Stock market today: S&P 500 drops for fifth day as focus shifts to Powell’s speech
Investing.com -- Stock pickers might be surprised to learn that, despite the continued above-average market performance in 2025, only 28% of S&P 500 stocks have outperformed the index’s 17.2% 1-year total return—meaning over 70% of stocks lagged behind the benchmark.
That’s a counterintuitive statistic in a year when the index itself surged, highlighting just how concentrated the gains have been on the Mag 7, excluding Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA).
But does that mean investors have no other option but to stick with the bigger names? Most certainly not.
On the contrary, it highlights the sheer importance of spotting the financially solid names as opposed to chasing where the hype is.
In a market where everyone, from professional investors to retail, is growing more sophisticated with the use of big-data modeling and cutting-edge AI processing for stock markets, those looking for above-average returns simply cannot afford to trade blindly.
This is where those following our AI-powered list of stock picks (available for less than $9 a month now during our Summer Sale) have been getting significant leverage in the market.
In fact, after another market-beating month in July, InvestingPro members following our list of tech picks are now up 113.50% since the official launch of our AI-powered models. That represents an eye-popping 74.71% outperformance over the benchmark index.
*Those are real-world results recorded since launch in November 2023.
Not only that, but attesting to the sheer relevance of the investment-grade models used for picking the stocks for the list, here’s the complete stat of our AI’s performance globally in 2025:
- The overall hit rate of the strategies stands at an impressive 97.22%
- 24 strategies posted gains of over 10%
- 10 strategies exceeded 20% returns YTD
- 28 strategies (77.78%) outperformed their benchmark indices by an average margin of +7.93%
- The eight underperformers lagged their benchmarks by just -3.98% on average
- The top-performing strategy achieved a remarkable +47.56% return
Those numbers were buoyed by timely calls on the following stocks in July:
- Medpace Holdings (NASDAQ:MEDP): +39.51% in July ALONE.
- IQVIA Holdings (NYSE:IQV): +19.64% in July ALONE.
- DN Automotive Corp (KS:007340) (Korea): +30.62% in July ALONE.
- Dap Gayrimenkul Gelistirme AS (IS:DAPGM) AS (Turkey): +46.63% in July ALONE.
- Girisim Elektrik Taahhut (IS:GESAN) Ticaret Sanayi AS (Turkey): +21.13% in July ALONE.
- Bilfinger SE O.N. (ETR:GBFG) (Germany): +20.66% in July ALONE.
- Thyssenkrupp AG ADR (OTC:TKAMY) (ETR:TKAG) (Germany): +19.90% in July; +198.55% since first picked in January this year.
But here’s the good news: You don’t need to worry if you missed those picks. A new list of picks for August is on its way, available to InvestingPro members on the first of the month on this link.
Still not a member? Then here’s your chance to subscribe for as little as $9 a month for a limited time only, as part of our exclusive summer sale, and receive the picks as they hit the market.
Our AI also explains the rationale behind its picks, so you can make sure those align with your goals and risk-return expectations. See below why it decided to pick Medpace Holdings BEFORE it rallied nearly 40% in July:
Be sure to check out the list for August to see if Medplace will be held or removed.
But how does the AI stock picker actually work?
At the start of each month, our AI refreshes each strategy with up to 20 stock picks. These selections are based on a blend of more than 150 well-established financial models compiled by our machine learning model on over 15 years of financial data worldwide.
Some stocks are added, others retained, and a few are removed, reflecting how the model reassesses each company’s medium-term growth potential.
To track performance, each strategy uses equal weighting across all selected stocks. While you’re not required to follow that weighting exactly, it offers a consistent benchmark to evaluate how well the model identifies opportunities across the board.
At the end of the day, stock picking is still a game of probabilities. But the key isn’t just finding winners — it’s knowing when to move on from the ones that no longer stack up.
Since launch, the model has done just that — delivering more than a few standout success stories along the way.
As a matter of fact, our backtest suggests that going the long run is the surest path to long-term wealth generation.
Check out the 12-year outperformance of Tech Titans over the S&P 500 below:
This means a $100K principal in our strategy would have turned into an eye-popping $2,420,100.
Now is the perfect time to subscribe to InvestingPro and get up to 50% off amid the summer sale.