JPMorgan unveils its 50 'most compelling' stock picks to buy for 2021 — and details why each one will be a top performer Summary List Placement JPMorgan is decidedly bullish on stocks in 2021, to the point that it's telling investors they can haul in big returns with two diametrically opposed approaches. Chief US Equity Strategist Dubravko Lakos-Bujas says the benchmark SP 500 should rally another 9% to 4,000 early next year. And by the end of the year, the benchmark index could climb to 4,500 for a gain of about 23% from today's levels — or 101% from its lowest closing price in March. For most of that recovery, high-growth stocks have outperformed — a pattern that's faded just in the last few weeks as investors felt a vaccine and a return to a post-virus normal was approaching. Lakos-Bujas and others say that investors should maintain exposure to growth, but combine it with bets on the right value stocks. "Investors should consider balancing out their portfolios to make sure they are not over-exposed to high Momentum|Growth stocks, which have outperformed during the pandemic," he said. The backdrop of globally synchronized expansion, legislative gridlock and positive vaccine news should be a strong catalyst for Value stocks." There are a lot of ways to combine those two approaches, and JPMorgan's analysts are offering investors a lot of options to put them into practice. "This report identifies what our analysts view as the most compelling investment ideas in their coverage group across a variety of strategies, including growth, value, near-term, and short strategies," said Head of North America Equity Research Nicholas Rosato Jr.