3 Stocks Congress Is Buying Now

Congress members buying and selling individual stocks had a busy start to the year with several elected officials having already disclosed filings following January's bumpy market delivery. 

U.S. markets endured turbulent conditions in January following the inauguration of President Donald Trump who introduced a series of executive orders hours after being sworn in. President Trump is sticking to his campaign promises, cracking down on illegal immigration and imposing stricter import tariffs for goods from Canada, China, and Mexico.

Despite Trump’s boisterous arrival in Washington D.C., markets maintained a stronger-than-expected performance, with the benchmark S&P 500 advancing 2.8%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite added 1.7%. Elsewhere, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 4.8%, with the Russell 1000 and Russell 2000 rising 4.5% in January. 

In mid-February, markets had to digest hotter-than-expected January inflation readings, which pushed sentiment around the Federal Reserve interest rate cuts in 2025 into negative territory. Readings of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) showed headline inflation up 0.4% over December and ending the month at 3%. 

Market reaction was quick to follow, with the S&P slipping 0.3%, while the Dow Jones was down 0.5% and the Nasdaq flatlining at the end of trading on February 12. Investor sentiment remains fairly mixed following the surprise turnaround in inflation delivery, along with the rapid reforms coming from the White House. 

What Congress Bought In January 

Individual investors have been closely following recent trades made by several congress members who are required to file disclosures within 45 days of transactions exceeding $1,000, according to federal legislation of the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act. 

The STOCK Act does not prohibit or stop any federal legislator from participating in capital markets and simply provides oversight and transparency for retail investors looking to uncover potential opportunities in the stock market. 

Filing disclosures for January have recently been released and thoroughly analyzed by Quiver Quantitative and show that a handful of congress members have had a busy start to the year trading selected stocks that could provide them with a major upside in the long run. 

Applied Industrial Technologies Inc

Starting the list of most bought stocks by a congress member in January is Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT), a provider and distributor of industrial motion, power, control, and automation solutions related to maintenance supplies. 

Senator Mark Wayne Mullin (R-OK) had disclosed more than $1.6 million in trade volumes for the first month of the year, much of which was spread across Applied Industrial Technologies, Credo Technology Group (CRDO), Dell Technologies (DELL), and Goldman Sachs (GS), among others such as MasTec (MTZ), a construction company and beverage manufacturer, Primo Brands (PRMB). 

AIT shares gained 8.98% from January 2 - January 31 in the period from which Senator Mullin purchased individual shares. Overall, shares of the automation company have fared well this year, gaining 8.59% year-to-date (YTD), and is by more than 42% in the last 12-months through February 13, 2025. 

The company announced fiscal 2025 second-quarter results at the end of January and reported $1.1 billion in net sales, a decline of 0.4% YOY, and net income of $93.3 million, or $2.39 per share, up 6.7% compared to the same period last year. 

Investors outside of Capitol Hill have seen AIT achieve increasing milestones over the last couple of years, delivering a compound earnings per share (EPS) growth of 24% annually. More than this, stocks have soared by 288% in the last five years, while shareholder returns of 45% for the last year have made AIT a highly profitable stock that’s been flying under the radar. 

Goldman Sachs 

Investors on both sides of the aisle are expecting the financial sector to outperform over the next several quarters amid the Trump administration’s deregulatory and business-friendly strategy. Goldman Sachs (GS) has already started riding on the Trump-induced financial rally with shares up 13.34% since the turn of the year and have gained over 15% in the last month (January 13 - February 13). 

A big supporter of the robust delivery from the investment bank is House Representative Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J). Gotteheimer has been bullish over tech with recent January filings showing him taking a buy position on Microsoft (MSFT) and Apple (AAPL). The elected official has been hands-on when it comes to consumer discretionary picks, opting for Walmart (WMT), according to recent disclosures. 

The price performance of GS has gained 13.15% since Gottheimer added more of the stocks to his portfolio on December 30, 2024. The multinational bank reported a robust fourth-quarter delivery, with net revenues of $13.87 billion and net earnings of $4.11 billion for Q4 2024. In total, the bank reported net revenues of $53.51 billion for the full year ended December 31, 2024, and net earnings of $14.24 billion for the full year. 

Elsewhere, management reported a diluted EPS delivery of $40.54, which was the second-highest result. Financial delivery across the board has remained elevated with strong results being reported for advisory services, asset & wealth management, global banking & markets, and platform solutions. 

There is plenty of optimism surrounding deregulatory action under the Trump administration with major financial institutions playing their cards in a way that would not only please investors and markets but could hold to the president’s forward-looking agenda for the next four years. 

Tempus AI Inc. 

Share performance of health technology company Tempus AI (TEM) soared in recent weeks following the preliminary delivery of Q4 2024 and full-year 2024 results. In the wake of the promising turnaround for the healthcare diagnostics provider, Wall Street upped its outlook, giving the stock a “Buy” rating. 

Out of all the congress members who disclosed trade filings in January, Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is perhaps the biggest bull for information technology and artificial intelligence (AI). The former Speaker of the House purchased 50 Tempus AI call options which have a call price of $20.00 and will expire in January 2026. 

TEM prices have skyrocketed in the weeks following Pelosi’s trade on January 14. Performance soared 132.11% since the trade, which was largely driven by the launch of a new AI-powered health concierge mobile application. However, analysts treading the markets believe that Pelosi’s move to purchase TEM had helped push the company’s market cap, and likely bolster stock performance. 

Stock performance has gained an impressive 118.85% year-to-date through to February 13. Shares have nearly doubled since the company’s initial public offering (IPO) in 2024, with stocks up by 88% since being listed on the Nasdaq in June 2024. 

Pelosi and investors are keeping a close eye on the company’s upcoming financial results, which have been scheduled for release later in February. Analysts expect that the company’s AI-driven generic testing solutions will help to further expand its footprint in the AI healthcare sector, and bolster investor confidence. 

Should You Buy? 

Recent disclosures show that congress members are preparing for a year that could see several pockets of the market gaining major support from the government through a series of new deregulatory and funding campaigns. 

This year will deliver mixed results, and there are plenty of moving parts that are set to influence how markets will be performing under a second Trump term. Furthermore, the road to lower interest rates remains clouded in uncertainty, and investors are bracing for hawkish changes that could leave the gauge unchanged in the first half of the year. 

The market has been fixated on how congress members have been trading, and perhaps there could be some truth to their approach while further balancing current strategies to align with their outlook on market performance this year.