After reaching an all-time high above 5,600 points in August, the S&P 500 Index dipped this month, standing at around 5,400 points at the time of writing this article. The dip was accompanied by a significant drop in the value of several high-flying tech stocks, primarily Nvidia, which is now trading over 25% removed from its ATH reached earlier in the summer.
With the investor sentiment across traditional and cryptocurrency markets close to its multi-year peak, it can be difficult to decide whether it’s worth pulling the trigger and investing in the market while asset valuations are this high. Well, the simple answer is that nobody really knows. However, you can hardly go wrong by investing in proven companies that have stood the test of time, especially if you’re a long-term investor.
In this article, we will list the best stocks to buy in September 2024, examine their past business performance, and look into how they are projected to perform in the coming months.
The best stock to buy in September 2024:
- Nvidia – The world’s most valuable semiconductor manufacturer (48% upside)
- Amazon – The world’s leading e-commerce and cloud computing company
- Microsoft – A leading software, cloud computing, and web search company
- Alphabet – The world’s biggest search engine and online advertising company
- Meta – A social media behemoth
- Apple – The world’s leader in consumer electronics and entertainment
- Exxon Mobil – A leading fossil fuel company
- Lockheed Martin – The world’s largest defense contractor
- Ford Motor – One of the oldest automobile manufacturers transitioning to EVs
- Intel – US-based CPU manufacturing giant
10 best stocks to buy now: Examining top stock investment picks for September 2024
If you are wondering what the best stock to buy right now is and what our reasoning is for including these companies on our list, read the following sections.
1. Nvidia Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA)Â
Nvidia is the world’s leading supplier of graphics processors for gaming, artificial intelligence, and data center applications. The company has been growing its revenue at a double-digit rate for years – giving early investors a very good average stock price on their investment – and has a loyal customer base of gamers, developers, and cloud providers. Nvidia also has a diversified portfolio of businesses, including automotive, health care, and edge computing, making NVDA one of the better growth stocks out there.
Your capital is at risk. Other fees may apply. For more information, check out our How to Invest in Nvidia guide.
Why Nvidia?
Experts expect Nvidia to post earnings of $0.73 per share during the next earnings report, which would be a massive increase compared to the same period last year when the company reported an EPS of “just” $0.40. The spike in interest in artificial intelligence (AI) technology has contributed to a massive +125% 12-month increase in the price of NVDA, making it one of the biggest beneficiaries of the AI boom spearheaded by OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
In the latest earnings report, Nvidia beat experts’ expectations by +9.3%, recording a +595% EPS YoY change. Given these impressive results, it’s no wonder that Wall Street currently ranks Nvidia as a “Strong Buy.” Nvidia is currently trading below the $100 mark, following a significant selloff that saw the stock lose about 25% of its value. However, the bottom line is simple – if AI continues to make strides, NVDA will almost certainly outperform the broader market, being the leading chip manufacturer for various machine learning and LLM models.
2. Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN)
Amazon is the undisputed leader in e-commerce, cloud computing, and digital entertainment. The company has been growing its revenue at a double-digit rate for years and has a loyal customer base of over 200 million Prime members. Amazon recently acquired One Medical, expanding its portfolio of income streams to the rapidly growing healthcare sector.
Your capital is at risk. Other fees may apply. For more information, check out our How to Invest in Amazon guide.
Why Amazon?
Amazon’s net income grew to $13.48 billion in the second quarter of 2024, an increase of a whopping +99.8% compared to the same period last year. The massive increase was driven by a diversified portfolio of businesses, including online advertising, grocery delivery, health care, and streaming video.
Analysts expect Amazon to earn $3.27 per share in 2024, up from $-0.27 in 2022. In addition, Amazon seems poised to perform well in the long term, especially if it manages to maintain its dominant position in the e-commerce sector. If you want to estimate what future EPS might be, make sure to use our earnings per share calculator.
3. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT)
Microsoft is one of the world’s largest software companies, with a dominant position in operating systems, productivity software, cloud computing, and gaming. The company has been benefiting from the digital transformation trends that have accelerated during the pandemic, such as remote work, online education, and e-commerce. Recently, Microsoft has emerged as the global leader in AI, primarily thanks to its multi-billion dollar investment in OpenAI.
Your capital is at risk. Other fees may apply. For more information, check out our How to Invest in Microsoft guide.
Why Microsoft?
Microsoft has a strong balance sheet, with over $75 billion in cash and equivalents as of June 2024 (the last reporting date). Experts believe Microsoft could earn $10.25 per share in 2024, up from $6.71 in 2023. Meanwhile, Microsoft handily beat EPS expectations in the fiscal Q4 2024 – the company posted an EPS of $2.94, over +4% higher than what the analysts expected.
