2024 has seen some massive stock rallies, as investor interest in themes such as AI has shown little sign of waning. As the year-end nears, CNBC Pro asked three fund managers what global stocks they are buying in the lead-up to 2025, as they attempt to get ahead of the curve. Here are five of their top picks: Novo Nordisk The Danish pharmaceutical company — behind the famed Ozempic and Wegovy weight loss drugs — is already popular with investors, with shares up almost 14% this year after rising over 50% in 2023. The firm remains a top pick for Michele Schneider, chief market strategist at Marketgauge.com. Schneider noted that a recent Gallup poll indicated that 6% of Americans, or 15.4 million people, have used GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1) injectables to lose weight. "The diet drugs have changed the foods we eat, the ways we celebrate, exercise, travel, and dress, and talk about health and beauty," she explained. "I have been on this theme since 2023, and now have it as one of my major investment themes for 2025. So far, she said, Novo Nordisk has been an "underperformer." Shares in the pharma giant are listed on Denmark's Nasdaq Copenhagen and trade as an American Depositary Receipt (ADR) in the U.S. under ticker NVO . According to FactSet data, of 32 analysts covering the stock, 21 give it a buy or overweight rating, seven have a hold rating and four have a sell or underweight rating. Their average price target is 988.93 Danish krone ($140.10), giving the stock around 25% potential upside. Rivian Automotive Elsewhere in the hotly watched electric vehicle space, Schneider is betting on Rivian Automotive . The company made headlines recently following its $5.8-billion joint venture with automaker Volkswagen . Rivian also stands to gain from a $6.6 billion conditional loan from the U.S. Department of Energy to build a production facility in Georgia. Still, Schneider has concerns that the wider EV sector will be impacted by tariffs and the removal of the tax credits given to EV purchasers by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. Shares in Rivian are down 44.6% since the start of the year. Analysts are divided on the stock, with less than half giving it a buy or overweight rating. The average price target for Rivian is $14.74, according to FactSet data, giving it potential upside of 13.4%. Midea Group Wealth manager Tariq Dennison, meanwhile, is bullish on Chinese home appliance maker Midea Group . "Midea remains my largest A-share position largely because I see them as one of China's more globally successful brands," the co-founder and investment advisor at GFM Asset Management said. However, with around 40% of sales generated outside China , Midea is now "directly in the cross-hairs of renewed Trump trade tensions," Dennison noted. He added that the company also has difficulties in retaining consumers amid slowing population growth and a "slower rate of new household formation." "Both of [these] are megatrends, [but] I'm keen to keep following through this name," Dennison said. Midea made headlines in September after raising $4 billion in its Hong Kong listing in an enlarged deal. Since then its shares, which are also listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, are up over 20%. All 30 analysts covering the stock give it a buy or overweight rating at an average price of 97.89 Hong Kong dollars ($12.60), according to FactSet data. This gives it upside potential of 36.8%. Nestle Dennison is also betting on Nestle , the name behind brands like Smarties, Häagen-Dazs and Maggi. Calling it a "wonderful business," the wealth manager said the Swiss giant is "almost synonymous with established, global, high-quality blue chip stock." "I follow it mostly because I'm interested in learning how it operates in 188 countries, which very few other businesses can do," he noted. Nestle's shares are now trading at a "fair price" after falling over 40% in the past three years "partly on the back of a strong Swiss franc, and likely also due to the market remembering that this is not a growth stock," Dennison added Over the past year, Nestle shares are down 22% in Switzerland. It also trades as an ADR under the ticker NSRGY . According to FactSet data, of 23 analysts covering the stock, nine give it a buy or overweight rating, while 13 have a hold rating and one has a sell call. Their average price target is 88.70 Swiss francs ($101), giving it 17% potential upside. Kinh Bac City Development In Southeast Asia, Thea Jamison, managing director and portfolio manager at Change Global, likes Kinh Bac City Development. She describes the Vietnamese developer of high-tech industrial parks as "a leading player with ample landbank to develop IT industrial parks for the next five to 10 years." Its clients include tech giant Samsung Electronics and contract electronics manufacturer Foxconn . Jamison expects this list to expand given the "trend toward increased foreign investments in Vietnam ." However, as with all companies operating in emerging markets, KBC has difficulties executing its projects quickly while navigating complex legal and regulatory aspects, Jamison noted. Its shares are listed on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange and are down around 10% since the start of the year. All six analysts covering the stock have a buy or overweight rating at an average price of 37,514.30 Vietnamese dong ($1.50), according to FactSet data, giving it around 30% upside potential.
