Best companies to buy stock in 2017

The primary goal of any investor who buys stocks should be to beat the market. After all, if your stocks can't accomplish that goal, you may as well save yourself the trouble and buy a low-cost index fund to at least mirror the market's returns. But beating the market can also be a daunting task, considering you have the opportunity to buy shares in thousands of enticing businesses. So to help get you started, we asked five top Motley Fool contributors each to pick a stock they believe investors would be wise to buy in That said, Under Armour is set to achieve that longer-term revenue growth despite a recent slowdown in the North American apparel industry -- which effectively sits at Under Armour's core -- thanks to faster-than-expected growth of both its footwear and international businesses. A word of caution: Under Armour is set to release its fourth-quarter results on Tuesday, Jan.

Stocks to Buy

The truth is, investing is hard, and building a portfolio of top stocks to buy that beat the market is something that even financial professionals have trouble doing consistently.

They keep doing that over years and the returns end up being quite bad. Meanwhile, value investors like Warren Buffett are building up cash during euphoric bull markets, because everything is expensive and very few stocks meet their strict investment criteria. Then when a stock market crash eventually occurs and top stocks are on sale everywhere, they deploy their cash hoard and snatch up the bargains of a decade.

However, there are plenty of independent, disciplined investors that build serious wealth in the market over the long term by following similar methods. My favorite investing platform for holding these stocks is M1 Finance. After using it myself for a couple years now, I see first-hand how much power its software gives for easily re-balancing individual stocks, and really helps me edge out extra gains. As I explained in my article about investor psychology , the most important thing you can do is find the right investment strategy for your unique needs and personality.

But I think dividend growth investing is a good strategy for many hands-on people as well. You can buy shares of companies, those shares produce cash dividends that grow each year, and you can reinvest those dividends into more shares or you can spend them.

Rather than just hoping the stock price moves up rather than down, dividend investors tend to pay attention to the underlying fundamentals of the company, including the growth and safety of their dividends, and watch for strong long-term performance. This helps build good investment fundamentals because they focus on company performance more-so than fluctuations in the daily stock price.

With that said, here are the 8 main criteria I used when selecting top stocks to highlight for this article:. Criteria 1: The company benefits from long-term trends and has little foreseeable risk of obsolescence. Criteria 2: The company has above-average returns on invested capital and a durable economic moat to keep it that way.

Criteria 3: The company has a strong balance sheet, and solid historical performance during recessions. They compete over quality, rather than just on price.

Not growth at all costs, but a combination of sustainable growth and value. The focus here is on total risk-adjusted returns. When it comes to investing, nothing is for certain. However, buying a diversified portfolio of high-quality companies at reasonable prices is among the most reliable ways to build wealth over the long-term.

Here are seven companies that I think are trading at reasonable valuations that offer strong risk-adjusted returns over the next decade, and meet the above-mentioned criteria. Some of these are likely to beat the market over time, while some may not. They have all beaten the market in the past.

Always do your own due diligence before buying any company. I recently updated this article for , replacing three of the names with new ones, to try to identify some of the best stocks for and beyond. Their roots trace back over a century, when the company was an early developer and operator of infrastructure in Brazil.

They have diverse properties including gas pipelines, toll roads, data centers, solar farms, hydroelectric dams, and skyscrapers across five continents. As a private equity firm, they make money in three main ways. First, they invest their own capital into a variety of real assets. Second, they collect money from institutional investors, invest that money on behalf of them into a variety of real assets, and collect performance fees from that capital.

Third, they founded and hold large stakes in the above-mentioned publicly traded partnerships, from which they collect cash distributions, management fees, and performance fees called Incentive Distribution Rights IDRs. This structure gives them exponential growth, because in addition to their direct investments being extremely profitable, they are also benefiting from a major trend of increased institutional allocations into alternative assets, like private equity, real estate, infrastructure, and other high-performing low-liquidity investments.

The CEO, Bruce Flatt, has been with the company for 30 years, has been CEO for 15 years, and has overseen tremendous performance during his tenure so far. In fact, they always look overvalued at first glance because their reported earnings tend to be choppy. The company positions itself well for recessions, because management builds up a fortress balance sheet, and then buys great assets for bargain prices from distressed sellers.

Often, companies take on too much debt, their credit ratings drop, their interest yields get too high, and then when something unexpected hurts them, they go bankrupt or need to sell assets at fire-sale prices. Brookfield buys them, refinances them to much lower interest rates thanks to their high credit rating, and makes incredible returns as they hold and expand those assets.

Often, they sell those assets during bull markets for much higher valuation multiples than they paid, so that they can recycle that capital back into other distressed assets. These assets performed tremendously as the global economy recovered. When Brazil ran into a huge recession during , Brookfield acquired all sorts of gas pipelines and toll roads from distressed sellers that needed to raise capital, and locked in long-term favorable pricing contracts indexed to inflation.

