Despite the tariff and DeepSeek turmoil, the U.S. stock market has been going strong in 2025, with the benchmark S&P 500 index recording a 3.13% rise in the year-to-date (YTD) chart.
Though the figure might appear underwhelming if it continues rising at its current rate, it will have climbed more than 25% through the entire year – almost as much as it did in 2024.
Despite this apparent strength, not all U.S. stocks are performing equally well, with recent figures indicating that less than half of the 500 biggest stocks are above their 100-day moving average (MA).
Picks for you
Given the mixed situation, Finbold decided to examine some of the biggest holdings of the finance behemoth Vanguard to find the stock most likely to offer stellar returns to their investors.
Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA)
While Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) has been the ‘usual suspect’ for well over a year, it is hard to deny that investing in the semiconductor giant only slightly more than two years ago would have indeed turned $100 into $1,000.
In many ways, the company’s bull case remains intact as the company is likely to enjoy strong demand as its advanced microchips keep supplying the artificial intelligence (AI) boom.
Simultaneously, the breakthroughs made when developing the novel DeepSeek model and the wide ability to replicate the achievement thanks to the open-source nature of the software could vastly increase Nvidia’s volume in the coming years.
Perhaps for this reason, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Wall Street is overwhelmingly optimistic about the blue-chip chipmaker and, on average, forecasts a 33.26% upside in the coming 12 months from the press time price of $131.14 to $174.75.
Still, it is worth remembering that NVDA stock optimism largely hinges on the continued strength of the big tech and the wider bull market as, while there is little reason to believe in a crash under the current conditions, the discrepancy between the firm’s valuation and revenue makes it particularly susceptible in case of a wider economic crash.
Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT)
Considering big tech has been a theme for more than a decade and AI in more recent years, it is hardly surprising that Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), a company that, in many ways, embodies both trends, is offering a compelling investment opportunity in 2025 as well.
The technology giant has been one of the big players in the ongoing boom since the early days with its early alliance – and investment – in OpenAI, the firm whose ChatGPT kickstarted the AI frenzy.
Though Microsoft has lost some of its dominance of late with Azure cloud’s growth potential ringing some alarm bells and with losing some of its closeness with OpenAI due to SoftBank’s new $40 billion investment, it has hardly been sidelined.
For example, Microsoft is set to contribute significantly to the $500 billion AI infrastructure Stargate program, indicating a continued strong presence. The firm’s massive cloud capacity could also lead to skyrocketing revenue with the proliferation of AI much like Nvidia’s customer base might see a massive expansion.
Again, much like with NVDA stock, Wall Street overwhelmingly expects MSFT shares to keep rising, with the average price target standing at $510.67 – 24.85% above the press time price of $409.04.
Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA)
Depending on how credible one finds the richest man on the planet, Elon Musk, Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) might constitute the single best buying opportunity in the world in 2025, despite analyst apprehension.
During the latest earnings call, the billionaire reflected on the electric vehicle (EV) maker’s highly advertised humanoid robot program – previously hinted to hit commercial availability this year – and opined it could generate $10 trillion in revenue.
At the same time, Musk opined that Tesla could, thanks to such technological and production advancements, become worth more than the current five largest companies in the world. This was widely taken to mean that, according to the billionaire, Tesla’s market capitalization target stands at roughly $15 trillion, and TSLA’s share price target at $4,690.43.
Considering the EV maker’s stock is, at press time, changing hands at $346.63, a $100 investment would be, once Elon Musk’s prediction comes true, worth $1,353.15.
Furthermore and again, provided the billionaire made a credible estimate, February 13 might be presenting a particularly enticing buying opportunity as TSLA shares have, for the most part, been collapsing in recent trading.
