TipRanks ‘Perfect 10’ List: These 2 Top-Scoring Stocks Hit All the Right Buttons

While stock investing might seem straightforward – simply identify the stocks aligned with current market trends to build a winning portfolio – the reality is far more complex. The real challenge lies in the execution, where success often hinges on timing, strategy, and adaptability.

Some investors trust their intuition, others rely on past performance, and others turn to data for insights into future performance. That’s where the TipRanks Smart Score comes in: a sophisticated, AI-powered tool that gathers and collates the stock market’s vast data, putting it to work by rating every publicly traded equity.

Using natural language algorithms, the Smart Score compares each stock to a set of factors that have proven records of successfully predicting future outperformance – and it gives each stock a rating based on that analysis. The rating is a simple score, a single digit on a scale of 1 to 10, with the ‘Perfect 10’ indicating a top-scoring stock that hits all the right buttons.

That’s a strong indication that investors should watch that stock more closely – and when it’s combined with approving recommendations from the Street’s analysts, it’s a double whammy that can’t be ignored.

Against this backdrop, we’ve opened up the Smart Score platform to find two top-scoring stocks that fit this bill, featuring ‘Perfect 10’ Smart Scores alongside recent ‘Buy’ ratings from the analysts. Here are the details.

Allstate (ALL)

We’ll start in the insurance industry, where Allstate is our first ‘Perfect 10’ stock to look at. The company was founded in 1931 and today offers a full range of insurance products to customers across the US markets. The company writes and sells policies for vehicles, real properties, valuables, and businesses, and operates in both the commercial and consumer segments. The company also offers a variety of life insurance products, including term and permanent policies. Allstate generated over $57 billion in revenues in 2023, the last full year with available data.

Recent months have seen multiple catastrophic events hit the US, with the LA wildfires being one of the most recent. Last fall, Hurricanes Helene and Milton struck hard at the Southwest, and the hurricane damage in North Carolina is still not repaired. Hurricane Helene is estimated to have caused up to $250 billion worth of damage. The ongoing fires in LA have already caused as much as $135 billion in damages. While these disasters are recent, and no compensation can repair the human cost, the insurance industry will have to bear a large part of the financial hit.

To meet this challenge, Allstate can fall back on a profitable business and sound cash reserves. The company generated $16.63 billion in revenues during 3Q24, the last period reported, a figure that was up 14.7% year-over-year and beat the forecast by $940 million. The quarterly bottom line, reported as a non-GAAP EPS of $3.91, was $1.54 per share better than had been expected. And the company had cash assets on hand of $816 million. We should remember that the third quarter of the year, when Allstate achieved these results, is also the height of the Atlantic hurricane season.

This mainstay of the US insurance industry has caught the eye of Evercore analyst David Motemaden, who sees the company’s ability to regain policies in a difficult environment as a key strength.

“We now see ALL growing PIF marginally in 4Q24 driven by an increase in new apps (driven by higher ad spend & opening up more states) & normal 4Q seasonal retention improvement (but still at depressed levels). We see retention improving through ’25 as rate increases moderate. There could be further upside to retention in ’26 (we estimate 73% vs 76% in ’22), but a higher mix of Nat Gen (est ~50% retention) and direct (likely similar retention) creates some uncertainty in where retention will ultimately settle… We also see +4% upside to cons EPS that should help the stock outperform in ’25,” Motemaden stated.

Motemaden quantifies his bullish stance with an Outperform (i.e. Buy) rating on Allstate shares and a $226 price target that points toward a gain of ~20% for the stock on the one-year horizon. (To watch Motemaden’s track record, click here)

Overall, Allstate has 14 recent analyst reviews on record, including 12 Buys and 1 each Hold and Sell, culminating in a Strong Buy consensus rating. The shares are currently trading at $188.90, and their $230.50 average target price is slightly more bullish than the Evercore view, suggesting a 22% gain in the next 12 months. (See ALL stock forecast)

Nokia (NOK)

The next ‘Perfect 10’ stock we’ll look at is Nokia, a name that most of us know. While the company was once one of the world’s major designers and producers of telecom equipment, especially cell phones, it has since shifted its focus. Today, Nokia is a major player in networking and 5G scenes worldwide, providing equipment and services to support wireless network expansions, data center operations, IoT and IP networks, optical cable systems, cloud computing networks, and digital security.

Nokia’s services, particularly in connectivity, are put to use across a wide range of digital sectors, from AI applications to fiberoptic cable services. The company provides support to customers in heavy industry, government, and private enterprises, and it is a prominent equipment supplier as corporations and governments continue to roll out new 5G networks.

This Finnish-based company is hardly a newcomer to the world economy. Rather, Nokia is a proven survivor, and has succeeded in numerous industries over its 150-year-plus in business. Today, the company operates in more than 130 countries, has had more than 6000 of its patent families declared as ‘essential’ to the 5G rollout, and in 2023, the last year with full-year data currently available, the company brought in more than 22 billion Euros in net sales.

Nokia’s last quarterly report covered 3Q24. The company showed a top line of 4.33 billion Euros, a total that was down 8% year-over-year, while the 6-eurocent non-GAAP EPS was up 1 cent, or 20%, from 3Q23. Nokia will release its fourth quarter numbers – typically its strongest quarter – later this month, and the Street is expecting to see revenues above 5.7 billion Euros.

Covering Nokia for J.P. Morgan, analyst Sandeep Deshpande sees several reasons why Nokia will benefit in the coming year, among them increased 5G spending in India.

“Looking into ‘25, we expect that a small recovery in telco spending is likely due to the end of the US telco inventory correction and the next wave of 5G spending in India. Nokia should also grow in the enterprise market, e.g. the recent expansion of its relationship with Microsoft Cloud. Thus the estimates for ‘25 are beatable, particularly with the currency move in the company’s favour. Telecom equipment stocks are poorly held based on the marketing feedback we have received on our recent trips and thus we think the stock can re-rate if more investors get involved,” Deshpande opined.

Reflecting this positive outlook, Deshpande assigned Nokia an Overweight (i.e. Buy) rating, coupled with a price target of $6.35. This projection implies a potential one-year upside of ~41%. (To watch Deshpande’s track record, click here)

There are 4 recent analyst reviews on file for Nokia, and the 3 to 1 breakdown favoring Buys over Sells gives the stock a Moderate Buy consensus rating. The shares are trading for $4.51 on Wall Street, and the $5.86 average price target implies that the stock will gain ~30% in the year ahead. (See NOK stock analysis)

To find good ideas for stocks trading at attractive valuations, visit TipRanks’ Best Stocks to Buy, a tool that unites all of TipRanks’ equity insights.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the featured analysts. The content is intended to be used for informational purposes only. It is very important to do your own analysis before making any investment.