Bank of America said a slew of stocks, including Nvidia , have plenty of upside in 2025. The firm recently named a few buy-rated stocks that every investor must own heading into the new year. In addition to the chip juggernaut, the names include Block , Cadence Design Systems , Chevron and East West Bancorp . Block Wall Street is gushing over the payment fintech company, including Bank of America analyst Jason Kupferberg and team. “As a US-centric re-acceleration story, we believe shares can outperform,” he wrote recently. An increase in crypto prices is also an expected tailwind, the firm said. “While 41% of SQ’s revenue comes from bitcoin trading, most of it is pass-through, and only 3% of SQ’s gross profit comes from bitcoin,” Kupferberg added. The analyst also said the stock is well positioned to benefit from an improving macro and a lighter regulatory environment heading into a new White House administration. “SQ should also benefit from a more robust US SMB [small mid size business] backdrop, plus mgmt has provided initial high-level ’25 guidance, reflecting a healthy combination of top-line growth and profitability,” he added. Block shares are up nearly 16% year to date. “SQ is our top Payments pick for ’25,” Kupferberg said. East West Bancorp Top pick East West Bancorp is teed up for strength in the new year, according to analyst Ebrahim Poonawala. “We believe the stock offers among the most compelling risk/rewards to investors looking to position for accelerating loan growth,” he said of the regional bank. Further, the analyst said the bank has some of the “highest levels of capital” among peers in the sector. Poonawala also praised East West’s “resilient” margins with “tailwinds on the horizon.” “Additionally, strong capital levels and best-in-class profitability offer defensibility if the economy surprises negatively,” he wrote. Shares of the company are up 33% in 2024, with plenty more room to run, the firm said. Cadence Design Systems Analyst Vivek Arya said the electronic systems design manufacturer is firing on all cylinders. He recently came away from a meeting with company management feeling more constructive on Cadence’s growth prospects. In particular, Arya notes Cadence has plenty of potential for share gains as the company works to diversify its business. “CDNS has invested aggressively in digital, revamping its entire portfolio and are now present at all 20 top semi companies (vs. only 2 historically), performing well across the different digital design phases,” the analyst wrote. Arya also raised his price target on the stock to a Street high of $365 per share from $310. Shares are up 10% in 2024. “We see CDNS as an attractive/defensive alterative levered to durable R & D [research & development] and higher visibility subscription driven AI spending versus (lumpier) hardware/capex exposed semis,” he said. Block “SQ is our top Payments pick for ’25. … SQ should also benefit from a more robust US SMB backdrop, plus mgmt has provided initial high-level ’25 guidance, reflecting a healthy (and we think under-appreciated) combination of top-line growth and profitability. … While 41% of SQ’s revenue comes from bitcoin trading, most of it is pass-through, and only 3% of SQ’s gross profit comes from bitcoin.” Chevron “2025 is a pivotal year for CVX with a lot of catalysts. There are a number of 2025 catalysts, both positive and negative for the stock. We keep a running list in this note along with our view. We will break these down into the following buckets: 1) GoM [Gulf of Mexico] 2) TCO [Tengizchevroil] 3) Hess 4) Refining/Biofuels and 5) Venezuela. We reiterate our Buy thesis. It is our top pick going into 2025.” East West Bancorp “We believe the stock offers among the most compelling risk/rewards to investors looking to position for accelerating loan growth (an industrywide rebound would offer upside to our 6.3% FY25 YoY loan growth forecast). Additionally, strong capital levels and best-in-class profitability offer defensibility if the economy surprises negatively. … NII [net interest income], margin resilient with tailwinds on the horizon.” Nvidia “We see 2025 as a year of two different trends. In the first half, AI investments and NVDA Blackwell deployments driven by US cloud customers sustain momentum in AI semis. However, in the 2H, interest could shift to less-crowded auto/industrial chipmakers on inventory replenishment and pick-up in auto production assuming a global economic recovery.” Cadence Design Systems “CDNS has invested aggressively in digital, revamping its entire portfolio and are now present at all 20 top semi companies (vs. only 2 historically), performing well across the different digital design phases. … We see CDNS as an attractive/defensive alterative levered to durable R & D [research & development] and higher visibility subscription driven AI spending versus (lumpier) hardware/capex exposed semis,” he went on to say.”
