Figuring out which stocks to invest in can be tough, with so many choices out there and with the stock market going through lots of ups and downs lately, it’s no wonder folks are scratching their heads about which stocks to pick. Uncertainties about interest rates and the economy add to the confusion. But don’t worry, we’re here to help!
In this guide, we’ve put together a list of the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Whether you’re already an expert at investing or just starting out, our suggestions are here to give you a boost.
We’ve picked stocks from all sorts of industries, from exciting tech companies to strong, steady ones that can handle tough times. Each stock has been carefully looked at, considering things like how well the company is doing financially, how much it might grow, and what’s happening in its industry.
The list of 10 stocks to buy Now
- Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (ticker symbol: AMD).
- Cloudflare, Inc. (ticker symbol: NET).
- Alphabet Inc. (ticker symbol: GOOGL).
- NVIDIA Corporation (ticker symbol: NVDA).
- Invesco QQQ Trust (ticker symbol: QQQ).
- SoFi Technologies, Inc. (ticker symbol: SOFI).
- Microsoft Corporation (ticker symbol: MSFT).
- Palantir Technologies Inc. (ticker symbol: PLTR).
- Fortinet, Inc. (ticker symbol: FTNT).
- Super Micro Computer, Inc. (ticker simbol: SMCI).
Let’s take a closer look at the reasons why we’ve included each of these companies in our list of stocks to buy.
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD)
Industry: Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment
AMD is one of the largest chipmakers and one of the few companies capable of competing with NVIDIA in making GPUs (Graphics Processing Units), which are essential for everything from playing video games to self-driving cars and running the latest AI models like generative AI. However, what sets AMD apart from NVIDIA is that AMD also produces CPUs. Additionally, the company focuses on their usage in big data centers with innovations in AI, cloud, enterprise, and accelerated computing. NVIDIA is notorious for making software that runs exclusively on their chips. In contrast, AMD offers a more open ecosystem, which could provide an advantage if enough open-source developers create tools compatible with their chips.
Cloudflare (NET)
Industry: Software-Infrastructure
Cloudflare is one of the most innovative companies on earth, building what they call the Connectivity Cloud, a backbone designed to replace the outdated technology the modern internet relies on. They use this backbone to continuously launch new products and improve their services. Cloudflare has had a CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of 46% over the last 5 years, making the company 7.5 times bigger than it was 5 years ago. Another reason to invest in Cloudflare is its consistent revenue growth of 30% y/y (year over year). Moreover, the company’s CEO has promised to multiply their revenue by 5 over a 5-year period. Additionally, the company’s stock price has increased by more than 65% over the past year.
Alphabet (GOOGL)
Industry: Internet Content & Information
Google owns around 11% of the global market for cloud services, with millions of businesses paying them each year to store and secure their data, host mobile and web applications, and access a wide variety of AI and machine learning tools. These services are unlikely to be disrupted anytime soon because it would cost a business far more to build even a tiny fraction of these services themselves instead of using a cloud service provider. These services run on top of massive global networks of data centers, and that hardware infrastructure is incredibly expensive to research, develop, deploy, maintain, and upgrade over time.
NVIDIA (NVDA)
Industry: Semiconductors
NVIDIA has grown by 18,000% over the past 9 years, more than double the performance of Apple. NVIDIA’s current growth prospects are based on their increasingly powerful AI chips, such as the upcoming Blackwell B200 chip, and the rising demand for their AI chips. NVIDIA has the first-mover advantage and a near-monopoly in the AI chip space, which is why NVIDIA’s stock is currently pricing in a 25% annual growth rate over the next 15 years. Based on current investor sentiment, market momentum, and technical analysis, NVIDIA is a buy. NVDA is forming a bull flag, which is bullish and indicates continued upside movement. The Fibonacci sequence suggests NVDA is likely to rise to $1,175 soon and possibly as high as $1,900 by the end of this year, as long as investor sentiment remains bullish. However, for long-term investment, NVIDIA is overvalued and will likely experience a pullback at some point in the future. For long-term investors, it’s better to be patient and wait for a pullback before buying NVIDIA. For short-term investors and traders, the best decision is to buy NVIDIA now and sell it in the future somewhere between $1,400 and $1,800.
Invesco QQQ ETF (QQQ)
Industry: Exchange Traded Fund
The Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) is an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that tracks the Nasdaq-100 Index. We consider the Nasdaq-100 a better investment compared to the S&P 500 because the S&P 500 is so diversified that it grows slowly and steadily, whereas the Nasdaq-100 tends to grow faster and usually outperforms the S&P 500. The Nasdaq-100 has three advantages over the S&P 500:
- The Nasdaq-100 tracks 100 companies instead of 500, making it less diverse but allowing for more significant growth.
