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Best stocks to buy now: Top stock picks for October 2023

The 20 best stocks to buy now on the Nasdaq and NYSE.

We update our list of the best stocks to buy each month using Finder’s proprietary algorithm. This list of the best stocks to buy now is a starting point for your own research and should not be taken as advice to buy any particular stock.

Stock trading platforms to buy the best stocks

Best all-in-one platform

Finder Award

SoFi Invest


  • Trade stocks for $0 and no annual fee
  • Start trading with a $0 minimum deposit
  • Get up to $1,000 in stock when you fund a new account within 30 days

Best for social investing

Finder Award

eToro


  • Easy to use platform with $0 stock trading & no annual fees
  • Social trading allows you to copy popular portfolios
  • FINDER EXCLUSIVE: Guaranteed $15 bonus when you sign up and deposit $100

Best for options trading

tastytrade


  • $0 commissions on stocks and ETFs
  • $0 closing commissions on stock and ETF options
  • Get $100 - $2,000 when you open and fund an account with $5,000 to $100,000+

20 best stocks to buy now


Cameco Corp (ccj.NYSE)

Cameco Corporation provides uranium for the generation of electricity. It operates through two segments, Uranium and Fuel Services.
  • Market cap: $17.685 billion
  • YTD performance: 203.94%
  • 1 Year performance: 90.99%
  • 5 Year performance: 634.48%
  • P/E Ratio: 253.875
  • Headquarters: USA

First Citizens BancShares Inc (fcnca.NASDAQ)

First Citizens BancShares, Inc. operates as the holding company for First-Citizens Bank & Trust Company that provides retail and commercial banking services to individuals, businesses, and professionals.
  • Market cap: $19.411 billion
  • YTD performance: 135.67%
  • 1 Year performance: 158.28%
  • 5 Year performance: 382.11%
  • P/E Ratio: 1.8345
  • Headquarters: USA

Interactive Brokers Group Inc (ibkr.NASDAQ)

Interactive Brokers Group, Inc. operates as an automated electronic broker worldwide.
  • Market cap: $35.97 billion
  • YTD performance: 41.08%
  • 1 Year performance: 34.54%
  • 5 Year performance: 136.9%
  • P/E Ratio: 30.4195
  • Headquarters: USA

Arista Networks (anet.NYSE)

Arista Networks, Inc. develops, markets, and sells cloud networking solutions in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia-Pacific.
  • Market cap: $55.081 billion
  • YTD performance: -37.57%
  • 1 Year performance: 83.16%
  • 5 Year performance: 100.81%
  • P/E Ratio: 32.7059
  • Headquarters: USA

JPMorgan Chase & Co (jpm.NYSE)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. operates as a financial services company worldwide.
  • Market cap: $421.18 billion
  • YTD performance: 14.73%
  • 1 Year performance: 43.7%
  • 5 Year performance: 79.36%
  • P/E Ratio: 9.3203
  • Headquarters: USA

Mastercard Inc (ma.NYSE)

Mastercard Incorporated, a technology company, provides transaction processing and other payment-related products and services in the United States and internationally. It facilitates the processing of payment transactions, including authorization, clearing, and settlement, as well as delivers other payment-related products and services.
  • Market cap: $372.532 billion
  • YTD performance: 10.57%
  • 1 Year performance: 42.76%
  • 5 Year performance: 128.61%
  • P/E Ratio: 37.0553
  • Headquarters: USA

Arch Capital Group Ltd (acgl.NASDAQ)

Arch Capital Group Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, provides insurance, reinsurance, and mortgage insurance products worldwide. The company's Insurance segment offers primary and excess casualty coverages; loss sensitive primary casualty insurance programs; collateral protection, debt cancellation, and service contract reimbursement products; directors' and officers' liability, errors and omissions liability, employment practices and fiduciary liability, crime, professional indemnity, and other financial related coverages; medical professional and general liability insurance coverages; and workers' compensation and umbrella liability, as well as commercial automobile and inland marine products.
  • Market cap: $30.307 billion
  • YTD performance: 124.76%
  • 1 Year performance: 80.36%
  • 5 Year performance: 273.23%
  • P/E Ratio: 13.9383
  • Headquarters: USA

Novo Nordisk A/S (nvo.NYSE)

Novo Nordisk A/S, a healthcare company, engages in the research, development, manufacture, and marketing of pharmaceutical products worldwide. It operates in two segments, Diabetes and Obesity care, and Rare Disease.
  • Market cap: $410.553 billion
  • YTD performance: 28.28%
  • 1 Year performance: 0.47%
  • 5 Year performance: 119.31%
  • P/E Ratio: 43.2972
  • Headquarters: USA

Ferrari NV (race.NYSE)

Ferrari N.V., through its subsidiaries, engages in design, engineering, production, and sale of luxury performance sports cars worldwide. The company offers range, special series, Icona, and supercars; limited edition supercars and one-off cars; and track cars.
  • Market cap: $52.199 billion
  • YTD performance: 24.89%
  • 1 Year performance: 62.54%
  • 5 Year performance: 201.73%
  • P/E Ratio: 45.2837
  • Headquarters: USA

