 10 Best Strong Buy Stocks To Buy Right Now. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) stands against the other best strong buy stocks to buy right now.
Fears of a slowing economy have hit stocks recently, along with concerns that Trump’s tariffs will raise prices for consumers and lead to more inflation. These trends pose questions about whether the market broadening, which some experts have predicted, can really happen. On February 28, Sara Naison-Tarajano, Goldman Sachs Private Wealth global head of capital markets, appeared on CNBC’s ‘Closing Bell’ to discuss her growth outlook. She believed that the broadening of the market will take place, and the market is already seeing it. Considering the broadening versus the Mag 7, this year’s outperformance is pretty dramatic. If we look at what the last two years have been like combined, the returns of the Mag 7 were over 200%, while those of the rest of the market were only 31%. Therefore, the market is definitely seeing the trend materialize, and Tarajano believes it is going to continue.
She said the market is currently all about tariffs, growth, consumers, wavering, and several other factors. Among all, it is definitely about uncertainty, which in turn affects the markets and the consumers. We are seeing policy uncertainty around tariffs, geopolitical uncertainty around the Middle East and Ukraine, and some degree of regulatory uncertainty in terms of not knowing what the path will be in the future for this administration in the back half of the year. This uncertainty is coupled with the fact that we are coming off two incredible years of equity market returns. In addition, the back half of February tends to be historically weak anyway. All of these trends are coming together to create some market volatility, and it is to be expected.
Tarajano further said that she was and is still thinking that the first half of the year could be a bit dicey and the second half, which may see tax cuts and the impacts of deregulation, would see more deals done and more IPOs, resulting in a smoother H2. However, she said she reserved the right to revise her views based on how the policies come out. Shedding further light on the situation, she opined that the tariffs are a significant part of the base case and will be an essential part of what happens to inflation, which in turn has a broader impact on the economy. Talking about the base case, she said we will see a 4% increase in the effective tariff rate, which only has a 40 basis point impact on core PCE, a 20 basis point impact on GDP, and more. If the base case persists, we can make it through this first half.
There haven’t been many opportunities if you haven’t been long in the stock market to get involved with what the market has done over the last two years. Therefore, a bit of a clearing out is necessary, and the hope, if we can stay on track, is that the second half will be better.
From a strategic asset allocation perspective, she said that she still favors overweight US. The logic behind it is her firm’s GDP expectations, close to 2.5%, and earnings growth. There is no question that there’s been some tactical opportunity overseas, with Europe and China expected to perform better. While it is cheap, it is so for a reason, as the GDP expectations in Europe are 70 basis points. While these trends and expectations are interesting from a tactical trade perspective, it is essential to be thoughtful about international asset allocations when taking a strategic asset allocation perspective.
We used Finviz and Tipranks to make a list of 35 strong buy stocks. We then selected the top 10 stocks with the highest analyst upside potential as of March 12, 2025. We also added the number of hedge fund holders for each stock as of Q4 2024. We sourced the hedge fund sentiment data from Insider Monkey’s database. The list is sorted in ascending order of analyst upside potential.
Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).
Is Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) the Top Stock to Buy According to Adage Capital Management?
A customer entering an internet retail store, illustrating the convenience of online shopping.
Analyst Upside: 37.27%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 339
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) is a multinational technology company that offers online retail shopping services. It operates through the North America, International, and Amazon Web Services (AWS) segments. AWS’s segment covers global sales of storage, computers, databases, and other services for government agencies, academic institutions, startups, and enterprises.
Amazon.com, Inc.’s (NASDAQ:AMZN) e-commerce standing lends it a significant competitive advantage, as it holds nearly 38% of all e-commerce sales in the US. According to the Boston Consulting Group, e-commerce is expected to continue growing as a percentage of retail sales, reaching around 41% of global retail sales by 2027. This is anticipated to prove substantially beneficial for Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN).
The company is also investing heavily in AI. Its capital expenditures (capex) for 2025 are anticipated to be around $100 billion, a majority of which would go to AI. The company also said that falling AI inference expenses would fuel increased AI infrastructure spending. It ranks fourth on our list of the 10 best strong buy stocks to buy now.
Ariel Appreciation Fund stated the following regarding Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:
“During the quarter, we initiated three new investments, each in companies we have followed closely for a considerable time. At various points, we viewed them as missed opportunities; however, our experience with Mr. Market has taught us that patience often creates inevitable entry points. This quarter, some exciting opportunities presented themselves. The three investments are Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), Diageo (NYSE: DEO), and Uber (NASDAQ: UBER). We will discuss each in detail below.
Overall, AMZN ranks 4th on our list of the best strong buy stocks to buy right now. While we acknowledge the potential of AMZN as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than AMZN but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