When North American midstream companies ran into major trouble in due to energy oversupply and low prices, Brookfield bought energy transportation infrastructure on the cheap. After solar developer SunEdison collapsed into bankruptcy from too much debt to fuel overly-aggressive growth plans, Brookfield swooped in and bought lots of attractively-priced solar and wind farms from them.

In early when the retail sector was under intense pressure from the existential threat of online retail, Brookfield bought out General Growth Properties, which has a lot of best-in-class properties and high occupancy rates.

Some of this they will retain as retail, while other assets they will redevelop into other types of property. The point is, Brookfield management consists of contrarian investors. They buy undervalued but premium quality assets during times of stress, expand them, and sell them for much higher valuations during bull markets. Although Brookfield Asset Management only pays a 1. Brookfield has a globally diversified portfolio of real assets, including utilities, utility-like regulated monopoly infrastructure, premium buildings in world-class cities like London and Manhattan, and a large collection of hydroelectric dams.

These are among the types of assets with the widest available economic moats. In addition, asset managers benefit from high switching costs, and BAM in particular does.

Private equity funds typically lock in investors for many years. And as long as BAM private funds continue to perform well, institutional investors should continue to reinvest in them when they have the opportunity to do so.

BAM has plenty of liquidity, and much of its debt is non-recourse to the parent corporation, but due to its complex corporate structure with multiple layers of moderate leverage, it has a moderate investment-grade credit rating from most rating agencies.

Although not without occasional incidents, pipelines are safer and more cost-effective for transporting energy than the main alternative, which is by freight train. Enbridge has virtually no direct exposure to commodity prices; they make money strictly by transporting energy.

However, prolonged periods of low energy prices can reduce production volumes of oil and gas, which eventually means lower volumes and lower revenue for transporters like Enbridge. One of the things I like best about Enbridge is their large natural gas exposure alongside their oil exposure.

While renewable energy is projected to take a larger and larger market share of new energy projects, natural gas is taking market share from coal. In addition, Enbridge does have a small portfolio of renewable energy assets and plans to increase it over time. In recent years, the company made a series of acquisitions and consolidations to streamline their business model.

Specifically, they acquired Spectra Energy which gave them their big boost in natural gas exposure , and then bought out several master limited partnerships that they had large stakes in, bringing all of this into the parent company. Their Canadian gas distribution system is a utility, while its longer-distance pipelines are regulated backbone infrastructure for North American energy transportation. Enbridge has long-term contracts with most of its customers. And as Enbridge grows its renewable energy portfolio, it will be competing in an area that it has fewer advantages in.

Lastly, political opposition has delayed some of their planned pipelines in recent years. Enbridge has one of the highest credit ratings in the midstream industry, but took on a lot of debt when they acquired Spectra Energy a couple years ago. Now that deleveraging is done, they have more flexibility for growth and returning capital to shareholders. As the F. Alphabet operates their core Google website, as well as Youtube, and the has a host of other platforms including Android, Google Adsense for other websites, Google Maps, Google Cloud, and so forth.

They are also launching Google Stadia for cloud-based gaming, have some of the leading technology in driverless technology, and are among the top tier researchers in quantum computing. Google was led for a while by its co-founders, but recently, Google CEO Sundar Pinchai was promoted to being the CEO of all of Alphabet, as the co-founders continue to step back from the company.

Alphabet should probably initiate a small dividend soon, like Apple and Microsoft both have. With both Google and Youtube, Alphabet absolutely dominates the global search market in both text and video. With Android and other portals for reaching users, they further diversify their reach and ensure continued interaction with their platforms.

Their ad network on various websites benefits from the network effect; as more publishers and advertisers use the network, it increasingly becomes the standard to use online. Most major websites have Google ads on them. Alphabet can put billions of dollars into quantum computing or driverless car testing, for example, without caring that it may not create new revenue for a decade. This gives Alphabet a serious advantage in the technological arms race.

One area where Alphabet has faced considerable competition is cloud computing. Amazon and Microsoft have proven to be stronger than Google, so far, at gaining cloud computing market share. With their cash hoard and a modest issuance of debt, they could easily buy most of the companies in the world outside of the top 25 largest ones.

Or, if they face an impact to their profitability, their cash hoard can fund their operations for quite a long time. It is celebrating its 25th year since being founded in , and now has over 5, branches and a robust online business throughout India.

You can see below, with data since its inception on the public markets, how fast its earnings are growing relative to a large U. Morgan Chase:. Second, India is very reliant on oil imports, and whenever oil becomes expensive, their trade deficit widens, which tends to hurt the currency. If the rupee weakens vs those currencies, your returns could be reduced. Personally, I think having a stake in India as part of a diversified portfolio, and letting it run for the next couple of decades, is a smart thing to do.

