Best Stocks of the Bull Market: Buy, Sell or Hold?
Wall Street's ratings on the best performing stocks since the bear-market bottom just might surprise you.
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
Want to add more newsletters?
Delivered daily
Kiplinger Today
Profit and prosper with the best of Kiplinger's advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and much more delivered daily. Smart money moves start here.
Sent five days a week
Kiplinger A Step Ahead
Get practical help to make better financial decisions in your everyday life, from spending to savings on top deals.
Delivered daily
Kiplinger Closing Bell
Get today's biggest financial and investing headlines delivered to your inbox every day the U.S. stock market is open.
Sent twice a week
Kiplinger Adviser Intel
Financial pros across the country share best practices and fresh tactics to preserve and grow your wealth.
Delivered weekly
Kiplinger Tax Tips
Trim your federal and state tax bills with practical tax-planning and tax-cutting strategies.
Sent twice a week
Kiplinger Retirement Tips
Your twice-a-week guide to planning and enjoying a financially secure and richly rewarding retirement
Sent bimonthly.
Kiplinger Adviser Angle
Insights for advisers, wealth managers and other financial professionals.
Sent twice a week
Kiplinger Investing Weekly
Your twice-a-week roundup of promising stocks, funds, companies and industries you should consider, ones you should avoid, and why.
Sent weekly for six weeks
Kiplinger Invest for Retirement
Your step-by-step six-part series on how to invest for retirement, from devising a successful strategy to exactly which investments to choose.
No one likes the akshually guy, but the bull market isn't really two years old. Although the S&P 500 notched its bear-market bottom on October 12, 2022, a bull market doesn't begin until the market regains its previous peak. By that definition, our current bull market was confirmed in January. Until that point, it was still underwater.
With that technicality of technical analysis out of the way, let's just agree that – what the heck – the bull market is two years old. After all, a bull market isn't defined by a chart; it's made by people. When the macroeconomic backdrop appears favorable for corporate earnings, when those earnings are forecast to grow at an attractive or accelerating rate, and when market participants are willing to pay higher and higher premiums for those expected earnings? Yeah, that's a bull market.
The S&P 500 generated a total return (price change plus dividends) of 67% from the bear-market bottom through late October, driven mostly by the Magnificent 7 stocks. And while it's true Nvidia (NVDA), Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT) and other mega-cap AI plays generated an outsized role in the bull market's gains, that cliché about a rising tide lifting all boats is mostly true when it comes to equities.
From just $107.88 $24.99 for Kiplinger Personal Finance
Become a smarter, better informed investor. Subscribe from just $107.88 $24.99, plus get up to 4 Special Issues
Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free Newsletters
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail.
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice - straight to your e-mail.
Best stocks: buy, sell or hold?
To that end, we screened the S&P 500 for the stocks with the highest total returns since the bear-market bottom to see how industry analysts viewed them at current levels. After all, the names below have more than doubled or even quadrupled and then some. Valuations tend to get stretched after such hot runs, leading to lower future returns.
Below please find the S&P 500 stocks generating the highest total returns from the bear-market bottom through October 23. We also delved into what industry analysts think of these stocks' prospects going forward, using data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. You can see Wall Street's consensus recommendations and scores in the table below.
A note on the scoring system: S&P Global Market Intelligence surveys analysts' stock recommendations and scores them on a five-point scale, where 1.0 equals Strong Buy and 5.0 means Strong Sell. Any score of 2.5 or lower means that analysts, on average, rate the stock a Buy. The closer the score gets to 1.0, the stronger the Buy call.
In other words, lower scores are better than higher scores.
