We Called These 10 Winners in 2025: What’s Ahead in 2026?

We're wrapping up 2025 with our top 10 stock picks  of the year. Joining me now are all of our market   beat analysts in person, Chris Marotch, Thomas  Hughes, and Jeffrey Neil Johnson. We are looking   back at the stock picks that we caught early this  year. Then we'll dive into the growth stocks that   these guys were most excited about in 2025. And  you'll hear whether they're still excited about   those growth stories for 2026. And finally, we'll  get to that third section where we are going to be   talking about the stocks they were excited about  in 2025 and are even more excited about in the new   year. So, I can't wait to get through this list.  It's always good to look back a little bit and   kind of see how well some of the stories we talked  about have done throughout the year. So, the first   area to talk about is just the stock that you  caught early this year that has done really,   really well. Chris, let's start with you. So, my  pick for the stock that I found early this year   is Nintendo and the ticker symbol is NTD. You and  I talked about this on the channel. It was e it   might have even been late last year, but we were  talking about this and I said the Switch is coming   out. The stock looked massively undervalued where  it was. It popped about 20% right after the Switch   2 was released. The stock is down a little bit  right now, but I think that's actually presenting   another opportunity. You see revenue growth  year-over-year. You're seeing earnings growth   year-over-year. So, I think there's a strong  story. One bit of caution is it is an OTC market   stock and that means that it may not be available  for every investor in every trading platform,   but if it is available for you, this is a stock  you're going to want to watch. The analyst growth   projections are really great on this one. Did this  stock pop as much as you thought it would in 2025?   You know, it didn't actually. I think some of  that is the broader economy. I think people are   expecting maybe those switch to sales won't be as  much as people expected, but if you look at recent   analyst projections, they're saying it's looking  very strong. I very much remember talking about   this one, Chris. A good one to look back on.  Thomas, what's the stock that you caught early   in 2025? Well, right, the stock that I caught  early this year is really a stock that we've been   tracking for years. That's Advanced Micro Devices.  What happened earlier this year is it took a while   for the AI trade to really be reflected in its  results. It was a massive price pullback. We spoke   about it many times in videos. Not a lot of reason  to buy it back then except for this outlook that   is starting to come into fruition. Since it hit  bottom, the stock is up significantly. Analysts   are definitely leading us higher. The revision  trends are very positive. We're looking for 50 to   100% upside in the next year. All driven really by  the back half activity. AMD is looking to launch   its MI450 products which uh put it on uh on par  with Nvidia as far as hyperscalers go and GPUs.   So once that launch is is made um AMD is going  to be equal to Nvidia as far as AI infrastructure   goes. I'm expecting its data center business  to grow by triple digits and accelerate for   several quarters possibly leading to triple digit  systemwide growth in markets are also normalizing   all being driven and supported by the AI trade.  So to me AMD is a good stock for the year and it's   probably going to be a great stock for next year  too. Yeah, this is one you're still bullish on,   but I do think it's a great candidate for you  caught it early because right back in April,   we were really getting beat up for for you being  bullish on AMD because people were losing a lot of   money on this stock. Well, right because this that  thing, you know, there was this uh this outlook,   this vision for what was going to happen, right?  And the market's very frontl looking and that's   why the stock price really surged in 2024 in  the first part of the year. But it takes time   sometimes for these things to happen. And for  advanced micro devices, that meant leaning hard   into its rack scale capability, which it didn't  have before. Now it does, right? And that was the   the real catalyst for the year. Uh that rack scale  capability coming online, the MI450 products being   developed, having that launch uh really cemented  into the market's mind. We're really expecting it   to happen based on demand, supply demand trends.  Um AMD could sell as many GPUs as it can make and   there will still be demand left unmet. a really  good caught it early stock, Thomas. And I know   we're gonna keep talking about it. It won't  be the last one for sure. And Jeffrey, you   did just join the channel a few months ago. So,  the stocks that you're going to talk about today,   uh, you've been a writer for marketbeat.com  for years now. And so, we're looking back at   some of the the stock stocks that you wrote about  online that have done really, really well. What   was one that you're really excited about that  you caught early? The one that I caught early   is actually Thomas' direct competitor, Intel.  They, of course, got a new CEO this year.   