- US stocks are set for another double-digit return in 2024 and can rally again next year.
- This year’s gains have been broad-based, as large caps and mid caps are both thriving.
- Here are 12 smaller stocks to buy with up to 94% upside, according to Oppenheimer.
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Investors have been spoiled by US stocks’ outstanding returns in recent years, and one firm says they should expect more of the same in 2025.
The S&P 500 is less than two months away from clinching a double-digit return for the fifth time in six years. Barring a massive selloff, the large-cap-heavy index will end 2024 well above what were even the most ambitious Wall Street estimates heading the year.
And it’s not just big stocks that are thriving. The equal-weight version of the S&P 500 and mid-cap-focused S&P 400 are also near record highs, as is the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
What seems like a best-case scenario outcome can get even better, according to Oppenheimer. Researchers at the investment firm are confident that this year’s robust market rally has legs.
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“Strength across market capitalizations is a key support for the equity cycle and supports higher market highs into 2025, based on our work,” Oppenheimer researchers wrote in a recent note.
Naturally, not all parts of the market are clicking. Small-cap-oriented indexes like the S&P 600 and Russell 2000 are modestly below their peak levels, though Oppenheimer’s team noted that they’re both in bullish uptrends. That’s encouraging after smaller stocks stalled out the summer, even though Oppenheimer strategists had said small- and mid-cap companies would break out.
12 stocks to add to your portfolio now
Heading into the final quarter of the year, Oppenheimer updated its list of “SMID-cap standouts,” which is composed of small- and mid-sized firms with an outperform rating from their analysts.
Although Oppenheimer still prefers large stocks over SMID-caps, the firm sees ample opportunities in that less-loved part of the market.
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There are 25 stocks on Oppenheimer’s latest SMID-cap list, including 12 new entries that weren’t on the second- or third-quarter editions.
Those new stocks are below — sorted in alphabetical order by growth theme — along with each one’s ticker, market capitalization, sector, growth theme, price target, upside, and commentary. Three stocks also have bullish technical trends: Sunrun, Shift4 Payments, and Beazer Homes.