3 Stocks to Buy for a Volatile End to 2025
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Navigating the Final Quarter of 2025: Three Stocks to Watch for Volatility
As 2025 draws to a close, market participants are bracing for a potentially turbulent end-of-year rally. Whether the market’s momentum will persist or a correction looms, there are a handful of equities that appear well‑positioned to ride the waves of volatility while offering upside potential. The InvestorPlace editorial team identifies three standout candidates—Apple Inc. (AAPL), NVIDIA Corp. (NVDA), and the S&P 500 Index Fund (SPY)—and outlines why each deserves a place in a portfolio that seeks to profit from a choppy finish to the calendar year.
1. Apple Inc. (AAPL)
Apple’s resilience in a climate of macro‑economic uncertainty stems from a combination of robust product pipelines, expanding services revenue, and an enduring ecosystem that locks in consumer loyalty.
Key drivers:
- Product refresh cycle: Apple’s launch cadence—most recently the iPhone 17 series—continues to generate strong demand spikes. Analysts note that the company’s ability to raise retail prices in a high‑margin segment has helped sustain profitability even amid supply‑chain constraints that have hit competitors.
- Services expansion: Services—including iCloud, Apple Music, and the App Store—account for roughly 20 % of Apple’s total revenue. The company’s subscription model delivers predictable cash flow that cushions the business against cyclical swings in hardware sales.
- Supply‑chain agility: Apple’s vertical integration strategy and long‑term contracts with semiconductor suppliers have insulated the company from the chip shortages that have plagued the broader technology sector.
- Balance‑sheet strength: With a cash position exceeding $140 billion and a manageable debt load, Apple has the financial flexibility to invest in research & development, pursue strategic acquisitions, or return capital to shareholders via dividends and share buybacks.
Volatility profile: While Apple is a large‑cap, high‑valuation stock, its market‑cap dominance and brand strength often mean it moves in tandem with broader tech sentiment. Short‑term price swings are common during earnings reports and product launches, but the long‑term trend remains upward.
Investment thesis: For investors willing to accept moderate volatility, Apple offers a blend of growth and stability. The company’s focus on new experiences—such as augmented‑reality products and wearables—could unlock fresh revenue streams in the coming months.
2. NVIDIA Corp. (NVDA)
NVIDIA sits at the intersection of artificial intelligence, gaming, and data‑center infrastructure, positioning it to capture the most transformative technology trend of the decade.
Key drivers:
- AI dominance: The rapid deployment of generative AI models has created a surging demand for GPU‑accelerated computing. NVIDIA’s CUDA architecture and its partnerships with major cloud providers (AWS, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure) give the company a first‑mover advantage in the AI market.
- Gaming leadership: Despite headwinds from the pandemic‑era “golden age” of gaming, NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX line remains the gold standard for high‑end graphics. The recent introduction of the RTX 40 series has driven a spike in aftermarket sales.
- Data‑center revenue: NVIDIA’s DGX and A100 series have secured high‑profile contracts with enterprises and research institutions. The company’s ability to scale its data‑center silicon has yielded significant margin expansion in recent quarters.
- Supply chain resilience: NVIDIA’s focus on securing diversified foundry partners—especially TSMC and Samsung—has mitigated the risk of component shortages.
Volatility profile: NVIDIA’s valuation reflects its “growth‑only” status, making it susceptible to swings in risk‑on sentiment. However, the company’s recurring revenue streams from licensing and cloud partnerships provide a cushion against short‑term earnings pressure.
Investment thesis: For those seeking a high‑beta play that rides the AI wave, NVIDIA offers a compelling narrative. The risk of a slowdown in chip demand exists, but the company’s diversified product portfolio and forward‑looking investment in new architectures (e.g., Hopper GPU) position it for continued expansion.
3. S&P 500 Index Fund (SPY)
While individual equities can provide spectacular gains, an index fund such as SPY offers diversification across the 500 largest U.S. companies—making it a practical hedge against sector‑specific volatility.
Key drivers:
- Macro‑economic coverage: SPY captures the performance of the U.S. equity market as a whole, reflecting economic fundamentals, monetary policy, and corporate earnings trends. This breadth reduces concentration risk inherent in single‑stock positions.
- Low-cost structure: SPY’s expense ratio of 0.09 % is among the lowest for actively managed funds, ensuring that returns are not eroded by high fees.
- Liquidity: As the most actively traded ETF in the world, SPY offers tight bid‑ask spreads and high market depth, which are critical for large‑scale traders or those looking to enter/exit positions quickly during turbulent periods.
- Historical resilience: Even in periods of market stress—such as the 2022 inflation surge and the 2023 interest‑rate cycle—SPY has demonstrated the ability to rebound from downturns, providing a steady baseline for portfolio construction.
Volatility profile: SPY’s volatility is naturally dampened by its broad composition. While it will mirror market swings, the magnitude of swings is smaller compared to single‑stock positions. This makes SPY an attractive “risk‑control” vehicle for investors who wish to stay market‑neutral while still participating in potential upside.
Investment thesis: For investors seeking exposure to the overall market’s upside while mitigating the idiosyncratic risk of individual names, SPY offers a low‑cost, highly liquid solution. It can also serve as a tactical hedge—selling short SPY when fear spikes, or buying SPY when the market begins to recover.
How to Incorporate These Stocks Into a Volatile Portfolio
- Position sizing: Allocate 10–20 % of your portfolio to each of the top two individual names (Apple and NVIDIA) and the remainder to SPY, depending on risk tolerance. Smaller allocations reduce the impact of any single stock’s extreme move.
- Use of options: Consider buying protective puts or employing collar strategies around Apple and NVIDIA to guard against downside while preserving upside potential.
- Dynamic rebalancing: At the end of each month, review the portfolio against macro‑economic indicators such as inflation, Fed policy, and corporate earnings surprises. Adjust the exposure of each holding in response to shifting risk‑on/risk‑off sentiment.
- Monitoring catalysts: Stay alert to upcoming product launches, earnings releases, and regulatory developments that could trigger short‑term volatility. For example, Apple’s quarterly earnings or NVIDIA’s AI roadmap disclosures can generate sizable price swings.
- Stop‑losses and trailing stops: Set hard stop‑loss levels at 15–20 % below the entry price for Apple and NVIDIA. For SPY, a trailing stop of 5–7 % may help preserve gains in a down‑trend environment.
Bottom Line
The final months of 2025 promise a mix of optimism and uncertainty. By concentrating on three carefully chosen assets—Apple, NVIDIA, and SPY—investors can position themselves to benefit from technology growth while maintaining diversification and risk control. Apple’s brand strength and services moat, NVIDIA’s AI and gaming dominance, and SPY’s broad market exposure together offer a balanced, volatility‑ready toolkit for navigating the end of the year.
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