Submit your
stock pick.
Track your
progress.
Top 10 present for a
chance to win.
$25,000*
NexPoint, in partnership with SMU, welcomes you to participate in the annual NexPoint Investment Competition. This challenge is an opportunity open to all students for the chance to win $25,000. Research the market, submit a stock pick of your choosing, and track your progress on the leaderboard. Top 20 submissions will submit a memo to our panel, and the top 10 will present on Pitch Day for the chance to win the grand prize.
*Top 20 receive cash prizes. First place prize is $25,000. Second place is $20,000, third is $15,000. People’s Choice Award is $5,000.
Tracker
Timeline
- Open to all current full-time SMU students.
- One submission per student.
- Stocks must be listed on a U.S. exchange.
- Only one representative per stock for final presentation pitches.
- No penny stocks.
Competition Format
Participants will select one stock they believe will achieve the highest total price appreciation from October 1, 2025, to February 27, 2026. Along with their stock choice, competitors must submit a price target for February 27, 2026. Please note that selected stocks must be listed on a U.S. exchange.
Submissions will be evaluated based on total price appreciation over the competition period. Twenty finalists will be chosen based on their appreciations, with tie-breaking procedures in place for entries on the same stock. The first tie-breaker will be the student's price target for the stock, followed by the student's prediction for the S&P 500 index value on February 27. In cases where the tie-breaker is needed, the entry closest to the index value without exceeding it will prevail. As only one finalist can represent each stock, we encourage participants to choose their stocks thoughtfully. The identified Top Twenty will be notified, and they will have a week to submit a one-to-two-page memo to be evaluated by a committee. A final Top Ten will be announced on March 13th, 2026, and those will be chosen based off of stock performance and memo review. On March 27, 2026, the Top Ten finalists will present a sell or hold pitch for their selected companies to a panel of judges consisting of Cox faculty and industry experts. Each presentation will last 15 minutes, divided into 7 minutes for the formal pitch and 8 minutes for questions.
On March 27, 2026, the Top Ten finalists will present a sell or hold pitch for their selected companies to a panel of judges consisting of Cox faculty and industry experts. Each presentation will last 15 minutes, divided into 7 minutes for the formal pitch and 8 minutes for questions.