3 promising stocks to buy now

With markets approaching all-time highs, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find golden opportunities. Zacks He thought he found a little with these three shares.

Although many stocks trade near their highs, this is not the case for everyone. For example, the largest technology company in China, where risks have been priced heavily, or a chain of steakhouses that are highly valued by Americans. And of course, an AI company cannot be missing from our overview of stocks worth buying!

JD.com

JD.com is a Chinese e-commerce company that has seen its revenue growth stagnate in recent years. The share is still more than 70% below its all-time high in 2021.

In the first quarter of 2024, the company witnessed progress in revenue growth and profitability. However, things are still far from out of the woods. Profit margins are suffering from investments in forward-looking technologies like drone delivery, and it will be difficult to navigate the tough economic environment while fending off stronger competitors — most notably PDD Holdings, the company behind Temu.

With all this negativity, the stock is trading at just 13.48 times earnings. That’s a very low price for a company that can expect huge gains in its stock price – if all goes well.

Texas Roadhouse

A completely different stock, both in terms of momentum and valuation, is fast-food chain Texas Roadhouse. It trades at 35 times earnings, which is lower than many fast-growing fast-food restaurants. In the first quarter of 2024, sales growth reached 12.5%. The net result increased by 31% compared to the previous year as profit margins continued to increase.

Although the company opened 12 additional locations, adding 7% more restaurants compared to last year, comparable restaurant sales increased 8.4% at corporate restaurants and 7.7% year over year at franchise restaurants.

Investors receive a quarterly dividend that currently stands at 1.4%. The restaurant chain has maintained annual profit growth of 16% over the past decade.

AppLovin

Then another share for artificial intelligence enthusiasts. For advertising company AppLovin, the launch of its AI-based advertising technology was a game-changer. Revenue rose a whopping 91% last quarter. This technology has been a huge hit with AppLovin’s mobile gaming customers and its success is starting to attract more of those customers.

Now the company wants to expand into e-commerce and online advertising. AppLovin shares trade at just over 15 times forward earnings, which is very cheap for the growth it has seen and the opportunities it has ahead of it. But of course this profit must be made.

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