Friends are convinced they can beat the S&P. Is it really that easy?

I have a few friends who over the last 6 months or so have gotten bigger into investing. They don’t invest in ETFs and build their portfolio out with individual stocks. I know that analysts do this and often can beat the market but I am hesitant to follow some of their investments. Quite honestly I think they are going to get burned. One of them is literally putting the company that owns GTA 6 into his Roth. He bought like 5 shares.. the day after preorders were available. I do not work in finan