The 10 most exciting names of the summer and one more on the verge of a breakout
(This is The Best Stocks in the Market , brought to you by Josh Brown and Sean Russo of Ritholtz Wealth Management.) Josh — With the first half of the year wrapping up, Sean and I are taking a look at the best stocks on our Best Stocks in the Market list so far this summer. We’re using June 1st as the starting point to show you the names people have been most excited about on our list. The first thing that jumped out at me was the breadth of sector dispersion among the top ten Best Stocks this month. It’s not concentrated to any one or two sectors, it’s all over the map. This is what you want to see in a bull market, of course, because it indicates a bull that’s being driven by multiple forces and not a singular theme, like rates falling or AI spending. Coinbase (COIN) , Oracle (ORCL) , Robinhood (HOOD) , Vistra (VST) and Roblox (RBLX) are your top five. That’s two from financial services, one from information technology, one utility, and one from communications services. Over the past month, these stocks are up between 21% and 42% with billions in market cap gains for all of them. Coinbase has added $27 billion in value since the start of the month while Robinhood has added $22 billion, putting both companies higher in the Financial sector’s overall weighting. Within the top 10 are Royal Caribbean (RCL) which is benefiting from the twin tailwinds of lower energy prices and a resilient consumer, and Cloudflare (NET) , a data center play. Then there’s Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) , an HVAC giant I introduced the audience to on the Halftime Report back in December for the first time. Last but not certainly not least is KLAC and NVDA , two semiconductor giants, with NVDA nearing a $4 trillion market cap. Additionally, Hilton (HLT) hit our list last week. We just saw a golden cross happen as the stock climbs out of its April “Liberation Day” lows. The stock was in a 24% drawdown and is now back to within 4% of a 52-week high. Welcome to the list, Hilton. Sector Leaderboard As of 6/30/2025, there are 120 names on The Best Stocks in the Market list. Top Sector Ranking: Sean — June 2025 was a standout month for the U.S. stock market, with the S & P 500 and Nasdaq both closing at record highs amid renewed optimism around AI and easing geopolitical tensions. Tech stocks led the charge, with names like Nvidia and Oracle driving performance, helping the broader market shrug off lingering concerns about inflation and trade policy. Industrials and tech take up the lion’s share of our list at a combined 40% exposure out of all 11 sectors: Top Industries: Software, Capital Markets, and Aerospace and Defense have been the strongest industries for the first half of 2025: Crypto was another theme within our list that had a great June. COIN was the best performing stock on our list for the month of June, up a total of 42%. Robinhood, a capital markets stock but one that earns a massive amount of revenue due to crypto trading, was the 2nd best performer on our list for the month of June, up 41.6%. In Q1 2025, HOOD reported $252 million in crypto trading revenue, which was up 100% year-over-year. That same quarter, its total transaction-based revenue amounted to $583 million, meaning approximately 43% came from crypto alone. Hotels, restaurants and leisure is another interesting industry to point out. Within the leisure, lodging, and travel service industries in the S & P 500, every stock is above its 50-day moving average, and all but one stock is above its 200-day moving average ( Norwegian Cruise Line is below that level). The median RSI for an S & P 500 stock in these industry groups is 66, higher than the median reading of 55 for the S & P 500. Top 5 Best Stocks by Relative Strength: New Addition: Hilton (HLT) Sean — Hilton (added to list on June 27) is benefiting from multiple tailwinds heading into the back half of 2025. Business travel demand has rebounded strongly, with corporate bookings and group events coming back online. At the same time, Hilton’s diversified brand portfolio of affordable to ultra luxury positions it well to capture an evolving consumer during times of heightened macro uncertainty. HLT’s earnings report last quarter was a strong one: Q1 2025 saw 6% adjusted EBITDA growth, $300 million in net income, a 7% pipeline increase and $927 million returned to shareholders. Full-year guidance projects up to $1.75 billion in net income and $3.3 billion in capital returned to shareholders. (data via Quartr.) Last week we saw a golden cross – which is the 50-day moving average cross through and above the 200 day moving average, which is a bullish formation. The stock is breaking above some recent congestion and deserves a spot on your watchlist from here. Risk management Josh here — Hilton is a potential breakout, not a breakout in progress. Pure technicians would wait to see how it handles a retest of the old highs from February in the low $270s. For investors, if you’re going to pull the trigger early in anticipation, I like $240 as a line in the sand, just below the rising 200-day. Update each week as the closing prices come in. DISCLOSURES: (None) All opinions expressed by the CNBC Pro contributors are solely their opinions and do not reflect the opinions of CNBC, NBC UNIVERSAL, their parent company or affiliates, and may have been previously disseminated by them on television, radio, internet or another medium. THE ABOVE CONTENT IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY . 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