They've been doing a lot of restructuring and they  were punished during that time. The stock dropped   quite a bit and I spent a lot of the time in my  writing trying to convey the fact that nothing   much has changed with Intel. They have a massive  amount of money in the bank. you know, the new CEO   was going to push things in a new direction and  the foundry business direction that they have now   moved towards is going to be the next big thing  for them. I mean, they're going to eventually end   up being America's TSMC, you know, and I think  that once the market finally caught on to that,   the price started rising and it's continuing to  rise. But now I feel like Intel has gone from a   defensive position where they were just fighting  to maintain market share to an offensive position   where recently they bought Sonova and are starting  to integrate that technology into their technology   and the release of the Gaudy 3 processor and the  whole thing starting to spin towards their foundry   vision and once they get there that's just going  to continue to push the stock price Interesting.   So, this is one that had some some good growth if  you got in when you were talking about Intel this   year and you are still bullish on it for the  future, it sounds like. Yeah, I'm still very   bullish. They still have a lot of of room to go  with rolling out the foundry and the the 4nometer   and the 2nmter processes that they're doing. uh  they're starting to take on customers finally   in the foundry, but they're still while their  core business is been around for a long time,   this foundry business is still very fledgling.  They still have a lot of room to grow there,   which means that the stock price also has a lot  of room to grow. And all three good early growth   stories that we talked about on the channel and on  marketbeat.com. I did want to I'm going to stick   to your guys' answers for most of this series, but  I wanted to add one bonus stock, and that's one   that we talked about early on this year. That's  Applied Digital. This is the one that is close   to my hometown. So, I have a special connection to  this stock. But we were talking about this when it   was around $5, uh maybe even below $5. And at one  point, I think this was over $36 this year for the   high this year. It's come down a little bit since  then. But if you uh got into Applied Digital when   we talked about it, probably did pretty well on  that stock. I think we had some viewers who said   that they they've done really well with that one  this year. Do you think it's still a good bullish   call for 2026? Oh, for sure. Um, applied digital  is GPU as a service. Right now, all indications   are that GPUs are sold out. Capacity is sold out.  You can't get it anywhere. So, if you got it,   you have gold in your pockets, and they've got  it. They're expanding their their their their   data center footprint. They're using um, you know,  visible long-term forward contracts to support the   growth of these these businesses. It's all been  very drisked. Uh, they're executing well. So,   I I think that next year will be a great year  for that that company and for the stock price.   All right. Well, now I'm excited to move on to  the next section of our favorite 2025 stocks,   and that is the growth picks that you guys  had throughout the year. Thomas, why don't   you start this one off? What was your favorite  growth stock from 2025? My favorite growth stock   is Amp Prius Technologies. This company is still  very early in its ramp. Their battery technology   is such that I see them disrupting batteries  globally. their platform, their silicone anode   um structure provides a greater energy density,  greater energy discharge, greater charging rates,   lower weight for the amount of power you get. So,  it's really applicable to any battery usage. Right   now, it's really being used by the government and  by defense contractors for drones, which need to   have really light, high-owered batteries so they  can stay in the air for a long time and carry more   bombs or whatever it is they're going to carry,  radar, whatever it is. You know, they're ramping   capacity. At the same time, demand for their  product is ramping. The revenue is accelerating.   We're at a hyperrowth pace. The outlook is  swelling. Analyst coverage is swelling. So,   the company is in an early early stage of a really  massive revenue ramp. I think that the coming   year, the next, you know, six, eight quarters,  we're going to see some significant growth and   significant outperformance on a quarter-to-  quarter basis. I want to talk about when did   we first start talking about AMPX? I know it made  one of your monthly watch list a while ago. So,   this is one of those ones. I think has  been on the radar two or three years maybe,   but it's one of those things where it's like,  yeah, the story is awesome, but between now   when we see the story being awesome and when the  awesomeness starts being reflected in the results,   takes some time. So, it took, you know, a year,  18 months for that to start gaining traction,   but it did gain traction this year. The stock  price rocketed higher off of its bottom. We pulled   back some now. Uh but at the end of the year I  see support is being held at critical levels above   prior highs which just to me is a stage a platform  for it to launch higher again in the coming year   when we get those next earnings reports which to  me will be catalyst because of the strength of   the reports. So it's a growth stock in 2025 but  maybe an even bigger growth stock in 2026. Let's   think about growth stocks. You know you you're  growing. It's not just this year. Like if they   were only expected to grow this year the stock  would have done nothing because then the next   year it would be crap. this company is supposed to  grow this year and next year and the year after.   The trajectory is positive and the forecasts are  rising. So, that's just a lot of tailwind and and   market upward market pressure on the stock price.  