Back in 1960, there was a movie called “The Magnificent Seven.”
Inspired by famed Japanese director Akira Kurosawa’s classic Seven Samurai, the movie follows seven hired gunfighters trying to liberate a village from oppressive bandits.
Starring a host of current and future Hollywood superstars (Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, and Charles Bronson among them), the movie is one of the greatest westerns ever made.
The movie was remade in 2016 with big names such as Denzel Washington and Chris Pratt.
But flash forward to 2023… and the “Magnificent Seven” took on a whole new meaning.
Bank of America analyst Michael Harnett began using the phrase to describe a group of mega-cap tech growth stocks: Alphabet, Inc. (GOOG), Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN), Apple, Inc. (AAPL), Meta Platforms, Inc. (META), Microsoft Corporation (MSFT), NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA) and Tesla, Inc. (TSLA).
These elite Big Tech companies were dominating the broader market at the time… and continue to do so… with their strong returns. That’s because they’ve been at the forefront of disruptive innovation in areas like electric vehicles, cloud computing, artificial intelligence – and more.
In 2023, the S&P 500 finished with a 24% gain, and technology stocks led the overall market higher. You can see how the Magnificent Seven performed in the table below…
| Stock | % Gain in 2023 |
| Alphabet, Inc. (GOOG) | 59% |
| Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) | 81% |
| Apple, Inc. (AAPL) | 48% |
| Meta Platforms, Inc. (META) | 194% |
| Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) | 57% |
| NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA) | 239% |
| Tesla, Inc. (TSLA) | 102% |
| S&P 500 | 24% |
That outperformance largely continued in 2024, as you can see in the table below…
| Stock | % Gain in 2024 |
| Alphabet, Inc. (GOOG) | 35% |
| Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) | 44% |
| Apple, Inc. (AAPL) | 30% |
| Meta Platforms, Inc. (META) | 65% |
| Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) | 12% |
| NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA) | 171% |
| Tesla, Inc. (TSLA) | 63% |
| S&P 500 | 23% |
I should point out that the Magnificent Seven are all mega-cap heavyweights. And since the S&P 500 is weighted by market capitalization, these stocks have a powerful effect on the broader market.
However, change is in the air this year, and money is on the move.
Now, I’m not suggesting that you should dump the Magnificent Seven out of your portfolio. But it’s clear to me that money is flowing into other stocks that are prospering from explosive sales and earnings growth.
The reality is that there are great opportunities in stocks that can outperform these heavyweights this year. I’m talking about quality stocks with superior fundamentals that will continue to boast strong earnings and sales growth.
So, in this report, I’m going to show you three companies that are poised to beat the Magnificent Seven in 2025. With strong sales growth and profits ahead, these stocks are must-haves for your portfolio as we navigate through the year.
But before we get to that, I should note that these picks were identified by Stock Grader, which is my growth stock rating tool. It’s powered by a version of the market-beating formula that I discovered more than 30 years ago. Over the years, I’ve constantly tweaked the formula, adjusting the weighting of individual variables as needed. But the market-beating variables themselves have stayed the same.
The result is an easy-to-use, incredibly powerful and flexible tool for individual investors like you. To get the most out of your Growth Investor membership, you’ll need to be familiar with it. You can learn more about Stock Grader and your Growth Investor subscription by checking out the Growth Investor Owner’s Manual.
Now, with that said, let’s dive in…
3 Under-the-Radar Stocks to Beat the Mag Seven
Stock #1: Sportradar Group AG (SRAD)
Stock Grade: A
Sportradar Group AG (SRAD) is a global sports technology company that was founded in 2001 in Switzerland. Along with providing sports betting technology, solutions and a betting platform, Sportradar also offers real-time sports data points, sports media services, sports performance solutions, odds services, integrity services to prevent match-fixing and fraud, performance analysis and more!
Sportradar also boasts long-term partnerships with some of the biggest, most well-known sports operators and federations, including NASCAR, NBA, NHL, MLB, ATP, AFC, AFL, DFL, FanDuel, DraftKings, Caesars Sportsbook and ESPN. Recently, Sportradar extended its partnership with Major League Baseball (MLB) for eight years, starting with the 2025 season.
The company recently partnered with DAZN to provide global betting data and content from the FIFA World Cup 2025. For all 63 FIFA World Cup matches, Sportradar will deliver DAZN’s content, data and live odds to its global network, which includes more than 800 betting operators and 900 media companies. Sportradar is also committed to protecting the FIFA World Cup from corruption, using its AI-driven Universal Fraud Detection System to monitor real-time betting.
During its fiscal year 2024, Sportradar achieved total revenue of 1.1 billion euros, or 26% annual revenue growth. Full-year earnings were flat year-over-year, coming in at 34 million euros. Also notable, Sportradar’s customer retention rate jumped to 127%.
For fiscal year 2025, Sportradar expects total revenue of about 1.28 million euros, or about 16% annual revenue growth.
Stock #2: Hesai Group (HSAI)
Stock Grade: A
Hesai Group (HSAI) develops lidar solutions for use in passenger and commercial vehicles.
In case you’re unfamiliar with lidar technology, it stands for light detection and ranging. Simply put, lidar uses lasers to measure the time it takes for the light to reach an object and return.
Hesai Group is a global leader in developing lidar solutions, as it couples research and development with in-house manufacturing to develop lidar sensors. The company’s patent portfolio totals more than 1,700, and its sensors are used in vehicles with Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), autonomous vehicles and robotics.
Recently, shares soared nearly 10% higher after the company released outstanding results for the latest quarter, shipping 352,095 lidar units – which represented a 307% year-over-year increase. Second-quarter revenue grew 54% year-over-year.
Hesai also announced that it secured a new lidar design win with Toyota Motor Corporation (TM). The design was developed through a joint venture of Toyota in China, and it is expected to be in mass production in 2026.
In its 2024 results, company management commented, “Hesai was ranked as the world’s No.1 automotive lidar company by revenue market share for the fourth consecutive year in 2024, according to Yole Group – affirming our industry leadership. 2025 is off to a strong start, and we are ready to build on this momentum.”
Stock #3: VNET Group, Inc. (VNET)
Stock Grade: B
VNET Group, Inc. (VNET) is one of the top data center service providers in China.
To boost the reliability, speed and security of internet infrastructure for its clients, VNET Group offers hosting and other services. This includes cloud, business VPN and IDC services. The company’s data centers can also house its clients’ servers and equipment to enable them to better connect to China’s main internet infrastructure.
With operations in more than 30 cities across China. It boasts more than 7,000 clients, including small- to mid-sized businesses, blue-chip companies, internet companies and government entities.
Looking forward, VNET expects full-year 2025 revenue between RMB9.15 billion and RMB9.35 billion, or 11% to 13% annual revenue growth. The outlook compares to analysts’ current projections for total revenue of RMB9.35 billion.
There’s Always a Bull Market Somewhere
There’s always a bull market somewhere – and right now the bulls are piling into fundamentally superior stocks. The companies we discussed today fit this description to a “T” and are great bets for your money right now.
These stocks all score highly in Stock Grader, my proprietary stock rating system, at the time of this report’s writing.
I hope you found this special report useful. Before we go, I want to thank you again for signing up for the Market360 e-letter! You now have full access to your trial of my Stock Grader and can begin grading your three stocks right away, just click here.
