The CBOE Market Volatility Index (VIX) shot to its highest level in 2025 on March 4 as the Trump administration tariffs went into effect. The VIX is colloquially known by traders as the “fear index,” and it loosely reminds investors of Warren Buffett’s adage to “be fearful when others are greedy and to be greedy when others are fearful.”
If you follow Mr. Buffett’s advice, then now may be an attractive time to buy stocks. However, a value investor like Buffett would be the first to say that getting greedy with stocks doesn’t mean being reckless.
Many of the technology stocks that were the best performers in 2023 and 2024 are still good choices for long-term investors, but they may not be the best choices if you’re looking to start a position in 2025. With that in mind, here are three stocks with catalysts that make them the rising stars in 2025.
AI Is Likely to Keep Momentum Strong in FFIV Stock
[content-module:CompanyOverview|NASDAQ:FFIV]Some investors may know F5 Inc. (NASDAQ: FFIV) as a cybersecurity company. However, the company is also known for providing distributed cloud services, networking, and application management solutions. In January, the company delivered its quarterly earnings with a beat on the top and bottom lines. And 72% of the company’s recurring revenue came from subscriptions, SaaS (software-as-a-service), managed services, and maintenance.
More importantly, it raised its guidance for both the current quarter and for the full year. A key to that growth will be the company’s BIG-IP Next Cloud-native Network Functions (CNFs), which will help companies meet the demands of on-device AI (i.e., the edge). The CNFs are deployed on NVIDIA Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA) BlueField-3 data processing units (DPUs) and expand the company’s partnership with the tech giant.
Before falling back in February, FFIV stock was one of the top performers in the last 12 months. Even with the drop, the stock is up 49% in 2025, and analysts continue to raise their price targets.
Nuclear Energy Is Only One Part of Constellation Energy’s Story
[content-module:CompanyOverview|NASDAQ:CEG]Constellation Energy Corp. (NASDAQ: CEG) shot higher in September 2024 as Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) announced a partnership with the company to restart the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania. The stock continued to surge in 2025 as investors got carried away by all things nuclear energy.
That story has legs, but it’s a long-term play. It will be years, for example, before the Three Mile Island plant is back in operation. But even a regulated utility like Constellation has value for investors in 2025. To begin with, electric demand is expected to increase for the rest of the decade. This isn’t simply about data centers; the nation’s entire electric grid needs updating.
Beyond electricity, Constellation has natural gas, hydroelectric, nuclear, wind, and solar operations. This diversified portfolio should set a high floor for the stock, which appears to have made a double-bottom pattern in December 2024.
Despite a 27% gain in the last 12 months, analysts maintain a Moderate Buy rating on CEG stock. Their consensus price target is $293.43, which is an additional 27% higher than its closing price on March 5, 2025.
CrowdStrike Is Recovering From a High-Profile Failure
[content-module:CompanyOverview|NASDAQ:CRWD]When a cybersecurity company is the focus of a major incident, as CrowdStrike Inc. (NASDAQ: CRWD) was in summer 2024, it can be hard to recover. But after hitting a 52-week low in August 2024, CRWD stock is up 52%.
A key reason for the stock’s performance is two earnings reports, which have shown that the outage is “mostly in the rearview mirror” and demand for the company’s products and services remains strong.
CRWD stock has been falling since mid-February and continued to drop even after the company reported a double beat in earnings. However, CRWD stock had soared to over $400 a share in early 2025, so this is likely just a healthy pullback that long-term investors shouldn’t be too concerned about.
As evidence of that, analysts were quick to raise their price targets on CRWD stock immediately after the earnings report.
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