All right. Very good. And AMPX is a name we've   talked about plenty of times, so I'm glad it made  one of your top 10 favorites of the year. Jeffrey,   what is your favorite growth stock of 2025? My  favorite growth stock of 2025 is going to be   vertical. Um they vertical aviation the EV toll  sector has kind of taken 2025 by storm and I have   spent quite a lot of time writing about all three  players Joby Archer and Vertical but at the end   of the day when you look at the strategies of  all three vertical has without a doubt the the   strongest strategy fundamentally I think that  that stock has so much more room to go in 2026   that it's it's going to be an incredible year for  that sector in general. Because in 2025 it was all   hype and speculation but 2026 is the year where  all three have committed to the commercialization   phase of their business. But when you look at  the commercialization phase of the business,   vertical strategy is really the only solid clear  focused strategy where the other strategies are   convoluted. So for me, vertical is the only way  to go in that sector. So interesting. The first   time we had you on the YouTube channel was to  talk about Joby versus Archer and I know it's a   specialty area you've looked into a lot. Uh when  did you start considering vertical as one of the   the leaders in the field? vertical strategy  is clear and it's focused. They're going to   produce a vertical takeoff and landing craft and  that's what they're going to do. Whereas the other   two seem to have kind of lost their focus and  now it's not so much about building the safest   vertical takeoff and landing craft and getting it  to market the fastest. It's about building this   giant ecosystem that could take years to develop.  And Vertical's really honed in and stayed focused.   They just want to produce the thing and put it  out to the regional airports and start flying.   All right. Interesting that a new name that we've  not heard on the channel made our top 10 stocks of   the year. So, a good one to look at and it will be  so interesting to see what happens with this whole   sector in 2026 if that commercialization does  actually take off. Thank you, Jeffrey. All right,   Chris. Excited to hear what your favorite growth  stock of 2025 was. Well, you know, I can't do a   video like this without talking about Palanteer,  and that's my stock. It's had a great year. Um,   I expect it to continue to have another solid  year next year. I think the honeymoon phase is   over for Palanteer. I don't think investors should  be expecting to see a stock like what it did when   it went from under $20 to now at one point this  year it was over 180. That hyper growth phase   initially is it it's it's over. It's going to  quiet down a little bit, but there's no reason   to believe that this stock is going to have in my  opinion a significant pullback or there's going to   be a significantly less demand for the company's  services. Three things you saw this year. Number   one is you saw they proved that they could scale  profitability and they've done that. They're   growing profits astonishingly year-over-year. I  don't want to start sounding like Dr. Alex Kart,   but you know, I can start bouncing up and down if  on YouTube. Um, they've proven that the commercial   side of their business can be a true growth driver  for the business. Right now, it's it's closing in   on being 50/50 with their government revenue, and  the government revenue is still very strong. they   just continue month after month it seems just  to say one contract after another that they're   gaining with not just the US military but with  the US government. They've become sort of the   operating system of the US government. And  I wrote about that recently. And I think the   third point is that Palunteers just become a  core part of AI infrastructure. When we talk   about AI infrastructure, we talk about hardware.  Palunteers the software side of that and they're   just becoming essential. are becoming essential  to every client that they have is basically saying   the same thing and that is that Palunteer doesn't  come to them with a message of we're going to   we're going to charge you this and we're going to  do this. They say we're going to come in and we're   going to save your company money and if we don't  do that don't hire us. And all the companies say   is yep that's exactly what happens. They install  Palunteer software and they're just they're   finding ways to save money. They're finding ways  to use AI in a way that goes beyond chat bots.   As Dr. Karpa said, it goes beyond making AI a toy  and it makes AI something that's truly useful for   the businesses and for their processes. I think  the hyperrowth is over, but there's no reason   that I believe that Palunteer is not going to  be a strong growth story not only next year but   for several years to come. Yeah. And what a growth  story it was in 2025. I think this was just before   the turn of the year for 2025 when we were talking  about Palanteer is a $20 stock. will it reach $20?   And then it almost reached 200 in a one-year time  span. So quite a growth story. We did just have   somebody on the channel talking about Palunteer  is the poster child for is the AI bubble going to   happen because of that overvaluation. Sure. What  are your thoughts on that? We've talked about this   before and what I'll say is this, Bridget, you  have to watch what analysts are doing and not   what they're saying because all year you and  I have talked about this. And if we look back   last year at this time, consensus price target for  Palunteer was under $100 and fairly significantly   under $100. And all year that price target  just keeps going up and up and up. And right   now that consensus price target is about $170. And  Palanteer's price right now is right around 180.   