Five Stocks I'm Bullish On In 2025

Each is well known, presents a simple narrative, generates trading and is priced below its all-time high

• 2025 could yield opportunity in a number of market sectors.
• The S&P 500 is near all-time highs, but some well-known products are lagging behind.
• Sector diversity is important if the directional strategy is the same—in this case, being bullish.
• For 2025, I'm looking at AMD, COST, IBIT, MSFT and NFLX

Going into a new year can be one of life’s a fun and exciting times. In trading, however, it can be overwhelming when trying to pick year-long strategies or stocks. There are so many to choose from. This is especially difficult when the S&P 500 and NASDAQ are near all-time-highs—if the goal is to remain bullish. I've hand-picked five stocks that interest me for 2025, and they have a few common characteristics:

• Each product is well known in its sector and has a lot of trading activity in the stock and options market.
• Each is trading lower than the all-time high price.
• Each has a simple narrative, whether it's catching up to competitors or dealing with growing demand from the general market.

While nothing is guaranteed and risk is still involved, here are the five stocks I'm bullish on for 2025:

Advanced Micro Devices

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) is down 43% from the high price set in March of 2024. As a direct competitor to NVIDIA (NVDA), and directly entrenched in AI, AMD has a ton of potential as we saw from the big rally last year alongside NVDA.

In 2025, I'm looking for a rebound in AMD stock. While being a direct competitor to NVDA isn't an easy feat, it still brings attention to the product and company that nobody knew about a few years ago. We could see strategic shifts that are viewed favorably in the stock market, and that could boost the stock price and sentiment around AMD. It seems to be the forgotten AI child, and it has a strong options market as well, with plenty of implied volatility and premium associated with near-term contracts.

Costco

Costco (COST) has had an insane few years, rallying all the way to a recent high of $1008.25. The stock currently sits around $922, down almost 10% from the highs. I recently got my Costco card, and after one visit I no longer have a reason to go anywhere else. I was surprised by the large organic food offerings and extreme savings on nice bottles of wine. It feels like they're one step ahead of consumers who are already looking to save money at the grocery register, and the international footprint is growing rapidly.

While COST is much closer to highs, the stock price tumbled recently. If Costco can rally above $1000 and sustain a price point there, we could see a stock split announcement later in 2025. Stock splits are enticing for new investors, because it allows them to afford shares of stock where they may not have been able to before. For example, if Costco announces a 10-1 split, we'd be looking at a new stock price of around $100. Historically this move has been great for the long-term for well-known stocks, and I wouldn't be surprised to see Costco make this move soon. This could dramatically increase the options activity as well, as many more people would be able to deploy options strategies at the lower price point.

iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF

There are plenty of people I talk to daily who are interested in talking about crypto, but they're turned off by actually investing in it. While tastycrypto and tastytrade make this easy, I can see how this could be a barrier to entry for new investors. Enter the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT), at a very affordable price-point of around $55. This product is essentially a bitcoin proxy mov ing in lockstep with bitcoin price changes, and it enables traders to invest directly or trade inthat movement without needing a crypto wallet.

IBIT stock reached a recent high of $61.25, but is currently down 10% at around $55.

IBIT is particularly interesting to me because they released the options market in 2024, so strategies are endless. I will have exposure to IBIT options for the entire year in 2025, starting with a bullish leaning strangle at the 50-65 strikes.

Read more about it here.

Microsoft

Microsoft (MSFT) reached an all-time high price of $468.35 in July 2024, and currently sits 10% lower at around $424. Any Magnificent 7 stock that isn't participating with the broad market rally always catches my attention, and Microsoft is no different.

We'll see what happens in 2025, but I like targeting these stocks that haven't participated in the market rally, especially if the assumption is that the market will be higher at the end of 2025.

Netflix

Netflix (NFLX) is the final stock I'm bullish on in 2025, and it's not for price chart reasons. NFLX recently reached an all-time high of $941.75 in 2024, and currently sits just below that at $881. My bullish reasoning is completely based on the use-case for Netflix now, compared to what it could be in the future.

Like Amazon (AMZN), Netflix is now dabbling in the world of live sports. They released a few hit documentary series that followed around football stars, and had a primetime game over the holidays. They also hosted the iconic boxing match between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul, which is just another example of where Netflix could be going this year and beyond - live sporting events and live TV in general.

Right now the sentiment around subscription services is that we're paying too much, have too many subscriptions, or that it almost feels like cable again with how expensive things are getting. Imagine one big player offering binge TV on demand, with popular live TV channels that you can select to subscribe to—sounds like a win-win to me! Netflix has shown us they're willing and able to move into live TV, and if that trend continues we could see a rise in the stock price. NFLX is also near that mystical $1000 price point, which could bring on a stock split if the stock price rallies much higher than that.

And there you have it! Five stocks to keep an eye on with some bullish narratives for 2025. As always, keep risk small, and temper price opinions to help withstand variance that's inevitable in stock and options.

Mike Butler, tastylive director of market intelligence, has been in the markets and trading for a decade. He appears on Options Trading Concepts Live, airing Monday-Friday. @tradermikeyb  

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