Although the market continues to notch new all-time highs, plenty of individual stocks are worth buying at these prices. While some stocks may be overpriced, not all are that way. Right now, I've got four I would feel confident taking a position in today. These are stocks that could help lead the market forward as it continues to reach new levels.
1. Alphabet
First up is Alphabet (GOOG 9.96%) (GOOGL 10.22%). Alphabet is currently the fourth-largest U.S. company. Yet, as big as it is, Alphabet's business continues to expand. In the fourth quarter, revenue rose 13% year over year to $86.3 billion while the operating margin expanded from 24% to 27%.
While Alphabet has significant skin in the game in artificial intelligence (AI), its primary business is advertising. Advertising has strengthened as clients become more comfortable with the economic situation, which led Alphabet to succeed in its latest quarter.
However, Alphabet's stock doesn't appear to receive the same respect as other big tech companies like Microsoft and Apple and trades at a massive discount from a forward price-to-earnings basis.
GOOGL PE Ratio (Forward) data by YCharts
If Alphabet garnered the same valuation as Microsoft, it would be a $2.9 trillion company -- causing it to pass Apple as the second-largest business on Earth. Eventually, the market will wake up and understand this, causing Alphabet's stock to rise. But until it does, it's a great buy.
2. Taiwan Semiconductor
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM 1.26%) may be the most important company on Earth for our digital society. It's the world's largest contract chip manufacturer and produces cutting-edge chips for companies like Apple and Nvidia.
Last year, the chip industry experienced a downturn due to excess supply, but that trend may be over. In January, Taiwan Semiconductor's revenue rose 7.9% year over year, indicating growth may be returning to the chip giant.
Management expects to boost revenue at a 15% to 20% compound annual growth rate for "several years." Based on this expected growth, the stock looks very attractive.
3. UiPath
UiPath (PATH 0.26%) is a leader in robotic process automation (RPA) software, which allows its clients to automate repetitive tasks like creating a report or filling out an expense report. It also has multiple AI tools to expand the number of tasks it can automate.
UiPath has seen plenty of success recently, with its annual recurring revenue rising 24% to $1.38 billion in its fiscal 2024's third quarter (ended Oct. 31). But this is a drop in the bucket for the overall RPA market.
Polaris Market Research estimates the RPA market opportunity to be worth around $2.66 billion in 2022 but will expand to $66 billion by 2032. That's a massive expansion, and UiPath already has a significant foothold in this market.
With the stock trading at a little over 11 times sales, it's attractively priced for a growing software company. UiPath is on my short list for a stock that could be a top market performer over the next decade, and I think it's a great buy now.
4. Meta Platforms
Last is Meta Platforms (META 0.43%), the company formerly known as Facebook. Like Alphabet, Meta is primarily an advertising company on its various social media platforms. While the ad business struggled in late 2022 and early 2023, it has drastically recovered.
In Q4, Meta's ad revenue increased 24% to $38.7 billion -- a new all-time high. Improvements in this segment, along with its Reality Labs division, allowed Meta to return to peak operating margin levels -- something that was a major concern in late 2022 when they dropped.
META Operating Margin (Quarterly) data by YCharts
With Meta back on the right track and trading for an attractive 24 times forward earnings, it looks like a great stock to buy.
