5 Of The Best Stocks To Buy For December

Last Updated November 30th 2022

9 Min Read

Now is the most opportune time to assess where stocks are sitting on the market and to evaluate what the future potentially has in store for these exciting assets.

Despite the dominance of the COVID-19 pandemic over the past 2 years, the continuing challenges and increasing rise of inflation, the S&P 500 rose up by 15% last year.

However moving into December, the market is set to face stronger headwinds due to the above factors. Yet with strong consumer demand, low interest rates and other contributing factors in the mix, stocks should be able to retain and or strive to reach new record levels as the economy continues to push forward into the back end of the year.

Having said all of that, here are five of the best-performing stocks sitting attractively that have exceeded expectations in both recent months and over the past 18 months that look to offer investors fantastic growth prospects, stability within both the short and long term outlook and value as these stocks aim to deliver further worldwide success.

Here are five of the best stocks to buy for December:

Walt Disney Co (DIS)

You don’t have to be an experienced investor to know that Walt Disney Co (DIS) has had a challenging ride over the past 18 months as the magical company had to seize operations globally due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The halt in services pushed DIS to witness an average $1 billion loss per month towards the back end of 2020, the biggest loss over a short period that the company has witnessed in over 40 years. However, not everything was catastrophic for Disney.

The stock’s streaming platform Disney+ was a huge positive for the company over 2020, timing itself nicely within the market to reach above 73 million subscribers out of Disney’s overall 120 million subscribers from its media outlets worldwide by the end of the year.

Looking into 2021, this stock's Disney+ service has over 118 million subscribers worldwide to date, confirming a rise of over 70 million from the start of 2020. According to Disney’s CEO Bob Chapek, DIS is on target to reach its target range of between 230 million to 260 million subscribers by 2024 as it seeks to further expand within various international markets and add new material into the mix.

Furthermore, Disney has also given the go-ahead to once again welcome customers through the gates of its magical theme parks placed across the globe that draws in millions each year. To give you an indication of how well this segment can perform for the stock, back in 2019 total revenue peaked at $69.6 billion with the Disney Parks, Experiences and Consumer Products accounting for 37% of the overall revenue. Fast Forward to year-end 2020, this segment took a dramatic hit of just over $80 billion due to global closures.

As the vaccination rollout continues to be widespread across the globe and travel restrictions set to relax, it is already visible to see that these moves forward have already made an impact on the stock. DIS confirmed a rise in diluted earnings per share from operations to $1.1 for 2021, with a revenue growth of 3.47% as the company continues to make strong improvements for the long term.

Currently trading at $94, analysts have predicted that the stock could reach above $126 by the end of 2022 including analysts predicting that the stock could reach $84 billion in revenue, edging above pre-pandemic revenue results by the end of the year.

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Square Inc (SQ)

Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic the world of digital payments has witnessed a huge strive forward, and one company in particular that soared in 2020 was Square Inc (SQ).

Square hit a whopping 85.95% rise in net revenue in 2021 to $17.66 billion with one of its standout growth avenues, its Cash App generated an impressive $518 million in profits in the Q4, a rise of over 37% YoY as it continues to be one of the stock's blossoming growth prospects moving forward.

In recent days SQ has announced its new stellar acquisition plan of the Australian financial company Afterpay in a record-breaking deal reportedly worth $29 billion. AfterPay’s ‘buy now pay later’ business model has been a big success across various international markets that also comes hand-in-hand with SQ’s announcement of its Seller ecosystem that aims to help smaller businesses gain finance. Both of the stock’s new avenue adventures should stretch SQ stock amongst its biggest competitors within its valuation as it further seeks to continue its acquiring plans in order to create further value for shareholders.

Another highlight to mention about SQ stock is that it does invest heavily into the popular cryptocurrency Bitcoin, from its balance sheet. The move to invest into this cryptocurrency is to bring a more “inclusive future” to Square stock as cryptocurrency strives to become the payment way of the future. Square’s Cash App enables users to make money transfers but holds the added benefit of allowing individuals to buy and sell stocks, Bitcoin and more.

Currently trading at around $64, analysts have given SQ stock an average medium price target of $90 with a high price target of $150 for 2022, which has been deemed more than achievable given the stock's clear growth prospects. As the world continues to head further into the digital space, SQ is set to be one of the clear leaders with the digital payment division that investors don’t want to miss out on.

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Facebook (FB)

Whether you like Facebook (FB) or not there is one thing for certain and it's that this stock is certainly one to buy right now due to its relatively discounted price and keep a hold of for the long run.

The social media giant who is also the parent company to popular social platforms Instagram and Whatsapp is continuing to pull in strong results. Within the stock’s fourth-quarter results, FB confirmed that sales of $33.67 billion, alongside pulling in earnings of $3.72 per share for the period with both results beating analysts expectations.

Additionally, Facebook also confirmed an increase in monthly active users to 2.912 billion. The total number of people that use Facebook each month increased by roughly 2 million (+0.1%) in the three months leading up to January 2022.

On the subject of legal issues, in recent days Facebook has faced a lot of backlash due to privacy issues. The company is still going to deal with a lot of issues, including multiple lawsuits which might affect the price of its stock.

Aside from FB being the number one social media platform, Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s plans of turning FB into a “metaverse company” by seeking to grow a virtual environment is already underway and is a huge growth avenue for both the digital space and for stock to reach new levels.

Currently trading at $110 and being given an average target price of $153 by analysts for the year, confirms that although FB may be on the forefront to hit some challenges there is no doubt for one of the world's most valuable companies that it will continue to deliver impressive results for many more years ahead.

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Apple Inc (AAPL)

Just like others on this list Apple Inc (AAPL) continues to achieve impressive results over quarters and has confirmed another solid rise within the company's results.

In 2021 Apple pulled in record revenue of $365.82 billion, a rise of 33.44%, alongside earnings of $5.61 per diluted share making it one of the most successful months the stock has witnessed within its history.

The leading tech company launched its latest iPhone models in September, alongside its latest Apple watch series 7 allowing both to be readily available for the holiday season which is known to be a pivotal time for the brand.

Apple has posted record Q2 2022 revenue that surpass the estimates. The company’s overall revenue grew 9% to $97.28 billion.

Apple is a known perfect long term stock that has created and delivered fantastic value to its shareholders over the years. And as AAPL’s shares firmly sit within the green zone once again, analysts predict that this stock could potentially reach an average price of $178 by the end of the year, showing 20% rise from where it sits on the market today.

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Starbucks Corporation (SBUX)

The last top stock to buy in December is the leading coffee brand Starbucks Corporation (SBUX).

Over the course of 2020 Starbucks faced a challenging time just like many, but fast forward to 2021, Starbucks is witnessing incredible growth even better than pre-pandemic levels following the company’s strategic plans have been executed beautifully as the world heads into the new post-pandemic world.

Within the company’s 2021 results, SBUX reported net revenues reached 23.59% to a record $29.06 billion. These results are a direct result of store re-openings worldwide where millions are able to once again gather with friends and family over coffee and treats.

As for the future outlook, SBUX is looking set to continue to grow its presence worldwide with China being one of the brands main focuses. The brand's presence in China has continued to significantly grow stronger over recent years which has caused the brand to surpass 5,000 stores across China within Q3 2021, with a further 600 reportedly set to follow. Additionally, the brand's retail partnerships that sell Starbucks products are also coming out on top amongst its competitors across the Asian region.

Raising its full-year 2022 guidance, SBUX is looking to reach revenue of around $35 billion for 2022 with analysts further predicting that SBUX’s EPS could reach $3.4 by 2022.