3 Value Stocks Set to Surge, With Up to 190% Upside in 2025

The relentless bull run led by high-flying growth stocks is no longer here, and 2025 has brought a significant shift in the market landscape, with the S&P 500 now in correction territory. It is still down nearly 14% from its February high, and investors are wary of further fallout from the U.S. trade policy changes.

Value stocks are now gaining favor as growth stocks have stumbled and investors are rotating into value stocks for more stability. Being aggressive with growth stocks is no longer attractive due to the specter of a recession clouding the outlook, whereas value stocks have been overlooked for the past two years and are now changing hands at discounted valuations. Not only that, these value stocks often pay solid dividends.

ICON (ICLR)

ICON (NASDAQ:ICLR) is a research company that specializes in clinical trials. It is a profitable company that has been on a consistent run for over a decade before it broke off its trajectory during the 2022 selloffs. However, it picked up again during the 2023 rally, but again fell in the latter half of 2024 due to a Q3 2024 earnings miss.

ICON again disappointed in early 2025 by issuing guidance below analyst expectations. The tariff fears and the broader market selloff didn’t help it either. Market sentiment has soured with several analyst downgrades, and price targets have been slashed. TD Cowen downgraded ICON to a Hold rating with a price target reduction from $254 to $157. Barclays and Goldman Sachs also downgraded the stock to Hold due to the softer 2025 guidance.

In addition, the recent underperformance has invited securities class action lawsuits.

This isn’t a mess many people are eager to get into, but doing so could be rewarding since the stock has been sold off so aggressively. In 2024, ICON reported revenue of $8.28 billion. This still grew almost 2% from 2023, and net income grew by 29.26% to $791.47 million despite the sluggish top line. The company also repurchased $500 million in stock in 2024.

The 2025 guidance still projects 1% at its midpoint, and the EPS forecast is flat. Paying just over 10 times forward earnings for that is quite cheap since it has aggressively bought back shares over the past few years and has a shareholder yield of 10.56%. The growth isn’t the best right now, but both the top line and the bottom line are expected to start accelerating again in 2026.

The consensus price target implies 67% upside.

PayPal (PYPL)

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) hasn’t made any big moves either up or down in years. PYPL stock started to recover in 2024, but slowing growth sent it down again, even after it reported quarterly earnings and revenue that beat Wall Street estimates. Regardless, PayPal has a history of beating headline forecasts but missing certain metrics that Wall Street pays more attention to. For its Q4 2024 earnings report, 2025 guidance fell short, which was enough to offset the beat.

The stock trades at just 15 times earnings now and is down 49% from even its pre-pandemic price. For a household name that almost every vendor accepts, it’s a steal. PYPL stock is unlikely to recover to $100 or more anytime soon due to the broader market environment, but this is a value stock with little downside risk and significant upside potential.

Management has been doing multi-billion-dollar buybacks and approved a new $15 billion stock buyback program in February 2025. In comparison, PayPal’s entire market cap right now is $60.34 billion.

The cash flow here is solid and has been proven to be sticky and resilient in the past few years. Consumer spending has remained strong, so that should also help it perform well this year.

If you’re in the bear camp and you fear a recession, this is still a great stock to buy due to all the buffer you’re getting.

The consensus price target of $86.8 implies 42.4% upside. The highest price target here is $117, and even the lowest price target at $65 implies some upside.

PDD Holdings (PDD)

PDD Holdings (NASDAQ:PDD) might be a no-go zone for many investors due to the trade war between China and the United States. This company’s access to the U.S. market is highly dependent on de minimis, which is an exemption that lets Temu bring in products below $800 tariff-free. That exemption will no longer be in place starting May 2, 2025.

Even with that in mind, PDD stock seems like a good buy. This company isn’t as reliant on the U.S. as you’d think. The majority of its revenue and profits come from China, and the domestic e-commerce market in China is by far the largest in the world. U.S. tariffs are going to sting, but considering the stock is down 24.5% in the past year, and basically flat since July 2025, it’s hard to see PDD trade much lower. It already trades at just 9 times earnings.

That’s obviously for a reason. PDD’s revenue growth slowed down sharply, and management has warned that the company’s margins will gradually trend lower due to the investments in merchant support and platform improvements. But even then, paying so low for a company that grew its revenue by 24.5% in Q4 is nothing short of great value.

The consensus price target of $166.91 implies 81.4% upside. The highest price target here is at $272 and implies over 190% upside.

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