U.S. stocks settled mostly higher on Friday, with the Dow Jones index gaining more than 300 points during the session. Key chip stocks, including Nvidia ( NVDA ) and Micron Technology ( MU ) gained during the session.

Stocks recorded sharp gains in 2025, with the S&P 500 surging 16.39% for the year, recording its third consecutive double-digit annual surge, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 20.36%. The Dow, meanwhile, added 12.97% in 2025.

Wall Street analysts make new stock picks on a daily basis. Unfortunately for investors, not all analysts have particularly impressive track records at predicting market movements. Even when it comes to one single stock, analyst ratings and price targets can vary widely, leaving investors confused about which analyst’s opinion to trust.

Benzinga’s Analyst Ratings API is a collection of the highest-quality stock ratings curated by the Benzinga news desk via direct partnerships with major sell-side banks. Benzinga displays overnight ratings changes on a daily basis three hours prior to the U.S. equity market opening. Data specialists at investment dashboard provider Toggle.ai recently uncovered that the analyst insights Benzinga Pro subscribers and Benzinga readers regularly receive can successfully be used as trading indicators to outperform the stock market.

Top Analyst Picks: Fortunately, any Benzinga reader can access the latest analyst ratings on the Analyst Stock Ratings page. One of the ways traders can sort through Benzinga’s extensive database of analyst ratings is by analyst accuracy. Here’s a look at the most recent stock picks from each of the five most accurate Wall Street analysts, according to Benzinga Analyst Stock Ratings.

Analyst: Ruben Roy

Analyst Firm: Stifel

Ratings Accuracy: 88%

Latest Rating: Maintained a Buy rating on NVIDIA Corporation ( NVDA ) with a price target of $250 on Dec. 29. This analyst sees around 32% upside in the stock.

Recent News: On Dec. 24, Nvidia ( NVDA ) announced a non-exclusive licensing agreement with AI chip startup Groq, which was founded in 2016.

Analyst: William Stein

Analyst Firm: Truist Securities

Ratings Accuracy: 86%

Latest Rating: Maintained a Hold rating on Tesla Inc ( TSLA ) and cut the price target from $444 to $439 on Jan. 2. This analyst sees around 1% downside in the stock.

Recent News: In the fourth quarter, Tesla produced 434,358 vehicles and delivered 418,227 vehicles, below the Visible Alpha delivery estimate of 434,487 units.

Analyst: Matt Bryson

Analyst Firm: Wedbush

Ratings Accuracy: 86%

Latest Rating: Downgraded rating on Tower Semiconductor Ltd. ( TSEM ) from Outperform to Neutral with a price target of $125 on Dec. 31. This analyst expects around 3% gain in the stock.

Recent News: On Nov. 12, Tower Semiconductor ( TSEM ) unveiled a new foundry path for co-packaged optics.

Analyst: Rudy Li

Analyst Firm: Chardan Capital

Ratings Accuracy: 82%

Latest Rating: Maintained a Buy rating on Centessa Pharmaceuticals PLC ( CNTA ) – ADR with a price target of $30 on Jan. 2. This analyst expects around 20% gain in the stock.

Recent News: On Dec. 11, Centessa Pharmaceuticals ( CNTA ) named Mario Alberto Accardi PhD, President and founder of Centessa’s Orexin Program, as CEO and member of the Board.

Analyst: Keith Horowitz

Analyst Firm: Citigroup

Ratings Accuracy: 80%

Latest Rating: Maintained a Buy rating on Capital One Financial Corp ( COF ) and increased the price target from $290 to $310 on Dec. 31. This analyst expects around 25% jump in the stock.

Recent News: Capital One Financial ( COF ) said it will release fourth-quarter results on Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026.

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