Professional stock market research is not mere opinion or idle guesswork. Equity analysis is a science as well as an art. The ratings and recommendations of professional analysts are backed by detailed research, specialized industry knowledge, years of experience and vast amounts of data. Major investment firms like Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (ticker: GS) and Morgan Stanley (MS) spend hundreds of millions on analysis and research. Other firms such as S&P Global Inc. (SPGI) and Morningstar Inc. (MORN) are largely dedicated to disseminating financial data and market research.
With all that in mind, here’s a timely list of seven stocks that are highly recommended by some of Wall Street’s top talent:
Boston Scientific Corp. (BSX)
Boston Scientific engineers, manufactures and distributes medical devices used in many interventional medical specialties such as cardiology, neuroradiology and radiology.
CFRA Equity Analyst Paige Meyer is bullish on the stock. Her “buy” recommendation with four out of five stars is based on the company’s extensive pipeline of new products. Meyer expects BSX’s earnings growth to outpace its peers over the next several years and believes the stock will deliver superior total return for shareholders.
Travis Steed, a research analyst at BofA Securities, has a similarly positive opinion of BSX. Steed also rates the stock a “buy” based on his accelerating earnings growth outlook. Steed has a $110 price target on the stock, which would be a more than 8.5% increase from its Jan. 23 close of $101.37.
Truist Securities, TD Cowen, Citigroup Inc. (C) and Canaccord Genuity all also rate BSX “buy,” while JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) have an “overweight” rating on the name.
Chevron Corp. (CVX)
Chevron is a global, integrated energy company – formerly known as Chevron/Texaco – with a market cap of more than $278 billion. In addition to the exploration and production of traditional hydrocarbon energies, CVX has extensive interests in petrochemicals, power generation and renewable energy.
On Jan. 2, the equity research division of BofA Securities picked CVX for its top 10 ideas for the first quarter of 2025. BofA energy sector analyst Jean Ann Salisbury thinks it’s going to $180, which would imply 15.4% upside from its Jan. 23 closing price of $156.01
Several other research entities have a positive outlook for CVX. Raymond James Financial Inc. (RJF) has an “outperform” rating on the company. Piper Sandler Cos. (PIPR) and Wells Fargo have the stock rated “overweight,” and UBS Securities joins BofA Securities with a “buy” rating.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS)
Goldman Sachs is known around the world as a premiere financial institution. The company offers a highly comprehensive suite of financial services to institutions and wealthy individuals. Its three main divisions – Global Banking & Markets, Asset & Wealth Management, and Platform Solutions – provide sophisticated investment banking, advisory and brokerage services. The company has a market cap of more than $200 billion.
It would be a serious conflict of interest if Goldman rated its own stock, but other Wall Street firms are not under that restriction. Morgan Stanley and JP Morgan – direct competitors – are both quite positive on GS. They each maintain an “overweight” on the company as does Barclays PLC (BCS). Ebrahim Poonawala, who covers GS for BofA Securities has a “buy” rating and a $675 price target on the stock. As of Jan. 23, GS has already appreciated more than 11% year to date. If it reaches Poonawala’s price target, that would represent an additional than 5.5% upside from its $639.50 close on that day.
Additionally, CFRA Equity Analyst Kenneth Leon has GS rated “strong buy” with five out of five stars. Leon has a $695 12-month price target on the stock.
RTX Corp. (RTX)
RTX recently caught the attention of investors when, just in the last month or so, the company received three impressive upgrades. On Dec. 19, 2024, RBC Capital upgraded the stock from “sector perform” to “outperform.” That was followed by a Deutsche Bank upgrade from “hold” to “buy” on the first trading day of 2025. Wells Fargo, BofA Securities and CFRA were already bullish on the stock. Wells Fargo currently rates the company “overweight,” while both BofA and CFRA have assigned “buy” ratings to RTX. Citigroup upgraded RTX from “neutral” to “buy” on Jan. 21 with a price target of $153, a 21.1% upside to its Jan. 23 closing price of $126.29.
RTX is a high-tech aerospace and aviation company with a significant presence in the commercial aviation and defense industries. RTX is a strategically important part of the national defense infrastructure of the U.S. and its NATO allies. Friendly militaries and government agencies around the world depend on the company’s missile technology, vision systems and advanced surveillance equipment.
This $168 billion company is the successor firm to Raytheon Technologies Corp. Raytheon renamed itself RTX Corp. as part of a rebranding following its 2020 merger with United Technologies.
Eli Lilly & Co. (LLY)
It’s genuinely difficult to find a Wall Street analyst with anything negative to say about Eli Lilly. CFRA Equity Analyst Sel Hardy has issued the stock his firm’s highest rating – “strong buy” with five out of five stars – and has placed a price target of $965 on the company. That’s an impressive number representing about 25.9% upside from the stock’s closing price of $766.60 on Jan. 23.
CFRA’s positive outlook is echoed by Deutsche Bank, Citigroup and BofA Securities, which all rate the stock “buy.” Wolfe Research and Bernstein have the stock rated “outperform.” Barclays maintains an “overweight” rating on the company.
Eli Lilly is a $700 billion giant in the brand-name prescription drug industry. The company researches, develops, manufactures and distributes an exceptionally wide range of drug treatments for debilitating diseases like diabetes, cancer, ulcerative colitis, depression, migraines, osteoporosis and many more.
Wall Street’s bullish attitude toward the stock is based on the fact that LLY is well positioned to take advantage of aging population trends globally over the next few decades, plus the company’s blockbuster GLP-1 drugs for obesity and diabetes. Sales of its GLP-1 drugs Zepbound and Mounjaro hit $5.4 billion in the fourth quarter of 2024 alone. Analysts are also excited about recent, long-anticipated drug approvals in the U.S., Japan, Great Britain and China.