The fourth quarter has officially arrived, which is a time when many investors reflect on year-to-date portfolio performance but start to shift their focus to where the market could be heading in 2026. This makes it important for investors to identify some values in the market and scoop up shares before they begin to rally.
I've got five stocks I have identified as great picks for October. I think investors would be wise to consider them as soon as possible, as they could rally to end the year.
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Nvidia
Nvidia (NVDA -1.14%) has been one of the best-performing artificial intelligence stock picks over the past few years. Although 2025 hasn't been as strong a performance as 2023 or 2024 due to its size, Nvidia could maintain its place as the top AI stock if management's market projection comes true.
They believe that global data center capital expenditures will reach $600 billion this year, but rise to $3 trillion to $4 trillion by 2030. That's incredible growth and would lead to heightened demand for Nvidia's graphics processing units (GPUs).
If this projection comes true, Nvidia's stock is a must-own. Nvidia's management works closely with its end customers, and receives information about orders years in advance so they can ensure they have proper capacity to meet demand. As a result, investors should at least trust the direction of increased AI spending over the next five years, making Nvidia an excellent stock to buy as soon as possible.
Taiwan Semiconductor
Alongside Nvidia, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM 4.31%) is another huge beneficiary of increased AI spending. Nvidia and its competitors don't have the in-house capabilities to produce their own chips. So they farm out that work to a chip foundry like Taiwan Semiconductor.
TSMC, as it's also called, has established itself as the leading chip foundry, and nearly every big tech company is a client. So, as long as the general market trend is to use more advanced chips in greater quantities, Taiwan Semiconductor is a smart investment.
I think Taiwan Semi is still a great stock to buy now, and it could see further gains to close 2025 as data center capital expenditure plans for 2026 are revealed.
Alphabet
One of these big AI spenders is Alphabet (GOOG 0.26%) (GOOGL 0.24%), the parent company of Google. While Alphabet has spent a ton of money on AI infrastructure, it isn't solely being done to power its generative AI model, Gemini. Alphabet also rents some of this computing power out to various clients through its cloud computing platform, Google Cloud. This gives Alphabet a revenue source to offset these expensive buildouts.
Furthermore, Alphabet has emerged as a leader in the generative AI space and has integrated it into the Google Search engine with AI search overviews. While there was some fear about Google potentially being replaced by a generative AI-first search engine, I think this evolution of the product allows it to maintain its leadership position.
Alphabet isn't the world's largest company yet, but it produces the most profits (outside of Saudi Aramco). This could lead to a strong stock movement as the market realizes Alphabet's potential.
MercadoLibre
One of my favorite stocks outside of the AI movement is MercadoLibre (MELI -1.33%). MercadoLibre is the leading e-commerce giant in Latin America, and it has a thriving fintech platform in that geography as well. Because Latin America is well behind the U.S. in both of these trends, this gives investors the chance to turn back the clock and invest in industries that they already know will be successful.
MercdaoLibre has been a longtime winner, but its future is just as bright as it continues to develop the Latin American commerce market. There are far more people to serve in Latin America than in the U.S., so this is an important factor to watch. We're still years away from it being complete, making MercadoLibre an excellent stock to buy now.
The Trade Desk
This year hasn't been kind to The Trade Desk (TTD -0.87%). Its stock is down more than 65% from its all-time high, due to its perceived slowing growth rate. The ad technology platform has had a rough transition migrating its clients from its old platform to its new AI-powered one, and this has caused some customers to leave the platform altogether.
However, The Trade Desk is making some changes and looking to boost revenue growth past the 14% rate that management projects for the third quarter. Time will tell if management can right the ship, but The Trade Desk has a long track record of success and is operating in an important and growing market. I think investors should give it the benefit of the doubt and bet on a strong turnaround play between now and the end of 2026.
