A new investing year is almost here, and now is a great time to prepare. It's impossible to predict which stocks will climb the most in 2024 or whether the overall market will soar. But, if you choose stocks that offer solid long-term prospects and trade at reasonable prices now, you're preparing your portfolio for strength no matter what 2024 brings -- and a possible win over the long haul.
You also may consider dividend stocks, which pay you passive income regardless of what the market is doing. And it's a great idea to diversify across industries, a move that limits your risks if the market suddenly sanctions one particular sector. Considering these points, which stocks should you buy before the New Year? The following three fit the bill.
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1. Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola (KO) is a stock that will pay you more and more every year just for owning it. Sounds like a pretty good deal, right? The world's biggest non-alcoholic beverage company is a Dividend King, meaning it's lifted its dividend for more than 50 straight years. This shows rewarding shareholders is important to Coca-Cola, so it's likely the company will continue along this path.
The beverage giant also has the financial situation to make dividend growth possible, with free cash flow of more than $10 billion. And Coca-Cola's steady earnings growth over time, supported by a strong brand that keeps customers coming back, is another reason to be confident about the company's ability to increase dividends.
And speaking of earnings, even though Coca-Cola already sells its drinks in 200 countries around the world, the company still continues to increase revenue and profit and gain market share. In the most recent quarter, it did so, and the company also lifted its full-year forecast for revenue growth. Coca-Cola's performance is due to its brand strength and its constant efforts to innovate across product lines.
Today, Coca-Cola shares trade for 22x forward earnings estimates, a steal for a stock you can rely on over time.
2. Alphabet
Alphabet (GOOG 9.96%) (GOOGL 10.22%) is a leader in its main business -- and I don't see rivals unseating it any time soon. The company's Google Search dominates the market, with a 91% share worldwide, and this isn't surprising considering how frequently all of us "Google" something when looking for information.
Alphabet sells ads to advertisers who hope to reach us as we search on the platform, and even during today's difficult economic times, advertisers haven't given up on Google -- the company's ad revenue has continued to grow.
And Alphabet's investments in artificial intelligence (AI) should make its search capabilities even stronger, keeping users and advertisers coming back well into the future. The company recently released Gemini, its most powerful AI model yet, and now is testing it as a tool to improve search.
You'll also like Alphabet for its Google Cloud business. Though it's a smaller player than Amazon and Microsoft, revenue has been rising in the double-digits and more than 60% of the world's thousand-largest companies are clients.
Now let's consider Alphabet's valuation. Today, the stock trades for 23x forward earnings estimates, down from more than 30 less than two years ago. That's a bargain considering Alphabet's search market leadership -- and AI investments that should drive growth across its businesses.
3. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals
At more than $800 a share, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (REGN -0.84%) is the biotech company with the highest price tag -- but that doesn't make it the most expensive. More on that in a minute. First, let's get to know a bit about this big biotech, and why its shares have advanced over time.
Regeneron sells several drugs across treatment areas, but its core growth products include Eylea for retinal disease, immunology drug Dupixent, and oncology drug Libtayo. Dupixent, a drug it shares with Sanofi, and Libtayo posted double-digit gains in global net sales in the most recent quarter.
And this year, Regeneron scored a big win when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Eylea HD, a higher-dose version of the ophthalmology drug. The original Eylea faces increasing competition, but if patients transition to Eylea HD, Regeneron is likely to post significant revenue growth over time rather than declines. The company aims to make Eylea HD the new standard of care.
Regeneron also has more than 35 candidates in clinical development -- if even a handful make it to market, we could expect more growth from this top biotech company.
Today, Regeneron trades for only 20x forward earnings estimates, in spite of the stock's gain this year and over time. And that's why it makes a great stock to buy right now and hold onto for the long term.
