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Don’t just look at share price appreciation. Why? It doesn’t tell the whole story. Thousands of stocks pay dividends. And those dividends often significantly boost the stocks’ total returns.

You can especially make a lot of money when you invest in stocks with juicy dividend yields in addition to tremendous share price growth potential. Here are two ultra-high-yield dividend stocks with a total return potential of up to 41% over the next 12 months, according to select Wall Street analysts.

Kenvue

Kenvue (KVUE 1.98%) ranks as the largest pure-play consumer health company in the world. Johnson & Johnson (JNJ 0.31%) spun off Kenvue as a separate entity in 2023. The new business inherited an impressive lineup of products, including Band-Aid bandages, Listerine mouthwash, Neutrogena skin care products, and over-the-counter pain relievers Motrin and Tylenol .

In addition, Kenvue inherited J&J’s status as a Dividend King. The consumer health company has continued to increase its dividend since the spin-off two years ago. It now boasts an impressive streak of 63 consecutive annual dividend hikes. Kenvue’s forward dividend yield also tops 5.1%.

However, one reason why Kenvue’s yield is so high is that its stock has performed dismally. Revenue growth has been weak. Profits have declined sharply since the company became a stand-alone entity.

More recently, Kenvue announced a shake-up at the top in July with Kirk Perry stepping in as interim CEO while Thibaut Mongon was shown the door. The company also underwent a public relations crisis after President Donald Trump and Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. claimed that the use of Tylenol during pregnancy could be linked with autism in children.

Kenvue responded quickly to refute those claims adamantly. So did several healthcare organizations, including the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Autism Science Foundation, and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine.

Several Wall Street analysts think that the worst could be over for Kenvue. For example, Bank of America (BAC 5.11%) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM 2.80%) have price targets for the stock that reflect an upside potential of roughly 29%. If they’re right and Kenvue continues to pay dividends at least at the current level, investors could enjoy a total return of more than 34% over the next 12 months.

United Parcel Service

United Parcel Service (UPS 0.10%) is the world’s largest package delivery company. It operates in more than 200 countries and territories. UPS delivers roughly 22.4 million packages every business day.

Image source: United Parcel Service.

Although UPS isn’t a Dividend King like Kenvue, it has a pretty good dividend pedigree. The company has increased its dividend for 16 consecutive years. It has never cut the dividend since going public in 1999. UPS’ forward dividend yield is a mouthwatering 7.9%.

The bad news is that UPS’ tremendous yield is due largely to its atrocious stock performance over the last few years. Plenty of factors contributed to this decline, including higher costs resulting from a contract with the Teamsters union and lower shipment volumes following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Management’s decision to significantly reduce the shipments handled for Amazon (AMZN 0.05%) is causing revenue to decline. The Trump administration’s tariffs are especially hurting UPS’ business in its most profitable lane between China and the U.S.

However, some analysts on Wall Street are nonetheless upbeat about UPS’ prospects. As a case in point, Citigroup‘s (C 0.66%) latest 12-month price target is around 35% higher than UPS’ current share price. With such an ambitious target and the package delivery giant’s hefty dividend yield, UPS stock could deliver a total return in the ballpark of 42%.

Are these analysts right about Kenvue and UPS?

I’m iffy about whether or not Kenvue and UPS can deliver the lofty total returns over the next 12 months that some analysts predict. However, I think both stocks could be winners for investors over the long run. Kenvue and UPS could also be solid picks for investors seeking income.

Oct. 5 (UPI) — Syria is electing Parliament officials Sunday, paving the way toward a more democratic future after more than 50 years of dictatorship.

An electoral committee appointed by current president Ahmed al-Sharaa was in charge of developing regional groups comprised of local council members to facilitate the election process, the New York Times reported.

The votes will determine who makes up two thirds of the People’s Assembly, while al-Sharaa will choose 70 officials himself.

“As a transitional period, there is a difficulty to hold popular elections due to the loss of documents, and half of the population is outside of Syria, also without documents,” he said, per the BBC.

The election comes some 10 months after al-Sharaa unseated the former president, Bashar al-Assad, marking an end to a civil war that spanned 13 years.

In May, U.S. President Donald Trump met with Sharaa to lift previously imposed sanctions that had taken effect while Assad was helming the country.

An interim constitution guiding the five-year transition of government power was signed .

Arguably, nothing has commanded the attention of professional and everyday investors quite like artificial intelligence (AI). In Sizing the Prize, the analysts at PwC forecast AI would provide a $15.7 trillion boost to the global economy by 2030, with $6.6 trillion tied to productivity improvements, and the remainder coming from consumption-side effects.

Excitement surrounding this technology has sent some of the market’s largest and widely held AI stocks soaring, including AI-data mining specialist Palantir Technologies (PLTR 2.37%) and electric-vehicle (EV) manufacturer Tesla (TSLA 1.42%).