Caterpillar Inc (cat.NYSE)

Caterpillar Inc. manufactures and sells construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, and industrial gas turbines.
  • Market cap: $139.166 billion
  • YTD performance: 49.45%
  • 1 Year performance: 63.35%
  • 5 Year performance: 207.3%
  • P/E Ratio: 19.9349
  • Headquarters: USA

HSBC Holdings PLC ADR (hsbc.NYSE)

HSBC Holdings plc provides banking and financial services worldwide. The company operates through Wealth and Personal Banking, Commercial Banking, and Global Banking and Markets segments.
  • Market cap: $152.995 billion
  • YTD performance: 50.81%
  • 1 Year performance: 58.09%
  • 5 Year performance: 118.22%
  • P/E Ratio: 6.495
  • Headquarters: USA

ING Group NV ADR (ing.NYSE)

ING Groep N.V., a financial institution, provides various banking products and services in the Netherlands, Belgium, Rest of Europe, North America, Latin America, Asia, and Australia. It operates in six segments: Retail Netherlands, Retail Belgium, Retail Germany, Retail Other, Wholesale Banking, and Corporate Line Banking.
  • Market cap: $45.92 billion
  • P/E Ratio: 7.5434
  • Headquarters: USA

Churchill Downs Incorporated (chdn.NASDAQ)

Churchill Downs Incorporated operates as a racing, online wagering, and gaming entertainment company in the United States. It operates through Live and Historical Racing, TwinSpires, and Gaming segments.
  • Market cap: $8.553 billion
  • P/E Ratio: 23.9979
  • Headquarters: USA

Aflac Incorporated (afl.NYSE)

Aflac Incorporated, through its subsidiaries, provides supplemental health and life insurance products. It operates in two segments, Aflac Japan and Aflac U.S.
  • Market cap: $45.411 billion
  • YTD performance: 72.92%
  • 1 Year performance: 36.26%
  • 5 Year performance: 206.4%
  • P/E Ratio: 10.2466
  • Headquarters: USA

Iron Mountain Incorporated (irm.NYSE)

Iron Mountain Incorporated (NYSE: IRM) is a global leader in innovative storage, data center infrastructure, asset lifecycle management and information management services. Founded in 1951 and trusted by more than 225,000 customers worldwide, Iron Mountain helps customers CLIMB HIGHER to transform their businesses.
  • Market cap: $17.477 billion
  • P/E Ratio: 46.4186
  • Headquarters: USA

Lennox International Inc (lii.NYSE)

Lennox International Inc., together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and markets a range of products for the heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration markets in the United States, Canada, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Residential Heating & Cooling, Commercial Heating & Cooling, and Refrigeration.
  • Market cap: $12.977 billion
  • P/E Ratio: 23.5729
  • Headquarters: USA

This list and data was compiled September 27, 2023 from our proprietary algorithm. The algorithm itself was last updated May, 2023.

Methodology: How we choose the best stocks to buy now

Finder’s investments experts analyze over 6,700 US-listed stocks to curate a list of the best stocks to buy now. We consider only companies with a market cap of at least $1 billion and that have been listed for at least five years. We then analyze the stocks on the following factors, weighing each metric based on the expertise and insights of Finder’s investment experts:

  • Performance over one year and five years
  • Revenue growth
  • Profit margin
  • Beta
  • Trade volume
  • Six month change in price per share
  • Historical returns

We then score and rank each stock depending on how it performs in each category.

These stocks may not offer long term growth or stability, as stocks in the list may be being targeted for a short squeeze, similar to what happened with GameStop back in 2021. Consider taking some time to research any stocks that might have popped up, seemingly randomly to check if there’s solid reasoning behind it, such as a recent (or upcoming) quarterly or annual results, recent announcements or negative press.

If you’re looking for stocks that will grow gradually over time, then you’re not necessarily looking for stocks that everyone is diving in on right now. If that’s the case, look out for stocks on the FTSE 100 or S&P 500 and research some good growth stocks.

How is the stock market performing?

A good way to get a good idea of the stock market as a whole is to look at the performance of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), which is the largest stock exchange in the world. It features over 2,800 stocks from some of the most valuable companies in the world including Apple, Tesla, Amazon, and Microsoft. Many of the most famous stock market indexes, such as the Dow Jones, NYSE Composite and S&P 500, track stocks listed on the NYSE.

How to find the best stocks to buy now

You effectively want to find the stocks that have been mis-priced, before the market realizes that it’s mis-priced. There are a few ways to get an idea of which stocks are undervalued, which ones are overvalued and which ones are just right. Here are some of the strategies:

Strategy 1: Keep an eye on the trends

You’re in a good position to find the best stocks to buy if you’ve got a good idea of which stocks are trending, what some of the experts are saying and which sectors are doing well (or not doing well). As well as Finder, there are some good financial news sites such as Bloomberg and the Financial Times. These can help you stay on top of the latest trends and expert views.

Social media and forums, like Reddit and Twitter have been a good source of financial insight — but you should ensure that you trust the accounts you’re following. Look out for people with knowledge and experience in the subject.

