As the market begins a new quarter, Bank of America has updated its list of top picks for the coming months. Major averages had a winning first quarter as the AI-driven rally continued. The S&P 500 gained about 10.2% for its best first-quarter performance since 2019, and the Nasdaq Composite jumped 9.1%. Here are some of the company’s top picks for the second quarter: Big Tech underperformer Alphabet is one of Bank of America’s top 10 picks for the new quarter. The stock gained just 8% in the first quarter of 2024, as a series of AI-related errors hurt investor sentiment. By comparison, Microsoft and Meta Platforms grew 12% and 37%, respectively, during the quarter. However, Bank of America believes this month’s Google Cloud Next conference, as well as the Google I/O event in May, are short-term catalysts for the stock. A revival of the controversial artificial intelligence-based imaging Gemini program would likely provide a boost to the shares, the firm added. “While not necessarily expected in the second quarter, there is also a ‘self-help’ opportunity,” analyst Justin Post wrote in a note Monday. Its price target of $173 suggests an upside of 14.6% from Thursday’s close. Another tech name on the list is Spotify. Shares are up nearly 41% year to date. Analyst Jessica Reif Ehrlich highlighted the company’s restructuring and headcount reduction efforts in 2023 as a boost to gross margins. “The company appears to be at an inflection point that is driving share price performance over the last 18 months or so. We expect this momentum to continue,” he said, citing subscriber growth, scaling opportunities and continued leverage operational. The firm expects Spotify shares to rise about 19% from Thursday’s close. SPOT YTD raises Spotify shares in 2024 One of the financial stocks in Bank of America’s top picks list was Citigroup. The shares are up 23% in 2024, outperforming the broad market index, but analyst Ebrahim Poonawala says they still present a “compelling” risk/reward profile. “In our view, the gap between perceived risk and real risk should narrow as the Street gains better visibility into the headline earnings trajectory, thus driving a rerating of the stock higher,” Poonawala wrote. The analyst’s price target of $65 implies an upside of nearly 3% from Thursday’s close. Food and beverage maker Kraft Heinz is another of Bank of America’s top ideas with a buy rating. The company suffered some of the largest impacts from reduced Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits in 2023 due to its exposure to children’s food products. However, volumes and demand for food products are expected to resume growth in the coming months, according to the company. “A positive volume inflection should support low valuations and potentially drive rotation out of other consumer staples subsectors (beverages/home personal care) as investors chase underperforming food names,” wrote analyst Bryan Spillane . Its price target suggests an upside of around 8%. Intuitive Surgical and Tapestry were some of the other buy-rated picks on the list.