Analysts' Top S&P 500 Stocks to Buy Now

Shopping for stocks when markets are at record levels and valuations are stretched might not feel like the best idea. The goal, after all, is to buy low.

However, the outlook for equities has brightened considerably in light of second-quarter earnings season. Besides, there are always select names set to outperform.

Although the Magnificent 7 stocks have done much of the bull market's heavy lifting, that hardly means these names are doomed to underperform from here.

From just $107.88 $24.99 for Kiplinger Personal Finance

Be a smarter, better informed investor.

CLICK FOR FREE ISSUE

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.

Sign up

As we'll see below, four of Wall Street's top-rated S&P 500 stocks to buy hail from the Magnificent 7. Companies from the financial, energy and industrials sectors are ably represented, too.

Here's how we found the top S&P 500 stocks to buy now. It's well known that industry analysts are reluctant to slap Sell ratings on the names they cover. There are several reasons for this, some more defensible than others.

What's less commonly understood is that Strong Buy recommendations, while not nearly as rare as Sell calls, are in somewhat short supply, too.

If you run a screen of the S&P 500 using data from S&P Global Market Intelligence, you'll see that analysts assign a consensus Sell recommendation to only one stock.

At the other end of the ratings spectrum stands the Street's highest recommendation of Strong Buy. A total of 34 stocks made the cut there as bullish sentiment soars.

First, a note on our methodology: 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.

Have a look at the chart below to see the 34 stocks in the S&P 500 that score an elite Strong Buy recommendation from industry analysts. Investors who fear it's too late to buy Amazon.com (AMZN), Microsoft (MSFT) or Nvidia (NVDA) will be happy to see they easily made the list.

As much as AI is driving sentiment, analysts see plenty of reasons to be bullish on names across multiple sectors. Here we highlight what Wall Street has to say about three lesser-known stocks on the list this month.

Danaher

Danaher (DHR) is a diversified life sciences and diagnostics company with customers across the pharma and biopharmaceutical industries. DHR stock is trailing the broader market by a wide margin in 2025 — hurt by tariffs and cuts to life sciences research — but that has it trading at attractive levels, analysts say.

"Despite near-term headwinds, we believe that Danaher has strong growth prospects," writes Argus Research analyst David Toung, who rates DHR at Buy. "Through M&A, the company has added new growth drivers and expanded its product offerings to support biopharma customers."

Of the 23 analysts covering DHR surveyed by S&P Global Market Intelligence, 17 call it a Strong Buy, four say Buy and two rate it at Hold. An average target price of $244.50 gives DHR implied price upside of about 27% in the next 12 months or so.

S&P Global

Long-term income investors probably know that S&P Global (SPGI) happens to be one of the best dividend stocks to buy for dependable dividend growth. Happily, the Street's bullish on SPGI's shorter term prospects too.

Analysts applaud the financial intelligence company's spinoff of its mobility division, slated for 2026. The move is intended to allow SPGI to focus on its core, higher margin offerings in areas such as credit ratings and market intelligence.

"We believe incremental clarity and acceleration of the separation timeline should be positive for the stock," notes Oppenheimer analyst Owen Lau, who rates the financial stock at Outperform (the equivalent of Buy). "An improving macro backdrop, rate-cut outlook, rising equity markets and healthy capital market activities all support stronger SPGI fundamentals."

Analysts' average price target of $617.62 gives SPGI stock implied price upside of about 15% in the next year or so.

Howmet Aerospace

Shares in Howmet Aerospace (HWM) are up by more than two-thirds so far this year, and analysts say they have higher to climb. Howmet is a critical supplier of engineered metal products and components to the likes of Boeing (BA) and Lockheed Martin (LMT), and business is good.

"Spares business continues to be an important growth driver across segments," writes Susquehanna analyst Charles Minervino, who rates shares at Positive (Buy). "The defense business continues to post strong growth, increasing revenue over 20% year-over-year, driven by engine spares, new engine builds and F-35 structures."

Of the 22 analysts covering the industrial stock, 15 rate it at Strong Buy, four say Buy, and three call it a Hold. Their average price target of $204.83 gives HWM shares implied price upside of about 12% in the next year or so.

Related Content

• All 30 Dow Jones Stocks Ranked: Buy, Sell or Hold?
• Highest-Yielding Dividend Stocks in the S&P 500
• Warren Buffett Stocks: A Look at Berkshire Hathaway's Holdings