But just because these stocks have been (thus far) unstoppable, it doesn’t mean optimism is universal among analysts. Two Wall Street analysts who are respective longtime bears of Palantir and Tesla stock believe both companies will lose most of their value.

Image source: Getty Images.

1. Palantir Technologies: Implied downside of 72%

There’s a solid argument to be made that Palantir has been the hottest AI stock on the planet since 2023 began. Shares have rallied approximately 2,370%, with Palantir adding more than $360 billion in market value, as of the closing bell on Aug. 22.

Both of the company’s core operating segments, Gotham and Foundry, lean on AI and machine learning. Gotham is Palantir’s breadwinner. It’s used by federal governments to plan and execute military missions, as well as to collect/analyze data. Meanwhile, Foundry is an enterprise subscription service that helps businesses better understand their data and streamline their operations. Neither operating segment has a clear replacement at scale, which means Palantir offers a sustainable moat.

But in spite of Palantir’s competitive edge, RBC Capital Markets’ Rishi Jaluria sees plenty of downsides to come. Even though Jaluria raised his price target on Palantir shares for a second time since 2025 began, his $45 target implies downside of up to 72% over the next year.

If there’s one headwind Jaluria consistently presents when assigning or reiterating a price target on Palantir, it’s the company’s aggressive valuation. Shares closed out the previous week at a price-to-sales (P/S) multiple of roughly 117!

Historically, companies that are leaders of next-big-thing technology trends have peaked at P/S ratios of approximately 30 to 40. No megacap company has ever been able to maintain such an aggressive P/S premium. While Palantir’s sustainable moat has demonstrated it’s worthy of a pricing premium, there’s a limit as to how far this valuation can be stretched.

Jaluria has also previously cautioned that Foundry’s growth isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Specifically, Jaluria has opined that Foundry’s tailored approach to meeting its customers’ needs will make scaling the platform a challenge. Nevertheless, Palantir’s commercial customer count surged 48% to 692 clients in the June-ended quarter from the prior-year period, which appears to be proving RBC Capital’s analyst wrong.

There’s also the possibility of Palantir stock being weighed down if the AI bubble were to burst. History tells us that every next-big-thing trend dating back three decades has undergone a bubble-bursting event early in its expansion. While Palantir’s multiyear government contracts and subscription revenue would protect it from an immediate sales decline, investor sentiment would probably clobber its stock.

Image source: Tesla.

2. Tesla: Implied downside of 94%

Over the trailing-six-year period, shares of Tesla have skyrocketed by more than 2,200%. Though Tesla hasn’t moved in lockstep with other leading AI stocks, its EVs are increasingly reliant on AI to improve safety and/or promote partial self-driving functionality.

Tesla was the first automaker in more than a half-decade to successfully build itself from the ground up to mass production. It’s produced a generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) profit in each of the last five years, and it delivered in the neighborhood of 1.8 million EVs in each of the previous two years.

In spite of Tesla’s success and it becoming one of only 11 public companies globally to have ever reached the $1 trillion valuation mark, Gordon Johnson of GLJ Research sees this stock eventually losing most of its value. Earlier this year, Johnson reduced his price target on Tesla to just $19.05 per share, which implies an up to 94% collapse.

Among the many concerns cited by Johnson is Tesla’s operating structure. Whereas other members of the “Magnificent Seven” are powered by high-margin software sales, Tesla is predominantly selling hardware that affords it less in the way of pricing power. Tesla has slashed the price of its EV fleet on more than a half-dozen occasions over the last three years as competition has ramped up.

Johnson has also been critical of Tesla’s numerous side projects, which are providing minimal value to the brand. Although energy generation and storage products have been a solid addition, the company’s Optimus humanoid robots and extremely limited robotaxi service launch have been grossly overhyped.

This builds on a larger point that Tesla CEO Elon Musk has a terrible habit of overpromising and underdelivering when it comes to game-changing innovations at his company. For instance, promises of Level 5 full self-driving have gone nowhere for 11 years, while the launch of the Cybertruck is looking more like a flop than a success.

Furthermore, Tesla’s earnings quality is highly suspect. Though the company has been decisively profitable for five straight years, more than half of its pre-tax income in recent quarters has been traced back to automotive regulatory credits and net interest income earned on its cash. In other words, a majority of Tesla’s pre-tax income derives from unsustainable and non-innovative sources that have nothing to do with its actual operations. Worse yet, President Trump’s flagship tax and spending bill, the “Big, Beautiful Bill” Act, will soon put an end to automotive regulatory credits in the U.S.

