BTIG analysts shared their most compelling investment ideas for the next 12 months, writes CNBC. Their list included, for example, coffee chain Starbucks, with upside potential of 11%, and continuous glucose monitoring systems maker Dexcom, whose shares could add up to 30% more due to positive business momentum. US banks expect the rally to continue in the coming weeks after a record fast recovery of the US market from the April lows.

Which stocks made it to the BTIG list

- Starbucks, whose shares are up 3.5% YTD. BTIG's target price is $105 a share, about 11% above the coffee chain's closing price on Wednesday.

"While progress [in business development] has been slower to manifest than some investors expected and the stock has shown only modest growth in the first half of the year, we still believe that improvements are taking place and they will lay the foundation for significant growth in comparable sales and earnings in 2026 and beyond. The recovery trajectory is now likely to show up by the end of 2025 and the first half of next year. Yes, this is later than we expected six months ago, but we remain confident that it will be a catalyst for the stock to rise when the shift occurs," BTIG analyst Peter Saleh wrote.

- BTIG also thinks that shares of Dexcom, maker of Dexcom continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) systems, could rise 30%, CNBC writes. The company's shares are up 6.6% since the beginning of the year, although they took a hit in early July after the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services agency that administers the respective medical programs) proposed introducing competitive bidding for CGM manufacturers.

BTIG analysts said Dexcom remains their top pick among large-cap companies for the second half of the year.

"The company continues to turn around, with the positive trends that began late last year continuing into the first quarter. We believe Dexcom is on track to meet forecasts, return to sales growth rates of 15% or higher in the second half of 2025 and beyond, and meet its long-term targets," wrote analyst Marie Thibault. 

Other stocks that BTIG rated highly included mobile marketing platform AppLovin, financial corporation Capital One Financial and cloud data platform Snowflake.

Context

The first half of 2025 was marred by strong volatility due to President Donald Trump's duty policy and armed conflict in the Middle East, CNBC writes. However, the stock market has fully bounced back from the uncertainty, with the S&P 500 Index rising about 25% from its April low and hitting all-time highs three times in the past four sessions. Goldman Sachs noted that it was the index's fastest recovery since falling more than 15%.

Goldman is now optimistically estimating the market's future prospects - at least for the next few weeks. Several other banks, including Citigroup, JPMorgan, Barclays, Deutsche Bank and RBC, have also raised their market forecasts for the rest of the year.

The JPMorgan trading team expects U.S. stocks to continue rising. "We believe markets have entered a bullish phase and expect a wave of new all-time highs - especially as the budget, tax and trade deal situation becomes clearer ahead of the start of the corporate reporting season, where expectations are clearly subdued for now," the analysts said in a note that quoted CNBC.

Morgan Stanley's lead equity analyst Mike Wilson predicts that U.S. stock market growth will continue on a 6-12 month horizon. His target for the S&P 500 is 6,500 points, which implies growth of 5% from current levels. Wilson notes that forecasts for the average earnings of companies in the index have improved markedly in recent weeks as concerns about Trump's trade war and its negative impact on corporate earnings have eased.

But UBS strategists believe that risks for the rally remain. According to them, investors have not yet come out of the turbulence zone. In the second half of the year UBS expects surges in volatility, as many trade deals have not yet been concluded, and the conflict in the Middle East is held back only by a fragile truce. Bank of America's Michael Hartnett also warned that there is a growing risk of a bubble in the stock market amid a massive influx of funds into equities.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor

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