The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights Sprouts Farmers Market, Royal Gold, Thomson Reuters, Woodward and Exelixis

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – June 25, 2025 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Sprouts Farmers Market Inc. SFM, Royal Gold Inc. RGLD, Thomson Reuters Corp. TRI, Woodward Inc. WWD and Exelixis Inc. EXEL.

Here are highlights from Tuesday’s Analyst Blog:

Buy 5 High-Flying Non-Tech Nasdaq Stocks for 2H of 2025

U.S. stock markets have suffered a setback in 2025 after the artificial intelligence (AI)-driven astonishing bull run of 2023 and 2024. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite witnessed an astonishing rally of 43.4% and 28.6%, respectively, in 2023 and 2024. However, with just a week of trading left to close the first half of 2025, the tech-laden Nasdaq Composite is up just 0.9% year to date.

Despite the index’s poor performance, several large-cap non-tech stocks listed on the Nasdaq Composite have skyrocketed year to date. A handful of these stocks currently carry a favorable Zacks Rank with more than 20% returns year to date. At this juncture, investing in these stocks should prove fruitful.

We recommend five such stocks, namely, Sprouts Farmers Market Inc., Royal Gold Inc., Thomson Reuters Corp., Woodward Inc. and Exelixis Inc. Each of our picks carries either a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or 2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Sprouts Farmers Market

Zacks Rank #1 Sprouts Farmers’ focus on product innovation, e-commerce, expansion of private label offerings and targeted marketing with everyday great pricing bodes well. SFM has been lowering operational complexity, optimizing production, improving in-stock position and updating to smaller-format stores. These efforts helped SFM post better-than-expected fourth-quarter 2024 results, wherein both top and bottom lines grew year over year.

Buoyed by the performance, Sprouts Farmers provided a decent 2025 view. SFM expects net sales to rise between 10.5% and 12.5% with comps anticipated to increase in the range of 4.5-6.5%. SFM’s strong sales growth, margin expansion and disciplined financial management position it as a compelling investment opportunity.

Sprouts Farmers has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 13.7% and 35.5%, respectively, for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 9% over the last 60 days.

Royal Gold

Zacks Rank #1 has been benefiting from its solid streaming agreements. RGLD maintains a strong balance sheet, which is likely to drive growth in the upcoming quarters. RGLD is focused on allocating its strong cash flow to dividends, debt reduction and new businesses.

Gold prices are currently hovering around $3,400 per ounce as U.S. tariff policies and heightened geopolitical conflicts in the Middle-East continue to drive safe-haven demand. Silver has also gained on the back of the recent expansion seen in the U.S. manufacturing sector. This rise in metal prices will boost RGLD’s results in the coming quarters.

Royal Gold has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 24.1% and 35.9%, respectively, for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 0.6% over the last 30 days.

Thomson Reuters

Zacks Rank #2 Thomson Reuters operates as a content and technology company in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. TRI operates through five segments: Legal Professionals, Corporates, Tax and Accounting Professionals, Reuters News, and Global Print.

TRI is a leading provider of value-added information and technology to users in the fields of law, tax, accounting, financial services, higher education, reference information, corporate training and assessment, scientific research and healthcare.

Thomson Reuters has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 3.2% and 4.2%, respectively, for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 1.3% over the last 60 days.

Woodward

Zacks Rank #2 Woodward has been benefiting from strength in the Aerospace and Core Industrial (power generation, oil & gas, and marine transportation) units. Aerospace is riding on strong defense demand and a robust commercial after-market, partially offset by softer commercial OEM (owing to Boeing work stoppage) and defense after-market sales.

A rise in smart defense spending is expected to drive defense OEM sales of WWD. Confident of navigating tariffs and current market conditions, WWD raised the lower end of its sales and earnings guidance and reaffirmed its full-year outlook for other metrics.

WWD’s Industrial business segment has been gaining from solid demand for power generation and continued requirement for primary and backup power for data centers. Higher investment in gas-powered generation to support grid stability is another tailwind.

Woodward has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 3.7% and 2.1%, respectively, for the current year (ending September 2025). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 0.3% over the last 30 days.

Exelixis

Zacks Rank #2 Exelixis reported better-than-expected first-quarter 2025 results. EXEL’s lead drug, Cabometyx, continues to be the leading tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) for the treatment of renal cell carcinoma (RCC). The drug's use in combination with Opdivo in the first-line setting is driving demand.

EXEL also raised its annual sales guidance based on strong demand for the drug in the first quarter. The recent label expansion of the drug in pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors should boost its sales. The pipeline progress has been impressive as EXEL looks to expand its oncology portfolio beyond Cabometyx.

Exelixis has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 7.4% and 30.5%, respectively, for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 1.6% over the last 30 days.

Why Haven't You Looked at Zacks' Top Stocks?

Since 2000, our top stock-picking strategies have blown away the S&P's +7.7% average gain per year. Amazingly, they soared with average gains of +48.4%, +50.2% and +56.7% per year.

Today you can access their live picks without cost or obligation.

See Stocks Free >>

Zacks Investment Research

800-767-3771 ext. 9339

[email protected]

https://www.zacks.com

Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

Zacks Investment Research