Hot or Not, Stock Market Edition: 06/17/2025

Happy Tuesday! Here are some prominent moves we’re watching in the market right now:

• HOT: Lockheed Martin (LMT) rises in a time of conflict; so have gold miners like Newmont Corporation (NEM)
• NOT: A downtrending housing market paints a dismal picture for Sherwin-Williams (SHW); PayPal (PYPL) feels the squeeze of a big-name competitor

P.S. For more stocks making moves, check out our new Zen Ratings Upgrades & Downgrades screener.

🔥 HOT: The threat of war often leads to increased demand for gold as investors seek a safe haven during uncertain times. The looming conflict in the Middle East caused shares of gold mining company Newmont Corporation (NYSE: NEM) to gain 3.5% by Friday’s close, leaving it up 52.1% YTD. Our research gives NEM an A rating in Financials and B ratings in Sentiment and Value, leading to an overall Zen Rating of B. We should note, however, that the tariff volatility and subsequent recovery caused NEM to fluctuate more than it normally would, earning it a D rating in Safety and, ultimately, preventing it from receiving an A Zen Rating.

🥶 NOT: Visa’s expansion into the digital payment space is hitting PayPal (NASDAQ: PYPL) pretty hard. PYPL lost 5.3% on Friday at the beginning of what could be a significant contraction for the longtime leader in online payment processing. Visa’s aggressive move to capture more of the online payments market netted it a 9% increase in payment volume during the second quarter of the 2025 fiscal year, while PayPal’s volume only increased by 3% during the same quarter. PYPL is down 17.5% this year, and this latest drop threatens to wash out much of the ground it gained after its generally positive earnings report back at the end of April. For now, we give PYPL a C Zen Rating and a Hold recommendation, but we’re keeping our eyes on it at the same time.

🔥 HOT: Shares of military contractor Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) rose by 3.7% as tensions between Israel and Iran mount in the Middle East. The stock has had a choppy, up-and-down year and ended the week up 0.1% YTD. Our analysis gives LMT an A rating in safety due to its overall stability as one of the top government contractors and a B in Financials. Its current price is also a good Value for the company given its long-term growth prospects. We give LMT a B Zen Rating and a Buy recommendation.

🥶 NOT: Sherwin-Williams (NYSE: SHW) lost 5.7% on Friday after Citigroup downgraded the stock to neutral from buy. The company is facing headwinds from a cooling housing market as well as general belt-tightening due to lingering concerns of a recession. Even after Friday’s loss, SHW is only down 1.3% YTD, so it’s hardly an emergency. We give the stock B ratings in Safety and Financials and C ratings across all other metrics. We recommend holding SHW for now and give it a C Zen Rating.

What to Do Next?

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