Kiplinger

20 Top Stock Picks the Analysts Love for 2020

The stock market smashed record after record in 2019. The S&P 500 put up nearly 30% in gains - one of the index's largest annual increases in years. That's the good news. The bad news is that has driven prices through the roof, making it even more difficult on analysts to find high-upside stock picks for 2020.

They already had their work cut out for them. Some of Wall Street's pros aren't betting on a market-wide encore in the new year, for several reasons. Volatility is widely expected as a result of America's presidential election. Economists believe U.S. economic growth will decelerate. And analysts think the pace of stock buybacks will slow.

"We believe the U.S. economy will muddle through in 2020, but expect EPS growth to disappoint," Morgan Stanley Chief Investment Officer Michael Wilson writes. "We prefer value over growth, with a slight defensive bias."

Other pros are a little more optimistic. For instance, Jonathan Golub, chief U.S. equity strategist at Credit Suisse, tells investors that better economic data is on the way, possibly lifting the S&P 500 by 10% by year's end.

With that mixed outlook in mind, here are the analysts' top stock picks for 2020. We used TipRanks' analyst-tracking data to discover the best of the bunch - stocks that have loads of upside potential from current share prices. And all of these picks have amassed so many bullish recommendations from top-performing analysts that they've earned a Strong Buy consensus rating. Read on to learn more about what makes these stocks stand out.

Adesto Technologies

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Market value: $221.8 million

TipRanks consensus price target: $12.00 (64% upside potential)

TipRanks consensus rating: Strong Buy

Adesto Technologies (IOTS, $7.33) is best known for being one of the world's top advanced semiconductor and embedded systems for internet of things (IoT) providers. Despite a 66% gain deep into 2019, some of Wall Street's top minds have Adesto among their top stock picks, saying the growth story is still heating up.

"We believe IOTS represents a differentiated investment opportunity in IoT-focused edge server, controller chips and memory products," writes Roth Capital analyst Suji Desilva, who has a Buy rating on shares. "We hosted a series of investor meetings and came away constructive on the combined company IoT platform position, as well as management's growing confidence in the go-forward growth and cash generation opportunity." His most recent move was an upgrade to his price target, from $11 per share to $13.

Like Desilva, Craig-Hallum's Anthony Stoss is optimistic about the chip stock. He tells investors that IOTS is primed for "strong" revenue and "explosive" growth in EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization - a measure of operating profits). To this end, Stoss initiated coverage with a Buy rating and $13 price target. Check out other analyst ratings and targets on TipRanks.

Amazon.com

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Market value: $885.7 billion

TipRanks consensus price target: $2,147.09

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