Where Analysts Think Bitcoin is Headed in 2025

28 minutes ago

Bitcoin (BTCUSD) had a strong 2024, surpassing numerous price milestones, including $100,000, as a confluence of factors boosted investor confidence in the leading cryptocurrency.

This year’s surge began with the demand associated with Bitcoin spot exchange traded funds (ETF) which began trading in January, followed by a reduction in half this limited supply of new bitcoins, then the hope of crypto-supportive policies after Donald Trump’s re-election, seemingly reinforced by several of his post-election appointments.

While the Federal Reserve’s latest projections for interest rate cuts next year have shaken crypto markets, some of the aforementioned reasons for optimism remain relevant. However, if the Fed slows its rate-cutting campaign, experts say, Treasury yields could remain high, changing. investors are moving away from bitcoin and other risky assets.

Read here on why some analysts are still bullish on bitcoin, but warn of upcoming volatility.

–Kyle Torpey

Apple preparing for ‘golden era of growth,’ analyst says

1 h 53 min ago

Wedbush analysts led by Dan Ives, long at Apple (AAPL) bulltold customers in a note on Thursday that the iPhone maker could be headed for a “golden age of growth” in 2025, driven by demand for artificial intelligence (AI).

Analysts increased their price target for Apple stock from $25 to $325 and maintained an “outperform” rating, anticipating an AI-driven, multi-year iPhone upgrade cycle that ” is always underestimated by the street.

That’s much higher than the average analyst price target set by Visible Alpha, at around $244. Just over half or nine of the 15 analysts surveyed hold “buy” or equivalent ratings for the stock, with four “hold” and two “sell” ratings.

Apple shares were up slightly at midday after hitting a new all-time high of just over $260.

Wedbush’s target increase comes as the company projects that Apple could sell more than 240 million iPhones in fiscal 2025, “as this AI-driven upgrade cycle is coming together and this will be the highest iPhone unit sales year in Apple history.”

Apple shares have gained more than a third of their value since the start of the year, as the company’s stock market capitalization is approaching $4 trillion. The stock has outperformed the S&P 500 in 2024. (See chart above)

Wedbush expects that Apple could soon reach that $4 trillion threshold, which would make it the first company in the world to do so. Currently, there are only three companies with market capitalizations exceeding $3 trillion, including Apple, Nvidia (NVDA) and Microsoft (MSFT).

–Bill McColl

GameStop rises after Roaring Kitty’s Christmas message

3 hours 30 minutes ago

Did Roaring Kitty Give Meme Stock Traders a Christmas Present? Although it is unclear at this time, GameStop (GME) fans are doing a little shopping themselves this morning.

Shares of retailer associated with Keith »Roaring kitten» Gill, who for many is the first person that comes to mind when the company introduces himself, was up in early trading Thursday.

The gains, modest but noticeable at around 4%, follow a Wednesday tweet from his – although also seasonal: an image of a wrapped gift box.

Does that mean he got something nice? Do you have something to give? Do you like well-packaged boxes? Predictably, people are wondering and watching, with the post recently being viewed some 4 million times, according to X, with thousands of replies, retweets and likes.

The company’s shares, meanwhile, are up nearly 80% in 2024, albeit below prices seen at peaks. largely inspired by Gill earlier this year. GameStop reported its latest quarterly results earlier this month, leading to lower sales and move to net profit.

–David Marino-Nachison

Major indices overlap multi-day winning streaks

4 hours 36 minutes ago

Heading into Thursday’s trading session, the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished higher for four straight sessions, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite advanced for three straight days.

With its gains so far this week, the S&P 500 has moved into positive territory for the month. The Nasdaq is also up for the month, while the Dow Jones is on track to end December with losses.

For the year, the Nasdaq is up 33.4%, while the S&P 500 and the Dow have gained 26.6% and 14.9%, respectively.

Futures indicate lower open for major indexes

5 hours 50 minutes ago

Futures contracts tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.3%.

S&P 500 futures were also down 0.3%.

Nasdaq 100 futures slipped 0.4%.