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Last Friday, the three most widely followed benchmark indexes closed a losing week. The Nasdaq Composite, the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 2.6%, 1.5% and 1%, respectively.
Concerns about weak economic growth and high inflation weighed on the markets as the Trump administration continued to up the ante on tariff announcements. Monday marked the final day of what has been a tumultuous quarter to start 2025. The S&P 500 moved into correction territory in March after hitting a record in February. For the month, the S&P 500 fell 5.8%, posting its biggest monthly slide since December 2022. The Nasdaq lost 8.2%, while the Dow slid 4.2%. In the quarter, the S&P 500 was down 4.6%, ending a five-quarter win streak. The Nasdaq lost 10.4% in the quarter, which would mark its biggest quarterly decline since the second quarter of 2022. The Dow shed 1.3% in the quarter.
All eyes are currently set on Wednesday, April 2, a day that President Trump is referring to as “liberation day.” He has gone on record saying that his plan for reciprocal tariffs will target all countries. Investors remain concerned about a resultant economic slowdown.
Regardless of market conditions, we, here at Zacks, provide investors with unbiased guidance on how to beat the market.
As usual, Zacks Research guided investors over the past three months with its time-tested methodologies. Given the prevailing market uncertainty, you may want to look at our feats to prepare better for your next action.
Here are some of our key achievements:
Shares of Gray Media, Inc. GTN have gained 16.8% (versus the S&P 500’s 6.5% decrease) since it was upgraded to a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) on February 4.
Another stock, Katapult Holdings, Inc. KPLT, which was also upgraded to a Zacks Rank #1 on February 5, has returned 12.8% (versus the S&P 500’s 7.1% decrease) since then.
A hypothetical portfolio of Zacks Rank # 1 (Strong Buy) stocks returned -3.48% in January 2025 (through February 3rd) vs. -0.60% for the S&P 500 index and -2.75% for the equal-weight version of the index
This portfolio returned +22.3% in 2024, vs. +28% for the S&P 500 index and +19.9% for the equal-weight version of the S&P 500 index.
This hypothetical portfolio returned +20.63% in 2023 vs. +24.83% for the S&P 500 index and +15% for the equal-weight S&P 500 index.
The portfolio of Zacks Rank #1 stocks is an equal-weight portfolio, while the S&P 500 index is a market-cap-weighted index that has been notably distorted by the concentrated performance of mega-cap stocks since late 2022.
The Zacks Model Portfolio - consisting of Zacks Rank #1 stocks – has outperformed the S&P index by almost 13 percentage points since 1988 (through the end of January 2025, the Zacks # 1 Rank stocks generated an annualized average return of +23.9% since 1988 vs. +11.3% for the S&P 500 index).
You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks Rank #1 stocks here >>>
Check Gray Media’s historical EPS and Sales here>>>
Check Katapult’s historical EPS and Sales here>>>
Shares of Root, Inc. ROOT and Okta, Inc. OKTA have advanced 28.1% (versus the S&P 500’s 7.1% fall) and 11.7% (versus the S&P 500’s 7.1% fall) since their Zacks Recommendation was upgraded to Outperform on February 5 and February 3, respectively.
While the Zacks Rank is our short-term rating system that is most effective over the one- to three-month holding horizon, the Zacks Recommendation aims to predict performance over the next 6 to 12 months. However, just like the Zacks Rank, the foundation for the Zacks Recommendation is trends in earnings estimate revisions.
The Zacks Recommendation classifies stocks into three groups — Outperform, Neutral and Underperform. While these recommendations are determined quantitatively, our analysts have the flexibility to override them for the 1100+ stocks they closely follow based on their better judgment of factors such as valuation, industry conditions and management effectiveness than the quantitative model.
To access our research reports with Zacks Recommendations for the 1100+ stocks we cover, click here>>>
Shares of Sea Limited SE, which belongs to the Zacks Focus List, have gained 23% over the past 12 weeks. The stock was added to the Focus List on March 26, 2020. Another Focus-List holding, Rollins, Inc. ROL, which was added to the portfolio on January 7, 2019, has returned 16.6% over the past 12 weeks. The S&P 500 has declined 4.6% over this period.
The Focus List portfolio returned +0.87% this year through the end of February 2025 vs. +1.44% for the S&P 500 index and +2.87% for the equal-weight version of the index.