These impressive market results are, in large part, due to the success of OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot, of which Microsoft owns a 49% share. It’s hard to imagine that Microsoft would relinquish its first-moved advantage in the AI space anytime soon, which is why we believe it’s a worthwhile investment right now. For a longer-term look, check the MSFT stock forecast for 2040-2050.
4. Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG)
Alphabet is the parent company of Google, the world’s largest search engine and online advertising platform. The company also owns other popular and profitable businesses, such as YouTube, Gmail, Google Cloud, Google Maps, Google Play, and Waymo. Alphabet has a dominant market share and a strong competitive advantage.Â
Your capital is at risk. Other fees may apply. For more information, check out our How to Invest in Alphabet guide.
Why Alphabet?
While the company experienced some hardship last year with the rise of ChatPGT and AI-powered Bing search as any real competition the tech giant has seen in years, Alphabet is still by far the largest search company, controlling more than 93% of the market share. Alphabet also has a robust balance sheet, with over $113 billion in cash and equivalents as of December 2023. Analysts are projecting Alphabet to earn $6.03 per share this year, up from $4.56 in 2022.
It’s worth noting that Alphabet has two stocks listed on the stock market, which can sometimes lead to confusion about which stock is a better investment. To learn more about this, feel free to check our deep dive into the differences between GOOG and GOOGL. In May, Google rolled out so-called AI previews for users from the US. The new feature is arguably the biggest change in SERPs (search engine search results) ever and could play a pivotal role in how Google’s core business evolves in the coming years.
5. Meta (NASDAQ: META)
Meta Platforms (formerly known as Facebook)Â is a tech giant that owns major social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. Pioneering in virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR), Meta aims to create a comprehensive “metaverse” – a unified virtual community for users to work, play, and socialize. The company emphasizes innovation in digital connectivity and immersive experiences.
Your capital is at risk. Other fees may apply. For more information, check out our How to Invest in Meta guide.
Why Meta?
Meta stock has been one of the better-performing assets in the past year, posting impressive gains of nearly 70%. In fact, the stock has been on a straight upward trajectory for the better part of the last year and is trading relatively close to its all-time high at press time. There are certainly reasons to be optimistic as a Meta investor. The company posted 34.24% higher earnings per share in April 2024 than the year prior, 3 out of 4 biggest social media platforms are a part of Meta’s portfolio, and the metaverse division is slowly starting to head in the right direction, growing its revenue by 47% in Q4 2023 (although it still posted an overall loss of $4.65 billion for the quarter).
In addition, during the February press release, Meta declared that it would pay a $0.50 dividend to every Class A and Class B shareholder (on March 26, 2024). This was the first time in the company’s history that Meta distributed a dividend, indicating a level of maturity and stability for the company that has been solely focused on maximizing its growth since its inception.
6. Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL)
Apple has been the world’s most valuable publicly traded company for the past decade, owing its success to an impressive lineup of highly popular hardware and software solutions. The company has transformed the tech landscape with iconic products like the iPhone, iPad, Mac computers, and Apple Watch, as well as services like the App Store, Apple Music, and iCloud.Â
Your capital is at risk. Other fees may apply. For more information, check out our How to Invest in Apple guide.
Why Apple?
Apple has shown strong growth in the past 12 months, gaining over +23% and setting a new all-time high in December 2023. Last year’s launch of Vision Pro, a potentially revolutionary VR headset, could create new market opportunities for Apple and solidify its position as a leading tech hardware company. However, so far, the high price and limited use cases have resulted in relatively low buyers’ interest.
Apple is not only known for its innovative products and services, such as the iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, AirPods, Apple TV, Apple Music, and iCloud, but also has an extremely loyal and growing customer base of over 1 billion active devices and over 660 million paid subscriptions. These factors make it a good investment for the long term. Analysts expect Apple to earn $6 per share in 2024, compared to $6.13 in 2023. It’s worth noting that Apple handily beat experts’ expectations last year, not to mention that 2025 is projected to see an increase to $6.52 in EPS.
7. Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM)
Exxon Mobil is one of the largest integrated oil and gas companies in the world, with operations spanning exploration, production, refining, chemicals, and marketing. The company has recovered from the impact of the pandemic and lower oil prices on its profitability and cash flow, which is reflected in its stock, which is currently trading about 175% above the 2021 lows.
Your capital is at risk. Other fees may apply. For more information, check out our How to Invest in Exxon Mobil guide.
Why Exxon Mobil?
While the transition to renewable energy is in full swing, owning stocks of S&P 500 fossil energy companies might still be a very good diversification strategy. Especially when you consider that Exxon has been paying an annual dividend with a yield between 2.51% and 9.14% in the past decade. It’s worth noting that the company’s dividend has increased by 41 consecutive years, making it one of the “Dividend Aristocrats.”
