We recently compiled a list of the 10 Most Profitable Cheap Stocks to Buy Now. In this article, we are going to take a look at where JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) stands against the other most profitable cheap stocks to buy.
US stocks rose on Friday, May 2, as the S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq all posted impressive gains. The S&P 500 added nearly 1.5% and this marked the ninth straight day of gains to mark the longest winning streak for the S&P 500 since November 2004. The Dow rose 1.4% to also report a ninth winning day in a row. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq gained roughly 1.5%.
The rally comes after China signaled openness to trade talks and a better-than-expected monthly US jobs report. In April, the US economy added 177,000 nonfarm payrolls, which was more than the 138,000 economists had expected. The unemployment rate remained steady at 4.2%. This data indicated resiliency in the labor market despite stock market uncertainty in April due to tariff concerns.
Investors were also encouraged by indications that the US-China trade war could be easing. On Friday, China said it is evaluating recent US proposals for trade talks to see how serious Trump’s administration is about a change in policy stance. China’s commerce minister stated that the “door is open” if the US would agree to pull back on reciprocal tariffs. These comments helped reduce concerns about the risk of an economic slowdown by the tariffs.
Overall, hopes for improved US-China relations combined with solid job growth helped boost confidence on Wall Street.
Methodology
To compile our list of the 10 most profitable cheap stocks to buy now, we used the Finviz stock screener to find stocks with a forward P/E ratio of less than 15. We sorted our results based on market capitalization and picked the top 25 cheap stocks trading at under 15 times their forward earnings as of April 29, 2025. Next, we focused on profitability and narrowed our choices to stocks that had trailing twelve-month (TTM) net income of more than $1 billion. Finally, we focused on the top 10 profitable stocks most favored by institutional investors. Data for the hedge fund sentiment surrounding each stock was taken from Insider Monkey’s Q4 2024 database of more than 1,000 elite hedge funds. The 10 most profitable cheap stocks to buy now were then ranked in ascending order based on the number of hedge funds holding stakes in them as of Q4 2024.
Why do we care about what hedge funds do? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter's strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).
Is JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) The Most Profitable Cheap Stock to Buy Now?
A group of business people discussing plans around a boardroom table adorned with a financial services company logo.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) is an American financial services and banking corporation with operations worldwide. The company specializes in investment banking, financial services for consumers and small businesses, commercial banking, financial transaction processing, and asset management. Through its J.P. Morgan and Chase brands, it serves customers in the US and many prominent corporate, institutional, and government clients around the world. JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) is one of the most profitable stocks to consider investing in.
On April 17, UBS raised its price target on JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) from $277 to $305 and maintained a “Buy” rating after the banking company’s strong first-quarter 2025 results. UBS analyst Erika Najarian noted that the company flexed its earnings muscle and delivered better-than-expected trading-driven revenue. JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) also raised its consolidated net interest income guidance by $500 million. UBS updated its estimates and said that the company’s stronger revenues and more aggressive share buybacks in Q1 balanced out the impact of higher provisions. Najarian raised her 2025 EPS estimate for JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) from $18.46 to $19.37. She also raised her 2026 EPS forecast from $18.90 to $20.14 mainly because of the strong revenue momentum and the acceleration of the buildup of reserves into 2025.
Overall, JPM ranks 1st on our list of the most profitable cheap stocks to buy now. While we acknowledge the potential of JPM as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. There is an AI stock that went up since the beginning of 2025, while popular AI stocks lost around 25%. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than JPM but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
