Three stocks recommended by top analysts

Investors experienced a volatile period in late January as they weighed the Federal Reserve's decision to pause interest rate cuts, a busy corporate earnings season and the prospect of new tariffs. Given these dynamics and volatile stock market movements, it can be difficult for investors to pick the right stocks for their portfolios. Following the recommendations of leading analysts can be helpful in this regard, as they focus on the long-term growth of companies and do not just address short-term market fluctuations.

Based on this, here are three stocks that are favored by leading analysts according to the TipRanks platform, which rates analysts based on their past performance.

Netflix $NFLX

Let's start with streaming giant Netflix (NFLX). The company recently surprised investors with better-than-expected results for the fourth quarter of 2024, adding approximately 19 million new subscribers.

JPMorgan analyst Doug Anmuth, reacting to the strong Q4 results, reiterated a "buy" recommendation and raised his target price on the stock to $1,150 from the previous $1,000. Anmuth said that "Netflix is entering the new year at full speed" while praising the company's very strong content plan. While major events such as the Jake Paul-Mike Tyson game, the NFL Christmas games and the second season of "Squid Game" contributed to growth, the analyst mentioned that this content accounted for only a small portion of the overall subscriber growth. Most of the growth was fueled by the overall strength of the content.

Anmuth is bullish on Netflix's growth in 2025 and 2026, expecting double-digit revenue growth and operating margin expansion. He expects the company to add 30 million new subscribers in 2025, up from the 21 million originally estimated. Anmuth also raised revenue and operating profit estimates for the two periods.

Intuitive Surgical $ISRG

The other favored stock is Intuitive Surgical (ISRG), a pioneer in robotic-assisted surgery and maker of the popular da Vinci surgical systems. The company ended 2024 strong, reporting results that exceeded market expectations. However, its gross margin outlook for 2025 remained below expectations and indicated a narrowing of its 2024 guidance.

JPMorgan analyst Robbie Marcus reiterated a "buy" recommendation on ISRG and raised his target price on the stock to $675 from the previous $575. He cited strong demand for new systems and growth in the number of procedures. There were 174 new da Vinci 5 systems placed in 2024, far more than the estimated 125.

Marcus is optimistic about the future expansion of the company, which is in the rapidly growing and still untapped space of soft tissue robotics.

Twilio $TWLO

The latest stock is cloud communications platform Twilio (TWLO). Goldman Sachs analyst Kash Rangan raised his recommendation on TWLO stock to "buy" from the original "hold" and raised his target price to $185 from $77 after the company held an analyst-focused event.

Rangan sees strong growth potential for Twilio due to aggressive cost cutting and efficiency improvements. He also expects the company to achieve solid revenue growth and increased use of new products in 2025. He believes that improvements in communications and new cross-selling opportunities will bring significant upside to Twilio stock.

Rangan believes that Twilio is now at an inflection point where it is transitioning to stronger growth, and that the positive trend that began in the third quarter will continue in 2025.

Disclaimer: There is a lot of inspiration to be found on Bulios, but stock selection and portfolio construction is up to you, so always do a thorough analysis of your own.

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