- The Nasdaq-100 is more tech-focused and can benefit from the latest tech innovations.
- The Nasdaq-100 can hold non-U.S. companies like ASML, which makes the massive machines that chipmakers like Intel, Samsung, and TSMC buy to produce the most advanced chips on the planet, whereas the S&P 500 can only hold U.S. companies.
SoFi Technologies (SOFI)
Industry: Credit Services
SoFi, short for Social Finance Inc., is an American online personal finance company offering a range of financial products including student loan refinancing, mortgages, personal loans, credit cards, investing, and banking. SoFi’s P/S ratio (stock price/revenue), which indicates how expensive a company is, has been decreasing over the past years to a current P/S ratio of around 3.2. This suggests that the company is cheap and undervalued, presenting a significant profit opportunity for investors. Moreover, SoFi has been growing its revenue by more than 35% Y/Y.
Microsoft (MSFT)
Industry: Software-Infrastructure
Microsoft currently holds the top spot as the most valuable company in the U.S. by market capitalization. In terms of its balance sheet, MSFT has $80 billion in cash on hand, a current ratio of 1.24, and a quick ratio of 1.05, indicating a strong financial position. MSFT also boasts a AAA credit rating, reflecting the company’s financial stability. Looking at the operating results, in the past 12 months, revenue growth has been 17%, with an operating margin of 45% and a 5-year average of 40%. The company has a free cash flow of $70.6 billion and a free cash flow margin of 30%. Regarding valuation, analysts expect an EPS of $13.3 per share for the next 12 months, giving a forward P/E ratio of 31.2x. Over the next 3 years, analysts project an average annual EPS growth of 16%, resulting in a PEG ratio of 1.9x. The stock is also trading at an EV/EBITDA ratio of 25x.
Palantir Technologies (PLTR)
Industry: Software-Application
Palantir is a company that provides data services to organizations requiring a high level of confidentiality, spanning industries from healthcare and banking to national security. Palantir automates the data workflow within companies, organizing their data efficiently. They can handle large organizations like the U.S. military, organizing their data and offering data analytics services that enable real-time decision-making without risking data exposure.
Fortinet (FTNT)
Industry: Software-Infrastructure
Fortinet is a cybersecurity firm with compelling reasons for investment:
- Trading Below 52-Week High: Fortinet stock currently trades below its 52-week high, indicating potential for upward movement.
- Solid Rank & VGM Score: Fortinet holds a Zacks Rank (Buy) and a VGM Score of B.
- Positive Earnings Surprise History: FTNT has consistently surpassed earnings estimates in the past four quarters.
- Strong Earnings Growth Potential: Analysts project approximately 30% year-over-year earnings growth for 2022 and a surge of 22.8% for 2023.
- Robust Fundamental Growth Drivers: Fortinet benefits from increased adoption of its networking and security platforms, driven by the remote working policies of major companies.
Super Micro Computer (SMCI)
Industry: Computer Hardware
SMCI is a company that integrates, optimizes, and delivers everything from full-scale server and storage systems to individual workstations for a wide variety of verticals, including cloud services, AI training, 5G, and edge computing. Almost all of their products are ready to go out of the box. Instead of competing with companies like Nvidia, AMD, and Intel, SMCI partners with them to turn their chips into custom computing solutions. SMCI has two significant competitive advantages over other original design manufacturers. First, they are headquartered in Silicon Valley, not Taiwan or China. This is important because, for instance, if Nvidia designs a new GPU, Nvidia can share the designs with SMCI, allowing them to layout and optimize the boards, connectors, cooling, and other components needed to keep the GPU at peak performance when installed in an actual server rack. Being in close proximity allows for easy management of updates and changes to the GPU’s design. Additionally, SMCI is only about 15 miles away from Google’s headquarters, ensuring that the chips are optimized for the actual data centers they will be used in, minimizing time to market. This proximity means that SMCI’s customers can start earning returns on their infrastructure investments even faster, especially if they are running the best chips before their competitors.
SMCI’s other significant competitive advantage is their completely modular server solutions, which they call server building blocks. Some customers might need more storage, while others might require more memory; some data centers might want more CPUs, while others prefer as many GPUs as possible. This building block architecture allows SMCI to quickly build solutions for many different verticals. When a company like Nvidia launches a new chip, SMCI doesn’t need to design a whole new server system; they simply design a new building block that can connect to the rest of the SMCI ecosystem.
