The bull market came to an abrupt halt midway through the first quarter, with the broader market losing more than 14% since its February peak. Although that's not particularly reassuring, a downbeat start to 2025 should theoretically mean that lots of stocks are on sale.
Before we get to stocks with the most upside potential based on industry analysts' average price targets, let's put our current market in perspective.
The S&P 500 is off more than 10% for the year to date through late April. That's not ideal, but it's hardly a wipeout. Note that the main benchmark for U.S. equity performance was at this price level in August.
It's also worth mentioning that the S&P 500 is up more than 6% on a price basis over the past 52 weeks.
It's understandable if this context offers little solace to jittery investors at this precarious time for equities.
After all, tariff uncertainty and rising recession odds are complicating the outlook for corporate earnings. Be that as it may, a bottom-up look at the S&P 500's constituents reveals that analysts remain bullish on scores of names despite rising macroeconomic uncertainty.
How can this be?
Cheaper valuations equal higher returns
Recall that equities were historically pricey before the stock market correction. If a stock's price falls faster than its earnings prospects, it can start to look like a bargain.
And if a stock gets slammed out of proportion to its estimated operating earnings, it can appear to be a screaming buy.
That helps explain how a total of 33 stocks in the S&P 500 have implied upside of at least 50% over the next 12 months or so, according to price target data from S&P Global Market Intelligence.
But before we get to the S&P 500 stocks that could rally the most based on price targets, a caveat is in order.
Price targets are a blunt tool when it comes to sussing out cheap stocks. Committing capital based on a single data point is not an investment process.
It's also important to note that stocks with the most upside potential don't necessarily get consensus Buy recommendations from the very same analysts whose models spit out the target prices.
With that warning out of the way, if you're looking for beaten-down stocks with the most upside potential, the names listed below aren't a bad place to start.
Data as of April 18, courtesy of S&P Global Market Intelligence.
