- This post originally appeared in the First Trade newsletter.
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In this morning's First Trade newsletter, we highlighted five things investors have had to be thankful for in 2025. Sticking with the Thanksgiving and Black Friday theme, we thought we'd highlight a few food and toy-related stocks for you to chew on.
On Monday, I spoke with Megan Clapp, a food and leisure analyst at Morgan Stanley, who shared a few of her "Overweight"-rated stocks at the moment.
The first is Bellring Brands (BRBR), which produces protein shakes. The stock has been severely beaten down this year, falling 59% since early January, as investors worry about intense competition.
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But Clapp said the stock is probably now too undervalued and is "getting interesting again," as protein shake sales growth is in the mid-teens year-over-year, and as the company starts to make competitive moves.
"They announced a large mass retailer partnership with the largest mass retailer that will start rolling out in December. They are getting a ton of new display in the store," Clapp said.
Second is Smithfield Foods (SFD), a pork producer whose stock is up 8% this year. Clapp said that hog prices are coming down, which should boost the company's margins. Plus — like Bellring — people can't seem to get enough protein these days.
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"Pork has been resilient, continues to benefit from this whole protein craze," Clapp said, adding that it also "benefits from the fact that beef is very expensive — beef supply is expected to remain pretty tight into next year."
Finally, to send you into Black Friday, is game and toymaker Hasbro (HAS), which is up 46% in 2025.
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"It's a nice play on the holiday season because they have a toy business, but bigger picture they've been executing a successful transformation and a strategic transformation into a gaming and IP-driven company," Clapp said. "We think investors still underappreciate the durability of its growth algorithm and the margin and free cash flow benefits from this portfolio shift."
Some of its top intellectual property includes Transformers, Dungeons & Dragons, Operation, Monopoly, Nerf, and Magic: The Gathering. The latter, a trading card game, has seen a 40% increase in revenue so far this year. It also has a TV show and movie in production, Hasbro announced earlier this year.
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