RBC Capital Markets on Monday highlighted its top stock ideas for 2025, including an energy giant and a major financial company. The bank lists 30 stocks for the new year. RBC said it screens for companies with solid bottom-up fundamentals that can also take advantage of the current environment. According to RBC, the top 30 has returned a compound annual return of 13.7% since inception, compared with a compound annual return of 11.2% for its benchmark MSCI World Index. However, the basket of currencies underperformed in both the fourth quarter and the full year of 2024, falling 1% and 18.6% respectively, while the benchmark fell 0.2% and 18.7%. The S&P 500 also outperformed RBC’s top picks in the fourth quarter, rising 2.1%. Last year, the best-performing stocks on the list included HubSpot, CrowdStrike, and HealthEquity, which gained 31%, 22%, and 17%, respectively. As 2025 begins, RBC has added several new companies to its updated list, including ConocoPhillips and MSCI stocks. Energy stock ConocoPhillips, which fell nearly 15% last year, replaced Canadian Natural Resources on RBC’s top 30 list. Analyst Scott Hanold’s $135 price target means the stock could soar nearly 34% from there. “The depth, quality and diversity of COP’s global inventory differentiates it from its E&P peers, and its strong balance sheet and lower WTI breakeven point allows it to fund its maintenance capital and dividends, and through Commodity price cycle increases shareholder value The bank says the landscape for Canada’s energy industry is less compelling in 2025, leading Canadian Natural Resources to be removed from the bank’s hot stocks list In the financial sector, Morgan Stanley Capital International. (MSCI) replaced RBC’s InterContinental Exchange. Analyst Ashish Sabandra’s $675 price target implies potential upside of 12%, the bank said. Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) is well-positioned to deliver high-single-digit revenue growth and 50-plus basis points in 2025 as financial services budgets improve, sales cycles normalize, and pricing normalizes. Margin expansion. MSCI shares ended 2024 up 6%. Pinterest, a returning member of RBC’s Best Creative list, fell 22% last year but has gained 13% in 2025. With rapid growth, that’s reasonable. Erickson’s $48 price target is about 55% higher than Pinterest’s closing price on Friday. “Our price target is driven by confidence in 3P’s advertising partnerships,” he wrote. Faster-than-expected growth; higher ad loads not negatively impacting engagement; and direct links and better relevance driving higher ROAS Other members of RBC’s Top Stock Ideas for 2025 include clean energy company First Solar. and software platform Gitlab.