Below please find the best S&P 500 stocks of the bull market and how the Street rates them now.
| Company (Ticker) | Total return % (10/12/22 - 10/23/24) | Analysts' consensus recommendation score | Analysts' consensus recommendation |
| Nvidia (NVDA) | 1,114.7 | 1.29 | Strong Buy |
| Super Micro Computer (SMCI) | 765.3 | 2.33 | Buy |
| Vistra (VST) | 514.9 | 1.67 | Buy |
| Palantir Technologies (PLTR) | 427.8 | 3.10 | Hold |
| Fair Isaac (FICO) | 393.1 | 2.35 | Buy |
| GE Aerospace (GE) | 355.0 | 1.39 | Strong Buy |
| Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCL) | 344.5 | 1.63 | Buy |
| Meta Platforms (META) | 343.4 | 1.49 | Strong Buy |
| Broadcom (AVGO) | 320.1 | 1.43 | Strong Buy |
| Arista Networks (ANET) | 280.2 | 1.96 | Buy |
| Dell Technologies (DELL) | 273.6 | 1.68 | Buy |
| Axon Enterprise (AXON) | 267.1 | 1.53 | Buy |
| PulteGroup (PHM) | 247.5 | 2.18 | Buy |
| Netflix (NFLX) | 239.2 | 1.98 | Buy |
| Constellation Energy (CEG) | 230.0 | 1.90 | Buy |
| Howmet Aerospace (HWM) | 222.6 | 1.50 | Strong Buy |
| KKR (KKR) | 218.2 | 1.65 | Buy |
| United Rentals (URI) | 208.1 | 2.52 | Hold |
| Uber Technologies (UBER) | 207.3 | 1.51 | Buy |
| Iron Mountain (IRM) | 198.3 | 2.13 | Buy |
| TransDigm Group (TDG) | 191.5 | 1.78 | Buy |
| Carnival Corp. (CCL) | 187.3 | 1.75 | Buy |
| Builders FirstSource (BLDR) | 185.3 | 1.67 | Buy |
| Eli Lilly (LLY) | 183.2 | 1.66 | Buy |
| Trane Technologies (TT) | 180.6 | 2.60 | Hold |
Related Content
-
The Cost of Leaving Your Money in a Low-Rate AccountWhy parking your cash in low-yield accounts could be costing you, and smarter alternatives that preserve liquidity while boosting returns.
-
I want to sell our beach house to retire now, but my wife wants to keep it.I want to sell the $610K vacation home and retire now, but my wife envisions a beach retirement in 8 years. We asked financial advisers to weigh in.
-
How to Add a Pet Trust to Your Estate PlanAdding a pet trust to your estate plan can ensure your pets are properly looked after when you're no longer able to care for them. This is how to go about it.
-
Nasdaq Slides 1.4% on Big Tech Questions: Stock Market TodayPalantir Technologies proves at least one publicly traded company can spend a lot of money on AI and make a lot of money on AI.
-
If You'd Put $1,000 Into AMD Stock 20 Years Ago, Here's What You'd Have TodayAdvanced Micro Devices stock is soaring thanks to AI, but as a buy-and-hold bet, it's been a market laggard.
-
Nasdaq Drops 172 Points on MSFT AI Spend: Stock Market TodayMicrosoft, Meta Platforms and a mid-cap energy stock have a lot to say about the state of the AI revolution today.
-
S&P 500 Tops 7,000, Fed Pauses Rate Cuts: Stock Market TodayInvestors, traders and speculators will probably have to wait until after Jerome Powell steps down for the next Fed rate cut.
-
S&P 500 Hits New High Before Big Tech Earnings, Fed: Stock Market TodayThe tech-heavy Nasdaq also shone in Tuesday's session, while UnitedHealth dragged on the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average.
-
Dow Rises 313 Points to Begin a Big Week: Stock Market TodayThe S&P 500 is within 50 points of crossing 7,000 for the first time, and Papa Dow is lurking just below its own new all-time high.
-
Nasdaq Leads Ahead of Big Tech Earnings: Stock Market TodayPresident Donald Trump is making markets move based on personal and political as well as financial and economic priorities.
-
11 Stock Picks Beyond the Magnificent 7With my Mag-7-Plus strategy, you can own the mega caps individually or in ETFs and add in some smaller tech stocks to benefit from AI and other innovations.
