Although November is nearly over, plenty of stocks still look like great buys right now. Three that I’ve got my eye on are ASML (NASDAQ: ASML), Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META), and Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL).
These three have great long-term prospects, and I believe now represents a great time to take a position.
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December is historically a strong month for stocks due to something called the “Santa Claus Rally.” This effect occurs when fund managers buy up a bunch of stocks they think will position them well for 2025. With more buyers than sellers in December, stock prices sometimes climb throughout the month. This doesn’t happen every year, but with a strong economy in hand, I’m confident it will occur this year. As a result, buying stocks in November is a smart move.
It’s also a great time to take a position in these three stocks in particular, as they’re well-positioned for 2025.
ASML makes lithography machines that are used to put electrical traces on chips. The company has a technological monopoly on these machines in the high-end space, and any company making cutting-edge chips must purchase ASML’s machines. However, it ran into a bit of a speed bump as regulations have restricted ASML from selling its machines to China and its allies. As a result, ASML reduced its revenue guidance for 2025 from 30 billion-40 billion euros to 30 billion-35 billion euros.
This caused the stock to sell off heavily, but it’s now priced at an attractive point.
At 33 times forward earnings, ASML isn’t necessarily a “cheap” stock, but it’s at an attractive level compared to where it has been over the past year.
ASML is well-positioned to capitalize on the AI chip boom, and this short-term weakness is a buying opportunity.
Meta Platforms is probably better known by its former name, Facebook. The shift from Facebook to Meta originally occurred because of its metaverse aspirations, but now those desires have switched over to AI.
While Meta still derives nearly all of its revenue from ads on its social media platform, its generative AI model, Llama, is starting to become popular. As a result of this demand, Meta is planning on building out even more AI computing capacity in 2025, which management says will cause “significant” capital expenditure growth.
Unlike the metaverse, there’s serious return on investment potential here, as Meta’s generative AI model could become the industry standard for areas it specializes in, like augmented reality and advertising.
