Every month, we ask our freelance writers to share their top US stocks with investors — here’s what they rate highly for August!
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Apple
What it does: Apple is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of smartphones, tablets, and computers, among other products. It’s most renowned for the iPhone.
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By Charlie Keough. Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) shares have been flying in 2024. As such, they’re my top pick for August.
Even after surpassing its five-year high at points this year, I’m still confident that the share price of the world’s most valuable company by market capitalisation can keep rising.
I’m most excited by the potential moves it can make in the artificial intelligence space. For example, it recently announced that it will be integrating OpenAi’s ChatGPT into its mobile devices. Given this will only apply to iPhone 15 Pro or newer models, I suspect this will provide sales with a boost.
I also love the business given its dominant market position. There are more than 2bn active iPhones, iPads, Macs, and other Apple devices across the world.
There are risks. One is that recent data showed the firm saw its market share fall to 14% in China for the second quarter. It also experienced a slowdown in Chinese sales in the first quarter.
But as a long-term investment, Apple is a stock I’m incredibly bullish on. If I had the cash, I’d happily increase my position today.
Charlie Keough owns shares in Apple.
CrowdStrike
What it does: CrowdStrike is a cybersecurity firm providing endpoint security, threat intelligence, and cyberattack response services.
By Mark David Hartley. US cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike (NASDAQ: CRWD) might seem like an odd choice right now. The shares plunged 24% over a weekend in July after the company was blamed for widespread network outages that affected airlines, hospitals and banks. In the wake of the disaster, analysts slashed price targets and brokers downgraded ratings. Now, the firm faces potential lawsuits that could drag on for years.
While the saga is far from over, I think the worst of the losses have been priced in. As the shares begin to bounce back in the coming months, the current price could be a very attractive entry point. CrowdStrike is a £65bn company – I doubt it’ll collapse from one hiccup. Despite the fall, the company remains profitable for now, with earnings per share (EPS) at 54c and profit margins at 4%. And the current price is undervalued by around 45% based on future cash flow estimates.
Mark Hartley owns shares in CrowdStrike
Intuitive Surgical
What it does: Intuitive Surgical is the global leader in developing minimally invasive robot-assisted surgery machines.
By Zaven Boyrazian. Technology is pivotal in most industries, enabling significantly more efficient operations. However, one area that seems to be flying under the radar is robot-assisted surgeries. Over the last 20 years, Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) has become a titan in this space. And it now controls just shy of 60% of the global market share.
Today, over 9,400 of Intuitive Surgical’s da Vinci machines are deployed worldwide, with more than 2.2 million procedures performed in 2023 alone. Over the years, these figures have been rising, with sales, earnings, and free cash flow expanding by double-digits. So, it’s no wonder the share price is up 150% over the last five years.
Despite this impressive growth, the firm has barely scratched the surface when looking at forecasts. Of course, larger opportunities attract more competition. And Intuitive Surgical may soon find itself fending against rival firms attempting to take its market share. But with a multi-decade track record of delivering results, it’s a risk I’m willing to take.
Zaven Boyrazian owns shares in Intuitive Surgical.
Visa
What it does: Visa is a financial technology company that operates one of the world’s largest electronic payments networks.
By Edward Sheldon, CFA. Visa (NYSE: V) shares have pulled back a little recently and I think they offer quite a lot of value at current levels.
This is a high-quality, Warren Buffett-type company (Buffett owns shares in it). As the operator of the one of the world’s largest electronic payments networks, it has a wide ‘economic moat’.
Meanwhile, it’s a very profitable business with a long growth runway ahead. Over the next decade, trillions of transactions are likely to shift from cash to card.
Of course, just like every business, Visa faces risks. The biggest risk I see is regulatory intervention (because it’s such a dominant company).
Taking a long-term view, however, I’m backing this stock to do well. It’s trading on a forward-looking price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of about 24 as I write this which I think is a very attractive valuation for a world-class business with significant long-term growth potential.
Edward Sheldon owns shares in Visa