Strategy 2: Look at the news

Once you know which stocks are trending, find out why. There’s almost always a reason behind why people are talking about a specific stock — sometimes it’s really obvious, for example every time Apple releases a new product, something happens to its stock price. Other times, the answer might take a little digging.

Looking at news sites can be really helpful here. You can set news alerts or actively search for company names to find out what’s going on. Many stock trading apps offer stock watchlists and price alerts to help you find the stocks you want.

Traders who keep an eye on the news might be classed as “momentum investors” – people who like to capitalize on the continuance of a trend.

Strategy 3: Look into analysis

There are a couple of different types of analysis available for you to try, and in some cases, someone else can do it for you.

Both technical and fundamental analysts are hoping to find a stock which is underpriced by the wider market. If they’re confident in their assessment, they can find what they believe is a cheap stock to buy, and make a gain as the price rises.

But you don’t need to be a professional analyst to try it out. The GameStop frenzy in early 2021 showed that even the retail investor can give the institutional investors a run for their money. If you’re new to investing or trading and want to give it a shot – go for it. We’ve included some more detail below about the types of analysis.

Remember the golden rules: don’t invest more than you can afford to lose, and remember that your investments can go down as well as up.

Dive deeper How to value a stock

What are the best stocks to buy for beginners?

Total beginners may want to consider picking a trading platform which manages all the investments for you, typically called robo-advisors, or take a look at index funds (a literal index of all the biggest companies in a given industry, country or region). These are considered a less risky way to start investing, as an index fund bundles together 100s or even 1000s of strong companies, diversifying the risk between them and making the failure of one less of a problem for the person doing the investing.

But if you’re dead set on diving straight into the deep end, the golden rule is to not invest more than you’re willing to lose. An individual stock can drop 10%, 20%, or 50%, or could crash to zero, so imagine that happening with the money you’re investing before you put any money in. A good rule of thumb: if a 20% crash will give you sleepless nights, you’re too heavily invested.

ETFs that track stock market indices, like the FTSE100 or S&P500, and blue chip stocks could be good beginner stocks, but that doesn’t mean they’re completely safe. If you create a diversified portfolio with some exchange traded funds, some blue chip stocks and those with good market cap and recent growth, then you can still add some riskier ones into the mix if you’re feeling brave.

Remember, there are absolutely no guarantees with any stock or investing strategy. So make sure you’re doing your research into a stock, regardless of how established the company is.

A photo of matthewmiczulski

What Matt thinks about the best stocks to buy for beginners

Beginners may benefit the most by investing in a handful of stocks of companies they know and whose products they are familiar with. That said, beginners may want to build the core of their portfolio with broad market index funds to get the most diversification without requiring the market expertise needed for picking individual stocks.

— Matt Miczulski, Editor, Investments

Frequently asked questions about the best stocks to buy now

Compare more online stock brokers

To invest in any of these stocks, you’ll need a brokerage account. Compare online stock trading platforms below and click “Go to site” to get started.

1 - 6 of 6
Name Product Ratings Available asset types Minimum deposit Signup bonus
SoFi Invest
Finder Rating: 4.6 / 5: ★★★★★

Finder Award
SoFi Invest
★★★★★
Stocks, Options, ETFs, Cryptocurrency
$0
Get up to $1,000 in stock
when you fund a new account within 30 days.
Winner of Finder’s Best Low-Cost Broker award.
eToro
Finder Rating: 4.2 / 5: ★★★★★

Finder Award
EXCLUSIVE
eToro
★★★★★
Stocks, Options, ETFs, Cryptocurrency
$0
FINDER EXCLUSIVE: Get a guaranteed $15 bonus
when you sign up and deposit $100
Winner of Finder’s Best Broker for Beginners award. Not available in NY, NV, MN, TN, and HI.
tastytrade
Finder Rating: 4.1 / 5: ★★★★★
tastytrade
★★★★★
Stocks, Options, ETFs, Cryptocurrency, Futures
$0
Get $100 - $2,000
when you you open and fund an account with $5,000 to $100,000+
Highly commended for Best Derivatives Trading Platform award.
Public.com
Finder Rating: 4 / 5: ★★★★★
Public.com
★★★★★
Stocks, ETFs, Cryptocurrency, Art, Treasury Bills, Collectibles
$0
Get up to $300 in either stocks or crypto
when you use code FINDERUS to sign up and fund a new account.
2.5% fee applies to all alternative asset transactions.
Robinhood
Finder Rating: 4.2 / 5: ★★★★★
Robinhood
★★★★★
Stocks, Options, ETFs, Cryptocurrency
$0
Get a free stock
when you successfully sign up and link your bank account.
Make unlimited commission-free trades, plus earn 4.9% interest on uninvested cash in your account with Robinhood Gold.
Wealthfront
Finder Rating: 4 / 5: ★★★★★
Wealthfront
★★★★★
Stocks, ETFs
$500
N/A
Wealthfront builds a free financial plan for the life you want and automate your investments at a low cost.
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