How to Choose Top Stocks for 2025 Using Financial Modeling Prep’s APIs

When it comes to investing in the stock market, many people wonder how to find the top stocks for the future. While no one can predict the future with perfect accuracy, there are ways to gather helpful information that can guide our decisions. One great tool is the Financial Modeling Prep (FMP) API, which makes it easy to get detailed financial data and insights about companies. Below, I'll break down a simple approach to researching stocks for 2025 and show how to use some of FMP's API endpoints in the process. Don't worry if you're not a coding expert—this explanation aims to keep things simple.

Understand What Makes a “Top Stock”

Before you dive into the data, think about what factors might make a stock a good investment for 2025. These could include:

- Strong Financial Health: Companies with solid balance sheets, low debt, and steady cash flow are often more stable.

- Consistent Earnings Growth:A track record of increasing profits year after year can signal a bright future.

- Industry Trends: Certain industries—such as renewable energy, technology, or healthcare—may grow faster due to global trends, innovation, or changing consumer habits.

- Management Quality: Good leadership often leads to good results. While harder to measure, you can look at how a company's strategy and management team have performed over time.

Use the Financial Modeling Prep APIs to Gather Data

The Financial Modeling Prep API provides endpoints that let you pull all sorts of company information. To get started, you'll need an API key from FMP's website. After that, you can use endpoints to find data on specific companies or entire industries.

- Company Financials:

- Endpoint: https://site.financialmodelingprep.com/developer/docs/financial-statement-free-api

- Use this to review a company's revenue, net income, and other important income statement metrics. For example:

https://financialmodelingprep.com/api/v3/income-statement/AAPL?period=annual&apikey=YOUR_API_KEY

Replace AAPL with desired stock ticker, input desired period, annual in the above example, and enter your custom API key that you get after registering with FMP.

This returns Apple's income statements, showing you how its earnings have changed over time. Watch my video to learn how to analyze company financial ratios using Google Sheets.

- Company Profile and Key Metrics:

- Endpoint: https://site.financialmodelingprep.com/developer/docs/companies-key-stats-free-api

- This gives you a company's profile information, like CEO name, industry, and market capitalization. For example:

https://financialmodelingprep.com/api/v3/profile/AAPL?apikey=YOUR_API_KEY

Replace AAPL with desired stock ticker and enter your custom API key that you get after registering with FMP.

In the above, you'll find data about Apple, which can help you understand its scale and sector.

- Market Screener:

- Endpoint: https://site.financialmodelingprep.com/developer/docs/stock-screener-api

- This endpoint allows you to filter stocks based on criteria like market cap, dividend yield, and more. For example:

https://financialmodelingprep.com/api/v3/stock-screener?marketCapMoreThan=10000000000&volumeMoreThan=50000&apikey=YOUR_API_KEY

This could give you a list of large, actively traded companies, a good starting point if you're looking for stability. Watch my video on how to use stock screener for more.

Step-by-Step Strategy for Choosing Stocks

Step 1: Identify Promising Industries

Start by researching which industries are expected to grow in the coming years. Consider new technologies (like artificial intelligence or electric vehicles) or sectors that benefit from long-term trends (like telemedicine in healthcare). You can read analyst reports or follow financial news to spot these opportunities.

Step 2: Use the Stock Screener

Use the `stock-screener` endpoint to filter for companies within your chosen industry. For example, if you believe Software will grow, you might look for companies in the “Software” industry with a certain market capitalization.

https://financialmodelingprep.com/api/v3/stock-screener?industry=Software&marketCapMoreThan=5000000000&apikey=YOUR_API_KEY

Step 3: Check Company Financials

Once you have a shortlist of companies, use the `/income-statement/` endpoint to review their revenue growth and net income trends over the past few years. You want to see if they have consistent growth and if their earnings are moving in a positive direction.

Step 4: Analyze Key Ratios and Profiles

Use the `/profile` endpoint to get more details, like the company's management team, its main products, and its position in the market. From there, you might also check out the Ratios endpoint for financial ratios (e.g., P/E ratio, debt-to-equity) that can tell you if a company is potentially undervalued or overpriced. More on ratios analysis here.

Step 5: Compare and Contrast

Don't just pick the first company that looks good. Compare several companies in the same industry to find the ones that stand out the most. Look at their growth rates, margins, management quality, and how well they might fit the trends you've identified.

Keep it Simple and Consistent

You don't have to be a financial expert to use this data. The key is to keep things simple:

- Look for stable, growing companies.

- Consider industries that will benefit from long-term trends.

- Use the APIs to confirm that the company's numbers (like revenue, income, and ratios) support your view.

- Over time, as you learn more, you can refine your criteria.

Be Patient and Re-Check Regularly

Financial data changes over time, and no single piece of information guarantees success. Plan to revisit your favorite companies' data every few months to confirm they are still meeting your standards.

Finding top stocks for 2025 involves combining good research, understanding industry trends, and using available tools like the Financial Modeling Prep API to pull real-time data. By screening for certain financial characteristics, reviewing income statements, and checking company profiles, you can build a more informed list of potential winners for your investment portfolio. Just remember—investing always comes with risks, so consider speaking with a financial professional and don't put all your eggs in one basket.