One of the most reliable gauges of sentiment in the stock market is where growth stocks trade relative to value stocks, since any given extreme can signal above-average optimism or pessimism, creating opportunities for investors to ride a return to balance. Toda’s market appears to be driven by extreme optimism, prompting investors to delve deeper into identifying value and potential upside.
By charting the iShares S&P 500 Value ETF NYSEARCA: IVE against the iShares S&P 500 Growth ETF NYSEARCA: IVW, investors can clearly see that value stocks have fallen behind by a wide margin, in fact, the widest margin over the past decade. Chances are that a big “catch-up” play may happen soon, triggering a rotation back into these forgotten high-quality businesses.
Some of these stocks may include Johnson & Johnson NYSE: JNJ, Berkshire Hathaway Inc. NYSE: BRK.B, and even Intel Corp. NASDAQ: INTC. With a blend of the technology sector and other stable areas of the United States economy, this list could provide investors with a basket of reasonable upside and very limited downside risk due to today’s discounts.
Smart Money Buyers Land on Johnson & Johnson Stock
Johnson & Johnson Today
- 52-Week Range
- $140.68
▼
$169.99
- Dividend Yield
- 3.31%
- P/E Ratio
- 17.45
- Price Target
- $171.00
Even though Johnson & Johnson stock is nearing its 52-week high, other measures of valuation are falling behind in the broader value stock theme. The company’s forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 14.9x today falls short of the historical average of just about 19.5x, creating a wide enough gap to be filled by a healthy rally.
This simple measure of discounts present in a $377.5 billion giant in the medical space may have triggered some value hunters in the market, such as those from Assenagon Asset Management, who boosted their holdings in Johnson & Johnson stock by as much as 160% as of early July 2025.
After this new allocation, the group now holds up to $635.3 million worth of the stock, giving investors another bullish pillar to lean on in their own views. With this in mind, chances are rapidly increasing that Johnson & Johnson stock may see higher prices sooner rather than later, and that is something Wall Street analysts agree with.
Such as Shagun Singh, an analyst from the Royal Bank of Canada, who reiterated an Outperform rating on Johnson & Johnson stock alongside a price target of $181 per share. This valuation directly calls for a net upside potential of as much as 16%, which is not a common achievement for a company of this size.
Berkshire Hathaway’s Discount Won’t Last Long
Berkshire Hathaway Today
- 52-Week Range
- $406.11
▼
$542.07
- P/E Ratio
- 12.71
- Price Target
- $520.00
One of the certainties in the stock market’s history is that value investor Warren Buffett is likely to outperform the broader S&P 500 index. The best way for investors to learn from him and improve their returns is by investing in a basket of high-quality value stocks.
This basket is called Berkshire Hathaway, and it is part of the outperformance now seen across value stocks as well. Over the past quarter alone, Berkshire Hathaway has fallen behind by as much as 26% compared to the S&P 500 index, a massive discount gap that investors will regret not taking advantage of in the coming months.
As valuations go, Berkshire Hathaway’s 1.6x price-to-book (P/B) ratio falls greatly behind the financial sector’s average of 2.3x. This provides investors with another benchmark to which the stock falls below and yet another gap to be filled in terms of upside.
Speaking of the upside, Kein Heal, an Argus analyst, has a recent rating on Berkshire Hathaway that indicates a valuation of up to $575 per share, which hasn’t been updated since March 2025 to reflect high confidence in a potential rise of as much as 21% from today’s prices.
A Special Tailwind for Intel Stock
Intel Today
As of 04:00 PM Eastern
- 52-Week Range
- $17.67
▼
$37.16
- Price Target
- $21.95
Assenagon wasn’t only buying Johnson & Johnson this time around; they also justified an 86.4% boost to their Intel stock positions, bringing their entire stake to a high of $508.6 million today. Intel stock is appealing not just because it trades at only 63% of its 52-week high, but also due to a current industry catalyst.
As the United States deepens its agenda of reshoring semiconductor and chipmaking supply chains, Intel’s presence within the country could further attract investor interest and raise demand and price.
Considering this is a high-profile government theme in the world of artificial intelligence development, investors can gauge the recent buying activity of United States Congress members for Intel stock as a positive sign. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Ro Khanna, and Jefferson Shreve (among others) have been some government officials who bought Intel stock recently.
After all, Intel is one of the names better positioned to respond to a call for onshoring the semiconductor supply chain, and also one of the cheapest ones to enjoy a ride back to value stocks on top of this broader industry catalyst.
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