What investors are left with is an auto stock valued at north of 200 times trailing-12-month earnings per share (EPS) whose EPS has been declining with consistency for years. While Johnson’s price target appears excessively low, paying over 200 times EPS for a company that consistency underdelivers is a recipe for downside.

Test skipper Shubman Gill and Jasprit Bumrah made the cut with Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shreyas Iyer the biggest omissions from the 15-man squad.

Defending champions India have named top order batter Shubman Gill and pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah in their Twenty20 squad for next month’s Asia Cup in the United Arab Emirates.

Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal and middle order batter Shreyas Iyer, however, did not make Tuesday’s cut for the 15-member squad, led by Suryakumar Yadav.

Gill, India’s Test captain, has not played a T20 International since July last year when he was Suryakumar’s deputy on a tour of Sri Lanka.

“That’s where we started a new cycle,” said Suryakumar, who took over the T20 captaincy from Rohit Sharma after India won the 20-overs World Cup title last year.

“After that, he got busy with all the Test series, and he didn’t get an opportunity to play T20s because he was busy playing Test cricket and Champions Trophy,” Suryakumar told reporters.

“So he’s there in the squad, and we’re happy to have him.”

India also included Bumrah, whose recent workload has been a major concern for the team think tank, which played him in three of the five Tests in England in June and July.

No room for Jaiswal

With three opening options in Gill, Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson, India could not accommodate Jaiswal.

“With regard to Yashasvi, it’s just unfortunate again,” chief selector Ajit Agarkar said.

“There’s Abhishek Sharma – what he’s done over the last year or so, plus he can bowl a little bit. He gives us that option if required.

“One of these guys was going to miss out, Yashasvi just has to wait for his chance.”

Samson and Jitesh Sharma are the two wicketkeepers in the side, which also includes left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav.

India begin their Group A campaign against hosts United Arab Emirates in Dubai before meeting archrivals Pakistan at the same venue four days later.

The Asia Cup 2025 begins on September 9.

India squad: Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Shubman Gill, Hardik Pandya, Arshdeep Singh, Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Rinku Singh, Sanju Samson

SAN FRANCISCO — The Dodgers’ first two picks in this year’s MLB draft came consecutively at Nos. 40 and 41 overall.

Turns out, their two selections came from the same school, as well, with the team taking left-handed pitcher Zach Root and contact-hitting outfielder Charles Davalan out of the University of Arkansas.

Root, a junior for the Razorbacks this year, went at No. 40. A transfer from East Carolina, he had a 3.62 earned-run average this season with 126 strikeouts in 99⅓ innings. Scouting reports lauded his versatile pitch mix, which includes a slider, curveball and changeup from a funky low arm-slot delivery.

Davalan, a sophomore who was draft-eligible, also transferred into Arkansas last year after one season at Florida Gulf Coast. He hit .346 for the Razorbacks with 14 home runs, 60 RBIs and more walks (35) than strikeouts (27).

Both players were part of an Arkansas team that won 50 games and reached the College World Series.

Both figure to be key pieces of the Dodgers’ future, as well.

Though the Dodgers once again were boxed out of a high draft pick — picking outside the top 30 for the third time in the last four years because of competitive balance tax penalties — the team did acquire an extra selection in what is known as “Competitive Balance Round A,” securing the No. 41 overall selection as part of the trade that sent Gavin Lux to the Cincinnati Reds.

That meant, for the first time since 2019, the Dodgers made two top-50 selections.

And when their selections were on the clock, they identified the pair of Southeastern Conference teammates.

Root is a Fort Myers, Fla., native who was the No. 31-ranked recruit in the state coming out of high school, according to Perfect Game.

After starting his college career at East Carolina, where he had a 9-5 record and 4.43 ERA in two seasons, he found immediate success upon joining Arkansas, earning first-team All-SEC honors and second- and third-team All-American nods.

Though he grew up in Florida, Root said he was a childhood Dodgers fan — thanks in large part to another certain left-handed pitcher.

“Growing up, my dad always made me watch [Clayton] Kershaw and learn to pitch like him,” Root said. “So I’ve just been watching Dodger baseball ever since I can remember, because of Kershaw.”

Davalan took a decidedly more circuitous route to the Dodgers.

Arkansas batter Charles Davalan runs to first base during a game against Arkansas State on April 8.

(Michael Woods / Associated Press)

Originally a childhood hockey player from Quebec, Canada, Davalan moved to Florida when he was in high school during the COVID-19 pandemic, enrolling in a specialized high school that allowed him to spend much of his days training as a baseball player.

“With COVID, a lot got shut down in Canada,” Davalan said. “So decided to go live in Florida, where the restrictions [weren’t there] and you could play 12 months of the year.”

From there, the undersized Davalan — who is listed at 5-foot-9 and 190 pounds — got one D-I offer from FGCU, impressed enough there to transfer to Arkansas, and then blossomed into “one of the best hitters in the draft class, I think,” Root said of his teammate. “Getting him at pick 41 is just a big steal for the Dodgers.”