The 50-stock Zacks Focus List portfolio returned +18.41% in 2024 vs. +25.04% for the S&P 500 index and +13% for the equal-weight S&P 500 index. The portfolio had returned +29.54% in 2023 vs. +26.28% for the S&P 500 index and +13.61% for the equal-weight S&P 500 index. In 2022, the portfolio returned -15.2% vs. the S&P 500 index’s -17.96%.
Since 2004, the Focus List portfolio has produced an annualized return of +11.63% (through the end of February 2025). This compares to a +10.37% annualized return for the S&P 500 index and +10.09% for the equal-weight version of the index in the same time period.
Unlock all of our powerful research, tools and analysis, including the Focus List, Zacks #1 Rank List, Equity Research Reports, Zacks Earnings ESP Filter, Premium Screener and more, as part of Zacks Premium. Gain full access now >>
Cencora, Inc. COR, a component of our Earnings Certain Admiral Portfolio (ECAP), has jumped 23.8% over the past 12 weeks. Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. CHKP has followed Cencora with 22.1% returns.
The Zacks Earnings Certain Admiral Portfolio (ECAP), which consists of 30 concentrated, ultra-defensive, long-term Buy-and-Hold stocks, returned -6.29% in December 2024 vs. the S&P 500 index’s -2.41% return (SPY ETF).
For the year 2024, the portfolio returned +16.26% vs. +24.89% for the S&P 500 index (SPY ETF).
In 2023, the portfolio returned +12.17% vs. +26.28% for the S&P 500 index. The portfolio returned -4.7% in 2022 vs. the S&P 500 index’s -17.96%.
With little to no turnover and annual rebalance periodicity, ECAP seeks to minimize capital loss by holding shares of companies whose earnings streams exhibit a proven 20+ year track record of surviving recessionary periods with minimal impact on aggregate earnings growth relative to the overall S&P 500.
The ECAP and many other model portfolios are available as part of Zacks Advisor Tools, a cloud-based solution to access Zacks award-winning stock, mutual fund and ETF research. Click here to schedule a demo.
Amgen Inc. AMGN, which is part of our Earnings Certain Dividend Portfolio (ECDP), has returned 19.5% over the past 12 weeks. Another ECDP stock, American Tower Corporation AMT, has climbed 18.6% over the same time frame. Of course, the inclination of investors toward quality dividend stocks to secure an income stream amid heightened market volatility contributed to this performance.
Check Amgen's dividend history here>>>
Check American Tower's dividend history here>>>
With an extremely low beta and a history of minimum earnings variability over the last 20+ years, this 25-stock portfolio helps significantly mitigate risk.
The Zacks Earnings Certain Dividend Portfolio (ECDP) returned -7.44% in December 2024 vs. the S&P 500 index’s -2.41% pullback and the Dividend Aristocrats ETF’s (NOBL) -6.72% decline.
For the full-year 2024, the portfolio returned +6.95% vs. +24.89% for the S&P 500 index and +6.72% for NOBL.
The portfolio returned -0.9% in 2023 vs. +26.28% for the S&P 500 index and +8.11% for NOBL. The portfolio returned -2.3% in 2022 vs. -17.96% for the S&P 500 index and -8.34% for NOBL.
Click here to access this portfolio on Zacks Advisor Tools.
Stride, Inc. LRN, from the Zacks Top 10 Stocks for 2025, has jumped 21.7% year to date against the S&P 500 Index’s 4.6% decrease.
The Top 10 portfolio returned -2.37% this year (through February 2025) vs. +1.44% for the S&P 500 index and +2.87% for the equal-weight version of the index.
The Top 10 portfolio returned +62.98% in 2024, vs. +25.04% for the S&P 500 index and +13% for the equal-weight version of the index. The portfolio had returned +25.15% in 2023 vs. +26.28% for the S&P 500 index.
Since 2012, the Top 10 portfolio has produced a cumulative return of +1948.35% through the end of February 2025 vs. +469.98% for the S&P 500 index and +364.63% for the equal-weight version of the index. The portfolio has produced an average return of +25.29% in the period 2012 through the end of February 2025, vs. +12.47% for the S&P 500 index and +10.32% for the equal-weight version of the index.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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