HDFC Bank has built up significant economy of scale within India, which gives it operational advantages over competitors. HDFC Bank maintains strong creditworthiness, but as a bank in an emerging market, it can be subject to more severe currency fluctuations or other crises compared to what is historically normal for developed markets.

After many years of market-crushing performance, coffee-giant Starbucks has transitioned from being a growth stock to a value stock. In other words, less focus on investing in growth, and a greater focus on giving money back to shareholders. Some growth investors have rotated out of this name while value and dividend investors have rotated in.

With a saturated market in North America, Starbucks is focused on expanding in the rest of the world, with an emphasis on China. The first Starbucks Reserve Roastery opened up in their hometown of Seattle, and it has been extremely profitable. Customers spend 4x as much there compared to what they spend at a normal Starbucks because they offer a variety of premium foods and drinks along with a high-end visual setting that makes it a destination.

After the success of their first Reserve Roastery, they opened a flagship 30, square foot Reserve Roastery in Shanghai, China, which has been another smashing success. It makes about 10x as much money as a standard Starbucks location through a combination of higher prices and more customers.

The best stocks to buy for run the gamut from obscure names to large caps. How have they held up? From high-growth software makers to mall-based restaurants, the best stocks to buy for October each have extremely attractive characteristics.

The pharmaceutical industry is part of the larger health care sector. Companies in the pharmaceutical industry research, develop, manufacture, and market medicines and drugs. Here are the top 3 pharmaceutical stocks with the best value, the fastest earnings growth, and the most momentum. Source: YCharts. These are the pharmaceutical stocks with the highest year-over-year YOY earnings per share EPS growth for the most recent quarter.

The truth is, investing is hard, and building a portfolio of top stocks to buy that beat the market is something that even financial professionals have trouble doing consistently. They keep doing that over years and the returns end up being quite bad.

That would be corporate insiders — top executives — who have the front-row seats on the their businesses and the economy. But after Aug. It also suggests that any market weakness ahead may be shallow.

My top 10 stocks for 2017

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Click here to see our favorite stocks. Equity investors face a big choice for Since the election, economically sensitive stocks, banks, and energy producers have risen, while traditionally defensive groups like consumer stocks and electric utilities have suffered amid concerns about higher rates and inflation. In selecting our 10 favorite stocks for , we leaned toward laggards rather than chase surging stocks at often-high valuations. With European bourses having trailed U.

5 Top Stocks to Buy in 2017

Nevertheless, in each of the past eleven Decembers I have selected and invested personally in ten of the stocks we follow with the intention of holding for just one year. These are companies that I find especially attractive in light of their valuations or their potential to benefit from economic developments. I hold an equal dollar amount in each of the positions for the following year, and then I reinvest in the new list. The following is my Top 10 for , listed in alphabetical order. This year's Top Ten represent a nice combination of growth and defensiveness. Results have been good in some years and not as good in others. I will sell my names on Friday, December 30th and buy the following names that afternoon. These are not recommendations to buy or sell securities. There is risk of losing principal. Past performance is no indication of future results.

When looking for the best stocks, investors should consider long-term performance, not short-term volatility.

From conceptualization to actual application, drone manufacturers have taken the theories of sci-fi movies and books and turned them into real-life applications, giving birth to the phenomenon of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. Drone makers worldwide have been significantly influenced by the accelerated technological developments and advancements in the field of smart electronics. Drone stocks are massive opportunities for companies and investors.

Top Coffee Stocks for Q2 2020

The coffee industry is a complex and multilayered one, including everything from producers and distributors to processors, wholesalers, and retailers. Notable names include Starbucks Corp. SBUX , J. Smucker Co. There is no single sector or ETF for for the ubiquitous bean, and coffee-related stocks can be found both in the consumer discretionary and consumer staples sectors. In general, retailers and coffee shops are part of the consumer discretionary group, and producers and packaged food companies are part of the consumer staples group. These sectors have have had widely different market performance. Here are the top 3 coffee stocks with the best value, the fastest earnings growth, and the most momentum. Source: YCharts. These are the coffee stocks that had the highest total return over the last 12 months.

Top 10 Stock Picks for 2017

The coronavirus pandemic has erased all the gains stocks saw in early , officially ending an year bull run. Volatility isn't over, and the impact of the virus on daily life, markets, and the economy is just beginning to be felt. While the fallout from the global COVID outbreak in the coming months could be devastating — an increasing number of confirmed cases, school and business closings, wild market swings — the long-term investing picture is still the same. Global growth will continue. A decline in manufacturing and consumer spending over the next few months will cause growth to slow, but it will not stop completely. It might seem hard to believe, but it's more important than ever to have your "stocks to buy" list polished and ready to go — because what we're being presented with is a generational buying opportunity. Don't worry about trying to time the bottom.