The price of XOM rebounded sharply after the post-Covid slump in 2020, growing over +250% from $30 to more than $100, achieving the status of one of the best-performing S&P 500 stocks in the period. Exxon has also been focusing on reducing its debt, cutting costs, and increasing its dividend payout ratio. Analysts expect Exxon to earn $8.28 per share in 2024, up over +53% from the Covid lows in 2021, during which the oil giant recorded an EPS of just $5.39.
8. Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT)
Lockheed Martin is the world’s largest defense contractor, with a leading position in aerospace, military, and security systems. The company has a diversified and global customer base, with roughly 70% of its revenue coming from the U.S. government and about 30% from international customers.Â
Your capital is at risk. Other fees may apply. For more information, check out our How to Invest in Lockheed Martin guide.
Why Lockheed Martin?
Lockheed Martin pays a generous dividend with a $3.15 payout per share as of February 2024. Analysts expect Lockheed Martin to earn a profit of $24.33 per share in 2024, which is largely in line with earnings posted over the past couple of years.
Over the last two decades, LMT has been one of the consistent and best-performing stocks, growing from $49 to $500+ with relatively low volatility – if the trend continues, Lockheed Martin stock might be a good buy for those seeking low-risk, long-term investment returns. It is worth noting that Lockheed’s earnings in Q1 2024 beat investors’s expectations by a margin of 8.76%, which is quite significant.
9. Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F)
Ford is one of the oldest and largest automakers in the world, with a strong presence in North America, Europe, and China. The company has been undergoing a turnaround under its new CEO, Jim Farley, who took over in October 2020. Ford has been investing heavily in electric vehicles (EVs), autonomous driving, and connected services, aiming to become a leader in the future of mobility.
Your capital is at risk. Other fees may apply. For more information, check out our How to Invest in Ford guide.
Why Ford?
Ford sold the most vehicles in the US in 2023 and expanded its EV sales by 72% compared to 2022, leading some to believe that the company could revisit its historical price levels or perhaps even rally to $100. That hasn’t been the case for the time being, but that doesn’t mean that Ford isn’t a solid investment pick at the moment. Ford pays a very high dividend of $0.33 that yielded as high as 10.33% as of Feb 15, 2024 – at those rates, a $10,000 investment in Ford would generate over $1,000 in dividends per year. Analysts expect Ford to earn $1.58 per share in 2024, up from $-0.49 in 2022.
One of the keys to Ford’s potential success is definitely going to be the sales numbers pertaining to the company’s EV lineup. Luckily, the Ford 150 Lightning has been a roaring success so far, with demand continuing to grow, according to Ford. In light of increased demand, the company recently lifted the prices of its EV trucks from anywhere from $2,000 to $10,000, depending on the model.
10. Intel (NASDAQ: INTC)
Intel Corporation, founded in 1968, is a leading multinational technology company specializing in semiconductor chip manufacturing, particularly known for its x86 series of microprocessors used in most personal computers. Based in Santa Clara, California, it also produces motherboard chipsets, network interface controllers, flash memory, and other computing and communication-related devices. Intel has been pivotal in the personal computer revolution.
Your capital is at risk. Other fees may apply. For more information, check out our How to Invest in Intel guide.
Why Intel?
Compared to other US-based chip manufacturers, Intel has had a notably worse year. Whereas Nvidia gained 125% and AMD 30% in the past 12 months, Intel showed a negative downtrend of a whopping -50%. The current price level could provide a good buying opportunity for buying Intel stock on the cheap. In addition, given Intel’s dominant presence in the x86 CPU market (controlling about two-thirds of the market), highlighted by a 75% market share in laptop CPUs, the company could very well be undervalued at the moment.
One massive catalyst for Intel’s potential growth in the coming years could come from the US’s strategic pivot to build more chip manufacturing facilities state-side. According to comments made by Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger, the US wants Intel to take charge of constructing new factories in the country. “Intel will receive $8.5 billion in grants and $11 billion in loans to help it reshore some of its computer-chip production from overseas,” noted the Washington Post in an article discussing the topic.
The bottom line: These are the best stocks to buy now
After a bearish 2022 and a somewhat unexpected turnaround in 2023, investors hope that 2024 will bring a return to positive and stable market activity. The projected decrease in interest rates in the second half of this year could bring some much-needed relief to the markets and provide a dose of bullish optimism that could help stocks reach new heights.
Hopefully, the stocks included in our article will prove to be worthy of investment and generate solid returns for investors in the coming months. However, it’s worth noting that the selection consists of mostly conservative options. If you are prepared to stomach higher risk in exchange for potentially higher returns, we suggest you check out our selection of the best stocks under $5Â or look into the best AI penny stocks if you want to gain exposure to the AI industry.
If you prefer to focus on long-term growth and building a portfolio that’s centered around dividend-yielding stocks, check our selection of the best long-term dividend stocks.
*Based on the average expectations of Wall Street analysts tracked by TipRanks.
