The U.S. stock market has been volatile in 2025. The Nasdaq-100, which includes many of America's leading technology companies, is roughly flat year to date.
However, that's not the case for all the stocks within it. Some of the world's leading technology companies, like Palantir Technologies (PLTR 0.97%), MercadoLibre (MELI -3.77%), and Netflix (NFLX -0.14%), have surged between 33% and 64% since January -- it's not even June yet!
Nobody likes missing the boat, so three Fool.com contributors investigated whether buying these stocks today is still wise.
Image source: Getty Images.
Palantir's stock has been amazingly resilient, but investors should resist the FOMO
Justin Pope (Palantir Technologies): There hasn't been a hotter artificial intelligence (AI) stock than Palantir Technologies. On top of its epic 64% year-to-date gains, the stock has rocketed over 1,800% higher since 2023.
You don't achieve such scorching-hot returns without a good reason, and Palantir tells a great story. The company specializes in developing custom software that uses AI to analyze data to identify trends, optimize processes, or aid in real-time decisions. Management likes to say that Palantir augments human intelligence, not replaces it.
Palantir has been around for over 20 years, but the company has entered a new era of accelerating growth since launching its AIP platform, designed for AI applications, in mid-2023. Palantir's business has continued to perform better since then, and there is a wide-open market opportunity ahead, since its software could help almost any large organization.
But as great as the business is doing, Palantir's stock price has outrun its fundamentals. The stock now trades at possibly Wall Street's highest valuation. Palantir's enterprise value is nearly $280 billion today on just $3.1 billion in trailing-12-month revenue. Growth would need to continue accelerating and sustain that pace for years to make sense of the current stock price.
I'm not one to say things are impossible, but it's probably safe to say that Palantir has little, if any, short- or medium-term upside left. If you want to buy shares, take small nibbles. Otherwise, investors are probably wise to wait for a lower price to revisit the stock. Resist the fear of missing out (FOMO) -- this ship has likely sailed.
It is time to stop ignoring this Latin American juggernaut
Will Healy (MercadoLibre): In terms of returns in 2025, MercadoLibre is a top performer, rising 54% so far this year. Despite that considerable gain, it likely has more room to run.
MercadoLibre is a conglomerate that operates exclusively in Latin America. It drives revenue in e-commerce, fintech, and logistics, as these enterprises work separately and together to bolster the company's competitive advantage.
One of MercadoLibre's attributes right now is a comparative lack of exposure to the U.S. Outside of a distribution center in Texas that brings U.S. goods to Mexican consumers, it has no direct ties to the U.S. That means tariffs are unlikely to significantly affect the company's performance.
Moreover, MercadoLibre thrives on Latin America's challenges, making it antifragile. For example, many in the region are unbanked or underbanked, so it established Mercado Pago to help these customers buy online. Mercado Pago was so successful that it opened to customers not buying on the MercadoLibre site.
Also, the region's lack of shipping options led it to create Mercado Envios. As a result, many of its markets now have greater access to same-day or next-day shipping. Additionally, MercadoLibre has leveraged its web presence to earn revenue from digital advertising from its Mercado Ads business.
Its rapid growth led it to generate revenues of $5.9 billion in the first quarter of 2025, a 37% rise from year-ago levels. Also, costs and expenses grew at a slightly slower pace, meaning its $494 million in net income for Q1 increased by 44%.
Despite those improvements and the rise in the stock price, its valuation is coming off multiyear lows, with its P/E ratio at 63.
That valuation may make MercadoLibre appear expensive. Nonetheless, such an earnings multiple is not unusual when one takes into account the growth of similar companies like Amazon and Sea Limited.
Ultimately, when considering the state of MercadoLibre, its valuation, antifragility, and minimal exposure to tariffs likely make it an excellent stock to buy despite its rapid growth in recent months.
This streaming giant is on fire
Jake Lerch (Netflix): For me, Netflix is a top-performing Nasdaq-100 stock that is too good to ignore.
As of this writing, Netflix stock is up 33% year to date. That's impressive, but it's even more so after considering that the company's stock dropped 19% during the stock market correction that began in February.
Since then, Netflix's stock has recouped all its losses -- and then some. As of May 21, the stock now trades at nearly $1,200 per share.
Netflix's fundamentals are just as remarkable as its stock performance. Consider the company's trailing-12-month profit margin. As of its most recent quarter (for the three months ending on March 31), Netflix's profit margin rose to 23%. Not only is that the highest level in the company's more than two-decade history, it's almost double the profit margin Netflix reported two years ago.
What's driving this increasing profitability? In short, Netflix is flexing its corporate power in several ways.
First, the company estimates its viewing audience at over 700 million worldwide. This enormous user base spans the globe, with more than 450 million outside the U.S. This geographic diversity helps bolster Netflix's appeal among advertisers, who may wish to target audiences based on their location or viewing habits. That's all the more important now that Netflix has launched its ad-supported plan.
Second, Netflix is driving its profits higher with a time-tested method: It's raising prices. The company announced a price hike in January 2025, the first since 2022. This most recent price hike shows the company's confidence that subscribers will stick around, thanks to the company's expanded slate of content, including live events like sports.
To sum up, Netflix's stock has been on a tear this year. It's already up more than 33% and could move much higher as the company continues to rev up its profitability thanks to its huge audience and higher prices for its service. Investors looking for a hot Nasdaq-100 stock shouldn't ignore Netflix.