Davalan offered similar praise about Root, calling him “kind of an old-school pitcher” who “really filled the zones up good, but can still get his punchouts when he needs to get out of the jam.”

“Old-school” was also an adjective Davalan used to describe himself.

“I like to win. I like to play hard,” he said. “So that’s what I’m going to try to do. And I’m sure that knowing the organization, it’s filled of players like that, so I’m super excited just to get to meet new people.”

And, of course, be reacquainted with one from his recent past.

“He’s one of my best friends because of Arkansas,” Root said. “He’s a really great dude.”

“I guess I’m going to have to live with him in a couple more years,” Davalan joked. “He’s awesome.”

Some three hours before the Clippers used the 30th and final pick in the first round of the NBA draft to select Penn State’s Yanic Konan Niederhauser, the two top choices went as predicted and then the rest of the order was all over the place Wednesday.

In Konan Niederhauser, the Clippers got a 7-foot center and that was one of the positions they needed help to back up starter Ivica Zubac.

“We always go into the draft board looking for the best available player, and it also coincides this time with a need,” said Lawrence Frank, the Clippers president of basketball operations. “We’ve kind of looked over the years for a center that complements Zu, that does something different than Zu does. Sometimes it’s resulted with guys being undersized where we haven’t been able to maximize it. Yanic has legit positional size and I think the rim-rolling threat, combined with what Zu’s play is, I think in due time will be really, really good.”

As expected, Duke’s talented Cooper Flagg was taken first overall by the Dallas Mavericks. Rutgers’ Dylan Harper, the son of former NBA star and former Laker Ron Harper, was taken second by the San Antonio Spurs.

The rest of the lottery started to take shape with a change, when Baylor’s VJ Edgecombe was taken third by the 76ers.

Duke’s Kon Knueppel went fourth to Charlotte; Rutgers’ Ace Bailey went fifth to the Jazz; Texas’ Tre Johnson went sixth to the Wizards; Oklahoma’s Jeremiah Fears went seventh to the Pelicans; BYU’s Egor Demin went eighth to the Nets; South Carolina’s Collin Murray-Boyles went ninth to the Raptors; Duke’s Khaman Maluach went 10th to the Rockets (but he was traded to the Suns); Washington State’s Cedric Coward was taken 11th by the Trail Blazers (he was traded to the Grizzlies; France’s Noa Esse went 12th to the Bulls, Maryland’s Derik Queen went 13th to the Hawks (he was traded to the Pelicans); and Arizona’s Carter Bryant was taken 14th by the Spurs.

Flagg was at the top of his draft class, a player the Mavericks really needed to take after trading fan favorite Luka Doncic to the Lakers last season, a trade that upset many of Dallas’ fans.

But they now get Flagg, who averaged 19.4 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.2 assists in his only season with the Blue Devils.

Konan Niederhauser, 22, who grew up in Switzerland, has been dealing with an ankle injury the Clippers don’t think will be a problem.

He averaged 12.9 points and 6.3 rebounds last season at Penn State.

“I think the reason we decided with Yanic is that he’s got great positional size,” Frank said. “He also has some definite traits in the short term that will carry over, like his ability to run the floor, his ability to play behind the defense in the dunker spot, his ability to play screen-and-roll and be a vertical threat. Those are things that will carry over pretty much on day one.”

The Clippers are a veteran-laden team led by Kawhi Leonard and James Harden, and because of that, Coach Tyronn Lue said any young player they take should follow their lead.

“I think the biggest thing is, coming into the draft, if you’re not a Cooper Flagg, a one, two or three pick, you got to find your way, find your niche to get on the floor,” Lue told a group of fans at the team’s draft watch party at Intuit Dome on Wednesday. “Playing without the basketball, because when you come to this team, or any other team, with Kawhi Leonards, James Hardens on the floor, you’re not going to [get a lot of time]. You have to learn how to play the game and make your teammates better and things like that. And then the most important thing is your attitude.”

When the NBA draft continues Thursday with the second round, the Clippers will pick 51st.

The Lakers didn’t have a first-round pick, but they have a second-round pick at No. 55.

For the Clippers, they have a few things to get worked out.

Harden, who averaged 22.8 points per game, 8.7 assists and 5.8 rebounds and was third-team All-NBA, has a player option for $36.3 million and he has to inform the Clippers of his decision by Sunday.

The consensus around the NBA is that Harden will opt out and seek a two-year extension from the Clippers.

Nicolas Batum has a player option for next season that pays him $4.9 million and he has to let the team know by Sunday of his decision. Norman Powell has one more year on his deal that pays him $20.4 million next season and he also is looking for an extension.