After a rough 2022, stocks took a strong turn upward in 2023, sparked by the slowing pace of rate hikes, declining inflation and a resilient job market: a trio of good omens that could portend the elusive but highly desired “soft landing” for the U.S. economy.

With that backdrop, and with the Federal Reserve now projecting as many as three interest rate cuts in 2024, stocks have been given the green light to run, and all three major U.S. stock market indexes are sitting on healthy gains as the last days of December approach.

The coming year will inevitably bring many surprises for investors – some of them bad. But there are good reasons to be optimistic https://toapaintindonesia.com/ about each of the following stocks over the next 12 months and beyond. Here are the 10 best stocks to buy for 2024:

Alphabet Inc.

At the time of writing, Google parent Alphabet is one of just five publicly traded companies with a valuation of more than $1 trillion. It’s a proven Big Tech powerhouse offering not only its dominant search engine, but also smart devices, Pixel smartphones, YouTube and a suite of Google-branded services including Google Cloud and the Google Play store, among many others.

JPMorgan recently named Alphabet a “top stock” for 2024, citing improving ad growth, higher margins following successful cost cuts, and, of course, artificial intelligence.

While OpenAI’s ChatGPT has stolen the spotlight as the most visible consumer-facing AI chatbot, Google recently released Gemini as the company’s competitor to GPT-4. While the company has been investing heavily in AI for years, the AI race has put more urgency behind its development at Alphabet. Gemini can handle input and output in the form of not just text, but also code, audio, image and video.

Discover Financial Services

As the prospect of a soft landing looks more and more likely, companies like Discover should be primed to benefit if the economy avoids a recession. As a credit card issuer, DFS is a fraction of the size of industry heavyweights like Visa Inc. (V), Mastercard Inc. (MA) and American Express Co. (AXP). In contrast to most issuers, Discover also loans money to consumers instead of just taking a cut of every transaction. That means the health of the American consumer is paramount to DFS’ success, and thankfully the American consumer is strong.

Bank of America Corp. (BAC) CEO Brian Moynihan, speaking on Dec. 19, said: “Everything’s kind of normalized for the American consumer and how they’re spending money. They are in very good shape.” Moynihan has the benefit of insights from the largest consumer bank in the U.S., and that assessment is a good omen, as DFS seems priced for a recession at just nine times forward earnings. Investors will also get the comfort of a 2.4% dividend, which Discover uses less than 20% of its earnings to pay, leaving plenty of room for future increases. There’s reason to expect them, too: In April 2023, DFS announced a 16.7% increase in its quarterly dividend, marking the 13th straight year of increases in its quarterly payout.

Walt Disney Co

A return pick from last year’s list, Disney is a global entertainment giant with a diversified portfolio that includes its parks, cruises, broadcast and streaming platforms, film studios and well-known platforms like ESPN and Disney+.

Led by renowned CEO Bob Iger, who returned to the top spot in late 2022 after costs had spiraled out of control, the House of Mouse recently announced that it would be growing its cost-cutting goal by more than 35%, from $5.5 billion to $7.5 billion. Activist investor Nelson Peltz is currently advocating for two board seats at the company, arguing that the board is too loyal to Iger.

PDD Holdings Inc

PDD is an out-and-out growth stock, so it may not be an appropriate holding for all investors, but its growth trajectory is truly stunning. The Chinese e-commerce company spun up in 2015, less than a decade ago, and yet it has already emerged as a viable competitor to the likes of Chinese e-tailers Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (BABA) and JD.com Inc. (JD).

PDD is the parent of Pinduoduo and Temu, the latter platform being the company’s endeavor into e-commerce outside of China. The venture is going swimmingly: A year after its September 2022 launch, Temu was already in 40 countries.

Occidental Petroleum Corp

It never hurts to follow in the footsteps of the greatest investor of all time: Warren Buffett. The Oracle of Omaha, through his sprawling holding company Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK.A, BRK.B), has been steadily building his position in this oil and natural gas stock. Trading for less than 13 times forward earnings and offering a modest 1.2% dividend, OXY fits Buffett’s mold for his favorite type of stock to buy: It’s a well-run company in value stock territory.

Berkshire first invested in the company in 2019, when it helped finance Occidental’s buyout of Anadarko Petroleum. Since then, Berkshire has amassed a gargantuan stake in OXY that continues to grow. Having gained regulatory approval to purchase as much as 50% of the company, Berkshire has taken its stake from 196 million shares to nearly 244 million shares as of Dec. 21, representing about a 28% stake in the firm.

Match Group Inc

Online dating giant Match Group has had a rough go if it in recent years, slumping in 2021, 2022 and – unless a Santa Claus rally saves it – 2023. A big part of its multiyear decline was simply the inconvenience of rapidly rising rates and an already-overvalued stock that, as recently as 2021, was trading for 132 times forward earnings estimates.

Just as that figure was too high, Match’s current forward P/E of 16 is low. MTCH owns premier online dating brands like Tinder, Hinge, PlentyOfFish, OkCupid and, of course, Match.com. Simply put, online dating should be in secular growth mode as younger generations become ever-more phone-obsessed and increasingly push back marriage – the median age of a first marriage in the U.S. is now 30 for men and 28 for women, compared to ages of 26 for men and 24 for women in 1990.