Investors are being bombarded with daily news on tariffs, a trade war with China, government spending cuts and more all leading to a recession. And to call April a month of high volatility would be a severe understatement. But at the end of the day, the economy and the public are going to have to find a way to move on with life. Most of us will still have to eat and drink, purchase consumer goods, go places, pay our bills, and even cover rent or mortgages. Wall Street has been busy cutting price targets now that the old highs feel less attainable — but that is not the case for every single stock.
Oggonomics has been tracking stocks that might offer “anti-tariff” and “recession-proof” investment characteristics. Admittedly, there is almost no place to hide when the broad market is melting down or if there are liquidity shocks. And investors should know by now that there are no such thing as risk-free stocks and sectors. Still, some stocks may have priced in even worse than what may be the real downside scenario. Some stocks have even fallen close to their 2020 lows during the pandemic.
There are multiple analyst reports pointing out how tariffs will impact companies, sectors and even the economy as a whole. And many analysts are cutting expectations with rising risks that a trade war with China and other trading partners will send the U.S. into a recession. Even with all those risks, some analyst calls are identifying the companies and sectors that may represent incredible buying opportunities even if the market may be weak for a day, a week or longer.
The daily research flow from April 16 (2025) included more than 10 stocks where Wall Street is telling investors to buy after the market mayhem of March and April. This is all regardless of the those risks stemming from tariffs, a trade war and even all the rising recession risks. In order to be highlighted in a screen of this nature several criteria had to be seen:
- the stocks had to be given new or reiterated “Buy/Outperform” ratings;
- new price targets had to be set handily above the current price, or the prior price targets had to be raised even higher;
- the stocks had to have sold off handily or had to offer defensive investing characteristics;
- and stocks with “maintained” Buy/Outperform ratings with price target cuts were excluded.
Oggonomics always like to remind its readers that no single analyst report should ever be the sole basis for buying or selling a stock. Analysts can be wrong and, as seen recently, sometimes fundamentals can change in the blink of an eye. And investors should always consider that no analyst report from Wall Street ever comes with a guarantee that those higher price targets will ever be hit. Even the most bullish report in the world doesn’t assure investors that there won’t be losses.
Here are 15 stocks that analysts are telling their clients to buy on April 16 despite all of the ongoing market concerns and volatility.
Boston Scientific Corp. (NYSE: BSX) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $113 price target at Needham & Co. after the pullback in the stock is offering an attractive valuation and entry point. The firm noted that the latest electrophysiologist survey indicates that the threat of pulsed field ablation competition now appears to be less severe than investors previously thought. Needham also noted that the two recent acquisitions of Bolt Medical and SoniVie will bring new growth in the current year and in future years. Boston Scientific shares closed at $94.23 ahead of the call with a 52-week range of $66.80 to $107.17.
Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. (NASDAQ: GO) was raised to Buy from Hold and its price target was raised to $18 from $13 at Jefferies, up from a prior $13.90 closing price. Its 52-week range is $10.26 to $27.64. This stock was trading at $16 to $17for most of January and February before it was briefly slammed all the way down to $11.50 before its shares recovered much of the losses in the last month or so. The retailer of consumables and fresh products may have some protection that its food and merchandise at “bargain prices” is probably going to stay in demand as long as people keeping needing the same things they have always needed.
Keurig Dr. Pepper Inc. (NASDAQ: KDP) was initiated with a Buy rating and $40 price target at Argus. At $35.39 ahead of the call, KDP has a 52-week range of $30.12 to $38.28. This stock has proven to be defensive (trading right at 2025 highs) with its line of soft drinks. And if consumers are pinched, they may turn to using more K-Cups at home and work rather than paying $3.50 to $5.00 for a plain cup of coffee and then being asked to tip 22% on the credit card payment device at stores.
Mr. Cooper Group Inc. (NASDAQ: COOP) was reiterated at Buy at UBS and the firm raised its price target to $145 from $135 in the call. Mr. Cooper closed at $114.39 ahead of the call and its 52-week range is $75.28 to $137.60. What’s interesting here is that Mr. Cooper operates as a non-bank servicer of residential mortgage loans in the United States with loan servicing and loan origination segments.
Northrop Grumman Corp. (NYSE: NOC) was reiterated and as Buy and was named the analyst’s top pick in the defense sector at Morgan Stanley, with the firm raising its price target to $625 from $580. The company is believed to be safe from DOGE spending cuts for the maker of the stealth bomber. Northrop is also expected to win more orders from Europe as the nations have to spend more on defense. It was also listed as the only defense stock that is actually higher since the November 5 elections. Morgan Stanley also upgraded Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE: LMT) to Overweight from Equal-Weight and raised its price target to $575 from $525.
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Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE: PM) has proven to be a truly defensive stock as the tobacco industry is supposed to be. Even with its shares at $160.09 and just under its 52-week high, Citigroup reiterated its Buy rating and raised its price target to $180 from $163 in the call. It also pays a 3.3% yield based on current payouts.
Select Medical Holdings Corporation (NYSE: SEM) was initiated with an Outperform rating and was assigned a $25 price target by Mizuho. At $16.30, its 52-week range is $14.14 to $22.08. The firm sees Select Medical as an attractive long-term opportunity for investors based on its leading position in the post-acute continuum of care operations. Mizuho sees strong growth, improving leverage and attractive valuations driving the cart toad a strong earnings situation. Its inpatient rehabilitation expansion is also a driver. Apparently operating critical illness recovery hospitals, rehabilitation hospitals and outpatient rehabilitation clinics may not be live targets in a trade war and may have at least some support even in a recession.
Sportradar Group AG (NASDAQ: SRAD) is a sports betting technology and sports data services provider. Maybe there are no tariffs on sports and betting. This stock was reiterated as Buy and its price target was raised to $30 from $26 at Benchmark, up from a prior $23.32 close. Sportradar was also added to Benchmark’s EDM Top Ideas list with an impressive product suite, strong global demand, a durable revenue model, scalable infrastructure all pointing to an accelerating value for investors. Its stock was hitting 52-week highs of $24.00 after the call.
Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: WTS) apparently has plenty of U.S. infrastructure ahead of it whether tariffs hit or not. At least that’s what up upgrade from Stifel would suggest. Watt Water Technologies was raised to Buy from Hold and its price target was raised to $229 from $219 at Stifel, up from a prior $198.29 closing price.
KEYBANC CAPITAL MARKETS
Several calls had come out of KeyBanc Capital Markets that were positive as well. These were in lesser-known names, but here are those calls:
- AbCellera Biologics Inc. (NASDAQ: ABCL) was reiterated at Overweight with price target raised to $5 from $4 at KeyBanc Capital Markets. Abcellera closed at $2.43. with a 52-week range of $1.89 to $4.34.
- Absci Corporation (NASDAQ: ABSI) was reiterated at Overweight with price target raised to $9 from $5 at KeyBanc Capital Markets. Absci closed at $3.12 and its 52-week range is $2.01 to $6.33.
- Certara, Inc. (NASDAQ: CERT) was reiterated at Overweight and its price target was raised to $18 from $15 at KeyBanc Capital Markets. It closed at $13.88 ahead of the call.
- Schrodinger, Inc. (NASDAQ: SDGR) was reiterated as Overweight with a price target hike to $32 from $30 at KeyBanc Capital Markets, up from a prior $25.60 close.
- Simulations Plus, Inc. (NASDAQ: SLP) was reiterated as Overweight and its price target raised to $40 from $32 at KeyBanc Capital Markets, up from a prior $32.81 close.
