FrançaisThe 20 best stocks of 2024 according to reliable analysts
These stocks were not cherry-picked in hindsight: they are the ones the method would have selected using only info known by end of 2023 (price targets from reliable analysts in the prior ~90 days), then held unchanged for 12 months. A true point-in-time record.
🎯 JPI Fair +5% · vs S&P 500 +23% · -18.6 pts
| # | Stock | 12-month return |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | UAL United Airlines Holdings | +135% |
| 2 | DAL Delta Air Lines | +50% |
| 3 | C Citigroup | +37% |
| 4 | ACGL Arch Capital Group | +24% |
| 5 | EQT EQT Corporation | +19% |
| 6 | CTVA Corteva | +19% |
| 7 | LUV Southwest Airlines | +16% |
| 8 | BMY Bristol Myers Squibb | +10% |
| 9 | INCY Incyte | +10% |
| 10 | HAS Hasbro | +10% |
| 11 | XOM ExxonMobil | +8% |
| 12 | LVS Las Vegas Sands | +4% |
| 13 | WBD Warner Bros. Discovery | -7% |
| 14 | ALGN Align Technology | -24% |
| 15 | HAL Halliburton | -25% |
| 16 | SLB Schlumberger | -26% |
| 17 | APTV Aptiv | -33% |
| 18 | APA APA Corporation | -36% |
| 19 | ALB Albemarle Corporation | -40% |
| 20 | MRNA Moderna | -58% |
⚡ JPI Risk + +18% · vs S&P 500 +23% · -5.4 pts
| # | Stock | 12-month return |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | UAL United Airlines Holdings | +135% |
| 2 | TPR Tapestry, Inc. | +78% |
| 3 | TSLA Tesla, Inc. | +62% |
| 4 | DAL Delta Air Lines | +50% |
| 5 | GM General Motors | +48% |
| 6 | PYPL PayPal | +39% |
| 7 | C Citigroup | +37% |
| 8 | NCLH Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings | +28% |
| 9 | LUV Southwest Airlines | +16% |
| 10 | MSFT Microsoft | +12% |
| 11 | BMY Bristol Myers Squibb | +10% |
| 12 | INCY Incyte | +10% |
| 13 | LVS Las Vegas Sands | +4% |
| 14 | MU Micron Technology | -1% |
| 15 | WBD Warner Bros. Discovery | -7% |
| 16 | PFE Pfizer | -8% |
| 17 | SLB Schlumberger | -26% |
| 18 | APTV Aptiv | -33% |
| 19 | ALB Albemarle Corporation | -40% |
| 20 | MRNA Moderna | -58% |
What if you'd kept following the method in 2025?
| Year | JPI Fair | S&P 500 |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | +5% | +23% |
| 2025 | +56% | +16% |
| 2-year cumulative (if you kept going) | +64% | +44% |
💡 The takeaway — you have to accept the average or down years and stay in the method (sell, rebuy the newly recommended names). Whoever panics after a bad year misses the rebound. Discipline > emotion.
📊 See the full 11-year backtest → 🎯 Stocks to buy today →
FAQ
What were the best stocks to buy in 2024?
Per the JPI Fair method (targets from the ≥2 most reliable analysts per sector), the 20 S&P 500 stocks selected in early 2024 returned +4.7% on average over 12 months, vs 23.3% for the index. The best was UAL (United Airlines Holdings) at +135%. See the full list above.
How were these 2024 stocks chosen?
With no hindsight: only from information known by end of 2023 (price targets from analysts with a real reliability track record on their sector), then held 12 months. A point-in-time backtest, not a hindsight pick.
Does this method actually work?
Over 11 years (2015-2025), the JPI Fair method returned +26%/yr vs +12.6% for the S&P 500 — double the market. But it's lumpy (drawdowns in 2018 and 2022) and risk-adjusted the edge is thinner. A quality signal, not a guarantee.
What is JPI Invest?
JPI Invest aggregates analyst recommendations across the entire S&P 500 (plus the S&P MidCap 400), replays them against real prices and measures who predicts best — on results, not reputation. Instead of taking a price target at face value, you see each analyst's track record on each stock.
- 🏆 Analyst leaderboard by real reliability (beating their sector, not just riding the rally)
- 🎯 What to buy: 3 backtested methods over 6 years, from cautious to aggressive
- 💬 AI assistant: ask anything about any stock, with the numbers
- 📊 Portfolio tracking + 🔔 price alerts by email
⚠️ Educational analysis, not investment advice. Point-in-time backtest on recomputed Yahoo data, universe = stocks still in the index (survivorship bias). Past performance does not predict the future.