3 Surprising Stocks That Are Trouncing the Market in 2025

Globe and Mail

01-04-2025

The first quarter is now in the books. This has been a challenging year for investors, and it's not a surprise to see most stocks in the red. Still, some investments found a way to buck the malaise. Dozens of names have even thrived.
Nearly 80 exchange-listed stocks soared at least 30% through the first three months of 2025. Some of more surprising names include Celsius Holdings (NASDAQ: CELH), Alibaba (NYSE: BABA), and FuboTV (NYSE: FUBO). Let's take a closer look at how these three long shots at the start of the year are winning big in 2025.
1. Celsius Holdings: Up 35%
Entering 2025, the maker of functional sparkling beverages had seen its once enviable energy-drink effervescence go flat, with sales shifting into reverse after three years of triple-digit revenue growth. The low point happened in the third quarter -- the last of the fresh financials that Celsius reported in the 2024 calendar year -- when year-over-year reported sales plummeted 31%.
Was Celsius just a multiyear flash in the pan? It had spent years carving out a unique space with a fitness-friendly energy beverage that helps burn fat and calories by boosting a drinker's body temperature to spur metabolism ahead of cardio activity. But in February, it managed to post better-than-expected fourth-quarter results. It also made a potentially bull thesis-reaffirming acquisition.
Celsius is buying fellow functional beverage specialist Alani Nu, in a $1.8 billion cash and stock deal that's valued closer to $1.65 billion after assuming some tax benefits. In theory, this is a smart deal, as Alani Nu is a strong and differentiated lifestyle brand addressing an incremental market opportunity. It's also growing quickly at a time when organic growth at Celsius is meandering.
The Alani Nu deal also makes sense on paper. With potential cost-saving synergies injecting growth into the acquired brand's bottom line, Celsius is picking up the female-focused Alani Nu at discounted multiples of sales and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) to its own slower growing business.
The latest opinion reversal for Celsius came on Monday, when Truist analyst Bill Chappell upgraded shares to buy, boosting his price target by $10 to $45. He's a fan of the Alani Nu deal, concluding that Celsius is a compelling value right now.
2. Alibaba: Up 56%
A bearish narrative heading into this year for Chinese stocks is that the trade war would be problematic. Tariff concerns aren't lessening, but investors are starting to see that some companies in the world's second most populous nation will hold up better than others.
Alibaba is an e-commerce giant and pioneer in China. A lot of retailers will face the sting of rising tariffs, but Alibaba isn't really one of them. It doesn't have to worry about the inflationary pressure of a trade war, since most of its goods are sourced cheaply in Asia. It also generates more than 80% of its revenue in China. There may be a hit to its much smaller AliExpress arm that services U.S. buyers, but that's not scaring away investors. Despite the stock's big jump in the first quarter of 2025, the shares are still trading for less than 15 times forward earnings.
3. Fubo: Up 132%
Another stock that the market seemed to have left for dead at the end of 2024 was Fubo. The company behind the namesake live TV streaming service was growing its subscriber base, but a lack of profitability and dim long-term prospects found it barely trading north of $1 three months ago.
Everything changed for Fubo the moment it struck a deal with Disney (NYSE: DIS) that would combine its own fledgling digital platform with Disney's larger Hulu + Live TV streaming offering. Fubo was already generating positive free cash flow, and within a year analysts saw it turning profitable. Fubo's leadership will continue to run the business, but Disney is now a 70% stakeholder. The deal isn't expected to close until early next year, but Fubo's future is suddenly a lot brighter. Even if the deal with Disney falls apart, Fubo would get a nine-figure termination fee and a lot more street cred. That goes along with a nine-figure settlement it scored earlier this year to drop its case against Disney and two other sports programming giants. A financially stronger Fubo is no longer a company the market is leaving behind.
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*Stock Advisor returns as of March 24, 2025