7 A-Rated Stocks to Buy in Q4

Even if you don’t believe in Santa Claus, there’s plenty of reason to believe you can fill your stockings with A-rated stocks to buy this quarter. After all, history is on your side.

Stocks are more prone to rally at the end of the year, increasing nearly 80% of the time. After all, the holiday season and bonuses are right around the corner, and the increased enthusiasm often leads to more buying activity.

This is also the holiday shopping season and an important time for finding the best retail stocks to buy. Investors typically start looking at consumer spending patterns during this time of year to decide if consumers are buying new tech (indicating an increase in technology stocks to buy) or if they are looking at autos or household goods.

And don’t forget, this is earnings season as many companies are announcing their results for Q3 and issuing updated guidance for the fourth quarter and the end of the year. Positive sentiment moves the market and investors who are balancing out their portfolios for the end of the year.

We’ll use the Portfolio Grader to identify some of the best A-rated stocks to buy today.

MercadoLibre (MELI)

MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI) is an e-commerce and digital marketplace in Latin America. It lets its users buy and sell merchandise, with hundreds of millions of items changing hands each quarter.

The company also has a payment solutions platform that serves people who don’t want to use a traditional bank. MercadoLibre operates a shipping business and a loan division.

MercadoLibre has a position in Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Columbia and more. It handles more than 21% of all e-commerce sales in Latin America.

Revenue for the second quarter was $3.4 billion, an increase of 57.2% from a year ago. Income was $558 million, which doubled from a year ago.

MELI stock is up 40% in 2023. It gets an “A” rating in the Portfolio Grader.

Eli Lilly & Co. (LLY)

If you’re holding Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY) stock, you’re in good company. LLY is up 60% in 2023 as investors buy in in anticipation of the company’s obesity drug to get approval in the U.S.

The drug in question is Mounjaro, which is already making billions annually as a treatment for diabetes. But Lilly has high hopes – and so do investors – that the Food & Drug Administration will approve Mounjaro as an obesity treatment.

Lilly believes such a ruling will turn Mounjaro into a $25 billion drug yearly.

The drugmaker’s stock spiked even higher this month when rival Novo Nordisk (NYSE:NVO), which is working on a diabetes and weight-loss drug of its own, said its drug was also promising as a treatment for chronic kidney disease.

Obviously, investors are all in on LLY stock, and there are concerns, rightly, that many of its profits could be baked in. But considering the epidemic of obesity in this country, I think there’s plenty of profits to go around.

LLY stock has an “A” rating in the Portfolio Grader.

Ferrari (RACE)

There are a lot of interesting auto stocks out there. But my pick for A-rated stocks to buy is Ferrari (NASDAQ:RACE), the Italian automaker of high-performance supercars that are as much a status symbol as a method of transportation.

Shipments for the second quarter were 3,392, down 2% from a year ago. But while shipments to the Americas and China were down, shipments to Europe, the Middle East and Africa were up 17%.

But even with relatively flat overall deliveries, Ferrari is still making solid profits as it ramps up its 296 GTS and 812 Competizione A models. Net revenues for the quarter were 1.47 billion euros ($1.55 billion), up 14% from a year ago.

That prompted Ferrari to raise its 2023 full-year guidance from 5.7 billion euros to 5.8 billion euros. A year ago, revenue was only 5.1 billion euros.

RACE stock is up 39% this year, and it has an “A” rating in the Portfolio Grader.

Palo Alto Networks (PANW)

Cybersecurity company Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) provides security solutions to organizations to protect networks, cloud environments and endpoints from cyberthreats and attacks.

As more of our personal information is stored online, including medical records, Social Security numbers and credit histories, there will be a need for companies like Palo Alto to protect data from cybercriminals.

Palo Alto’s products include firewalls, threat intelligence, platforms and endpoint protection systems. The company also provides cloud security, consulting and support services.

Earnings for the fiscal fourth quarter (ending July 31) included revenue of $2 billion, an increase of 26% from a year ago. Income was $227.7 million and 64 cents per share, up from $3.3 million and 1 cent per share a year ago.

PANW stock is up 75% this year and gets an “A” rating in the Portfolio Grader.

Celsius Holdings (CELH)

Celsius Holdings (NASDAQ:CELH) makes health and wellness beverages. It’s best known for its Celsius brand of fitness drinks, including green tea extract, guarana seed extract, ginger root and vitamins.

Unlike other health drinks designed to boost performance, Celsius focuses on more natural ingredients. The beverages are free of artificial preservatives, artificial flavoring, aspartame or high fructose corn syrup.  It also has a partnership with PepsiCo (NYSE:PEP) which took a minority stake in 2022 while securing distribution rights.

Second-quarter revenue was $326 million, a new high for the company and up 112% from a year ago. Net income of $40.9 million resulted in 52 cents per share, up from $9.2 million and 12 cents per share a year ago.

The growth story is taking hold. CELH stock is up 61% this year and gets an “A” rating in the Portfolio Grader.

TJX Companies (TJX)

Many retailers are struggling as e-commerce, elevated inventories, labor costs and inflation hurt brick-and-mortar stores. But TJX Companies (NYSE:TJX) stands out as an A-rated stock.

The company has several department store chains, including Marshalls, HomeGoods, Sierra and T.J. Maxx. The chains provide clothing, home décor, and furnishings at discounted prices compared to more traditional retail stores.

Products and selections change often depend on what the company can buy at a discount, so the stores are popular for people who are bargain-hunting for something different.

The business model encourages in-person shopping rather than e-commerce – so much so that the company shuttered its Homegoods e-commerce site on October 21.

And because TJX positions itself as a discount retailer, it’s doing better in an inflationary environment than other retail stores as customers are more likely to come in looking for bargains.

Earnings for the second quarter of fiscal 2024 (ending July 29, 2023) included revenue of $12.8 billion, up 8% from a year ago. Income was $1 billion and 85 cents per share versus 69 cents per share a year ago.

TJX stock is up 11% this year. It gets an “A” rating in the Portfolio Grader.

Meta Platforms (META)

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META), the parent company of Facebook, continues to exceed expectations.

While some others of the so-called “Magnificent Seven” stocks struggle this year, Meta recently hit a 52-week high and is up 148%.

The company just posted its third quarter results, another winning report. Revenue of $34.15 billion was up 23% from a year ago, and income of $11.5 billion increased 164%.

Daily active users in September were 2.09 billion, an increase of 5% from a year ago.

Meta issued fourth-quarter guidance for revenue between $36.5 billion and $40 billion.

The company’s strategy of reducing operating costs and a rebound in digital ad demand makes Meta Platforms an A-rated stock in the Portfolio Grader.

On the date of publication, Louis Navellier had a long position in LLY. He did not hold (either directly or indirectly) any other positions in the securities mentioned in this article.

The InvestorPlace Research Staff member primarily responsible for this article did not hold (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article.