So yeah, I will concede the hyper growth stage  is probably over, at least for now. But I still   don't see any reason to believe that this stock  can't go significantly higher in the next 3 to 5   years. And that's why right now, depending on when  you bought it, it's going to depend on whether you   really want to sell it or not. Because there's  a lot of people that bought it when it was under   $10 and they're just sitting there saying, "Yeah,  fine. It can let let it drop." I think it's just   one of those things that I think a lot of analysts  are talking out of both sides of their mouth and   they're kind of talking their book a little bit  when it comes to that. But if you look at what   they're doing with the price targets, it's clear  they're raising their price targets because they   know that this stock is going higher. Well, it  certainly qualifies as an excellent growth story   for 2025. I'm really excited for the end of our  top 10 list for the year and that is talking about   the stocks that you were bullish on in 2025 that  you are still very bullish on in 2026. Clearly,   several of the names we've already mentioned also  qualify as that, but we're going to get into those   names in just a second. I first want to share  a special report with everyone for the top 10   stocks to look at for 2026. This is a report by  Thomas Hughes. It's a really detailed report on   marketbeat.com that you can check out for free.  It's his list of the top 10 stocks for the year.   Uh looking ahead for potential growth and what  stories could be really interesting in the new   year. Scan the QR code or click the link in the  description to get that full report for free right   now on marketbeat.com. and start to really study  up on what stocks you are going to be watching in   2026. But let's finish our top 10 stocks of 2025.  These are the ones that you're also excited about   in the new year. Jeffrey, let's start with you. I  think the stock that I'm most excited to see what   the new year is going to bring for it is um new  scale. As companies start finding ways to save   money and make more money using AI, you have to  believe that the adoption of AI will only continue   to increase, which means that the power demand  and the draw on the failing US infrastructure,   the failing power grid that we have right now will  only continue to rise. So the only thing that you   can do at this point is build a giant battery  and plug it into the call center or the data   center and wait until the grid gets fixed. And I  think that new scale is the only play capable of   doing that now. And I think that the foothold  that they got in 2025 will carry them forward   into 2026 and make them the leader in the small  modular reactor space. I think this is a really   interesting story because you talked about uh New  Scale early on before it had that huge run up and   then it had that huge run up and then it ended  the year on a pullback. Um where do you think   that that that chart could go in 2026? I really  think that that chart is going to be interesting   in 2026. I think it's going to continue to go  up because pullback in the stock is because of   the pullback in the AI sector. And the pullback in  the AI sector from from my fundamental standpoint   is the pullback that's happening as IT leaders  say it's great. It's a chatbot. We can talk to   it. Who cares? It's not making us money. And  so when they push to the it's got to make us   money or we don't want it kind of phase, it it  becomes obvious to see that that the AI trade   will continue in 2026 and it will only advance in  its complexity and its need, its hunger for power,   right? And that hunger for power will not come  from the grid. And New Scale is the only always on   base load power provider that can just be wheeled  up beside your data center and plugged in. Well,   that is an interesting segue into Thomas. What is  your pick for the year? Um, I'm on board with the   SMR pick, but I I choose Oakllo. They're equally  well positioned in the market. I think Oaklo has   a slight advantage. It was seen very clearly in  the analyst trends this year. Um, the analysts are   calling it out. Oaklo has a more visible pipeline  of business. SMRs is improving, but Oakland's is   better and it's growing at a faster pace. They're  both pretty much on track to be deploying their   reactors on a similar timeline. Again, I think  Oakland are going to be commercially viable a   little bit sooner. It's really just uh it's like  a one hand or the other kind of thing, but I think   in this situation, um I just prefer Oakllo over  SMR. Everything that Jeffrey said was on point   as far as AI goes. There's also other kinds of  demands for these these power centers. The power   grid is failing. We need to have more power.  demand for all kinds of sources, not just for   AI and data centers, all kinds of industries. Uh  these small module little reactors are, you know,   you can drive them right up, plug them right in.  