With the major U.S. stock indexes carving out new all-time highs despite a highly uncertain macroeconomic environment, investors need to be careful. There's plenty of frothiness, and the return of meme stock rallies could be a sign that the current bull market is under threat.
While there are many stocks that I'm not interested in buying right now, there are a few that stand out as excellent buys. Here's why Intel (INTC +4.73%) and International Business Machines (IBM +1.44%) are my two favorite stocks right now.
Image source: Intel.
Intel
Intel stock has more than doubled from its 52-week low following a string of developments over the past few months. The company has greatly improved its balance sheet by striking multiple deals, and its financial results appear to be stabilizing under CEO Lip-Bu Tan.
In August, Intel gave the U.S. government a nearly 10% stake in exchange for grant money that had yet to be delivered. It was an unusual deal, but it improved Intel's balance sheet and gave the federal government a direct stake in the only U.S.-based advanced logic semiconductor manufacturer.
Intel reached two other notable agreements recently: a $2 billion equity investment from Softbank and a $5 billion equity investment from Nvidia. The latter deal also involved custom chip design work that will integrate Intel's x86 CPU technology with Nvidia technology for both PC and server CPUs.
These deals have bolstered Intel's balance sheet, removing some financial pressure as the company attempts to turn its expensive foundry bet into a long-term success. While Intel's comeback is still in its early innings, the company's third-quarter results were better than expected. Revenue edged up, adjusted EPS jumped back into positive territory, and the company noted that demand was outpacing supply.
NASDAQ: INTC
Key Data Points
It's going to take years for Intel to fully right itself. A strong product roadmap, including Panther Lake and Nova Lake for PCs, and Clearwater Forest and Diamond Rapids for servers, can help the company win back market share in 2026 and 2027. However, securing major external customers for the foundry and improving yields for the Intel 18A process, which will be used by Intel for many of its own upcoming products, are necessary requirements for a return to sustainable revenue and earnings growth.
While Intel's turnaround is a work in progress, the sentiment around the stock has certainly shifted in a positive direction. With shares of Intel still well below the multiyear high, the semiconductor giant is worth betting on even after staging a huge rally.
International Business Machines
IBM isn't a flashy company. The tech giant serves enterprise clients with consulting services, software, and hardware, providing solutions that marry its own products with third-party offerings through various strategic partnerships. The company's client base is enormous, with some relationships spanning decades.
Unlike other tech behemoths, IBM is not pouring capital into massive artificial intelligence data centers or training expensive frontier AI models. Instead, the company is focused on small, efficient, and purpose-built models that are deployed to solve client problems. IBM has booked $9.5 billion worth of AI-related business so far, with around 80% of that total coming from consulting and the rest coming from software. AI implementation and related services are areas where IBM shines.
NYSE: IBM
Key Data Points
IBM expects its revenue to grow by more than 5% adjusted for currency this year despite ongoing sluggishness in demand for discretionary tech projects. Free cash flow should be around $14 billion, up from $12.7 billion last year. AI is part of the reason for this growth, in addition to a new mainframe system that puts AI at the center.
Looking further ahead, IBM is a leader in the quantum computing market. The company has a well-defined roadmap and is pursuing a strategy of pairing quantum computers with classical techniques. Recently, HSBC used an IBM quantum computer to accelerate a computation involved in bond trading. Around 2033, IBM expects full-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computers to be a reality.
The stock market has finally started to appreciate IBM over the past couple of years, sending the stock up more than 100% since late 2023. As the company's enterprise AI strategy continues to pay off, and as its quantum computing efforts march toward commercial viability, it's not too late for investors to bet on IBM.