You just got them some water, get them, you know,   a little bit to go, plug them in, and they're  ready to go. And I think in the coming year,   what's going to happen is we're going to see  the deal pipeline increase. We'll see more uh   concrete contracts being signed. The company will  become closer to um to building and completing   its first reactor, which is at the Idaho National  Laboratory. This is important because what they're   doing is they're circumventing the standard uh  pathway for um for certification by going to   the ID Idaho laboratory. They're going to get this  thing up and running. They're going to prove that   it works. They're going to start making money like  this coming up year and then uh they'll be able to   start, you know, launching and deploying their  their contracted reactors in in the following   year. Yeah. Interesting comparison about the  two. Is there room for both to have a really   good 2026? Oh. Oh, for sure. I mean because these  these are they're small, you know, so there's   like it's not like one is going to fix a problem.  We're going to need hundreds of them. If you look   at the nuclear infrastructure and the plans that  uh that our country and the world has for nuclear   infrastructure, we're going to have to start  deploying reactors at like, you know, 12, 15, 20   of them a year just to maintain the number that we  have in in service now. And if we want to expand   that that footprint, we're going to have to really  accelerate the deployments. So we're going to see   SMR, Oaklow, and potentially other other players  come online. Yeah. Last thing I want you to talk   about is just referencing the chart too because  Oakland's chart very similar to SMR with that big   pullback at the end of the year. Totally. So in in  line with the AI pullback, but also this thing is   happening. You know, um the market excitement  for these stocks was really peaked earlier in   the year. There was a huge inrush into the markets  that shot them up real high. But companies with no   revenue, no earnings right now, higher volatility,  AI pullback happens, bigger than the broad market   pullback, but still down to these what I see as  critical support levels that are that are holding   and a launch pad for the for the next year. All  right. Well, it'll be interesting to see which   one wins the race in 2026 or if one even takes off  yet that year. We'll see. Chris, you are our final   top 10 list of our 2025 favorite stocks. Well, I  obviously didn't understand the assignment because   I went in a completely different direction than  they did. If I was actually going for that trade,   I might be looking at some of the uranium miners,  but that could take this conversation in a totally   different direction that we don't want it to go.  I went for a triedand- trueue stock. It's but it's   one that I've loved for many years. It's Avy and  it's in the bioarma space. The stock's done very   well this year. Actually, pretty surprising in a  beaten down industry. The pharmaceutical industry   in general has not had a good year, but AVY's been  a shining star in that sector and it's projected   to continue to do so in 2026. So, a couple things  about AVY. They've proven now that the patent   cliff for Humira is a no is no big deal. That  that's two years ago. That's all. Skyresy, Renvoke   are already making up all of the revenue that  they could be losing from Humira. They're just   they're proving that the company has a massive  pipeline, massive pipeline. And they and it's   drugs in areas like oncology that are just going  to be so needed. And AV's just got the bandwidth,   they've got the cash, they've got everything to  get those drugs into market, which you and I have   talked about biotech a lot on this channel. That's  going to be the key. AVY, you don't have to worry   about that. They're going to be able to get those  products across the finish line as long as they   meet the trial stages. So, this is an undervalued  sector. AVY is already a leader in the sector.   They're expected to continue to lead. And for  investors for whom this might appeal to, it's just   a great dividend stock. And it's a dividend uh I  don't think it's a dividend king yet, but it's a   dividend aristocrat. It is. I call it a dividend  king because it was spun off from Abid. It's a   dividend king. Um everywhere you go, people call  it a dividend king because of its quality. I think   it's a great pick for for Chris. I love Abby as  being a dividend stock when in the bioarma space.   It's the one that I own. Interesting. These are  again very different. These are very big growth   stories, more risk involved. This one seems a  little less risky, right? Absolutely. I mean,   you're not buying Abby if you're looking for, you  know, if you're looking to speculate. That's not   what Abby is. This isn't a speculative stock at  all. But the beauty of it also is you're getting   growth, too. It's not just a well, you buy the  stock and you cash the dividend. That's not   what this is about. This is because it's growth.  It's the dividend. They've got share buybacks.   You know, they're increasing equity. Abby is a buy  and hold. It's a it's it's a must own buy and hold   stock. You know, I love it. And I love that we all  got to get together in person. We never get to be   in person together. I feel like with this group  of guys, we could just sit and talk stocks for   a long time, but we must end the conversation  at some point. I so appreciate all of you for   joining us on this YouTube channel throughout the  year. We have a lot more to talk about in 2026,   and we'll be there almost every day of the week.  So, be sure to join us in 2026 as well. I hope   that you have enjoyed being with us in 2025.  I'd love to hear some of your favorite stocks   from 2025 as well. Especially would like to hear  if you've had some good gains from some of the   stocks that we talked about on this channel, too.  So, let me know your thoughts in the comments.   Thanks again for joining us and sticking with our  channel throughout all of 2025. We hope you'll be   with us again in the new year. Thanks again for  watching everyone. As always, happy investing.