In this article, we will look at the 12 Best Affordable Stocks To Buy Right Now.
Economic and Market Outlook 2025
There has been a growing debate regarding whether the economy of the United States will have a soft landing. A recent report by Vanguard titled “Beyond Landing” released on November 25 discusses the economic outlook for the year ahead. The report highlighted that global inflation has significantly decreased over the past two years, nearing the target of 2%. However, this decline has been inconsistent across different regions, with many developed markets experiencing slowdowns due to monetary policy adjustments. The United States stands out as an exception, showcasing robust economic growth and full employment despite restrictive monetary policies.
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The report raised critical questions about whether the US has achieved a “soft landing” or if high interest rates will eventually lead to a “hard landing.” The narrative has largely focused on the Federal Reserve’s ability to time rate cuts effectively to facilitate painless disinflation. Vanguard suggests that the strong growth and falling inflation in the US may be better explained by supply-side dynamics, such as increased labor productivity and a surge in available labor, rather than solely by Federal Reserve policies.
Regarding the 2025 outlook, the firm anticipates that US real GDP growth may decline from around 3% to closer to 2%, influenced by potential policy risks like trade tariffs and stricter immigration regulations. Core inflation is expected to remain above 2.5% for most of 2025. The firm also predicts that interest rates will stabilize at levels higher than those seen during the 2010s, fostering better returns in cash and fixed-income markets over the next decade. However, they express caution regarding equity markets due to elevated valuations. The report highlights a tension between momentum and valuation in risk assets, suggesting that while some stocks may continue to perform well, their high valuations could pose risks if economic conditions change unexpectedly.
With that let’s take a look at the 12 best affordable stocks to buy right now.
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Our Methodology
To compile the list of the 12 best affordable stocks to buy right now, we used the Finviz stock screener, Yahoo Finance, and Seeking Alpha. Using the screener we shortlisted stocks trading below a Forward P/E of 15, as of December 4, and that are expected to experience earnings growth this year. Next, we sorted our initial list by market capitalization and cross-checked the Forward P/E of each stock from Seeking Alpha and earnings growth from Yahoo Finance. Lastly, we ranked the stocks in ascending order of the number of hedge fund holders as per Insider Monkey’s database for Q3 2024.
Why do we care about what hedge funds do? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points (see more details here).
12 Best Affordable Stocks To Buy Right Now
12. Charter Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR)
Forward P/E Ratio: 11.72
Earnings Growth This Year: 12.98%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 61
Charter Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR) is a major telecommunications company in the United States that provides a variety of communication services, primarily under its Spectrum brand. These services include high-speed internet, television cable services, mobile services, and voice services for both commercial and residential usage.
While the company serves more than 37.1 million customers in 41 states around the United States, it has been facing difficulty in retaining cable TV customers. During the fiscal third quarter of 2024, the company lost around 9.5% of its video customers as compared to the year before. Two major factors have been affecting its customer base; the first being the general trend towards rising streaming services leading customers to let go of their wired cable providers. Secondly, the ending of FCC’s Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) in the second quarter resulted in around 110,000 customers leaving the company.
Charter Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR) has been working towards fighting this challenge. It announced to provide its TV Select Video customers with streaming subscriptions of up to $80 per month along with the launch of a “seamless entertainment” program, which will include Disney+, Peacock, Max, ESPN+, Paramount+, BET+, ViX, AMC+, Discovery+, and Tennis Channel Plus.
During the third quarter, Charter Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR) increased its revenue by 1.6% year-over-year, driven by an addition of 545,000 total mobile lines. It is also working with the local and state governments to bring Spectrum Internet to underserved communities and activated around 114,000 subsidized rural passes during the quarter. It is one of the 12 best affordable stocks to buy right now.
Weitz Large Cap Equity Fund stated the following regarding Charter Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR) in its Q3 2024 investor letter:
“We trimmed the Fund’s positions in Meta Platforms, S&P Global, and Charter Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR) after significant runs in the stocks. Charter posted better-than-feared quarterly results, and the stock rebounded sharply from what we viewed as deeply oversold levels. A good start, but they still have much work to do. As always, our goal with trims is to re-calibrate position sizes to better reflect the Fund’s current opportunity set.”
11. Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)
Forward P/E Ratio: 14.45
Earnings Growth This Year: 4.98%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 68
Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) is one of the pioneer biotechnology companies that has more than a dozen drugs and treatments focused on treating cancer, inflammation, neurology, cardiology, and more. Some of its most sold products among others include Repatha, used primarily for patients with high cholesterol and cardiovascular disease, Evenity, which treats osteoporosis in postmenopausal women at high risk of fractures, and Prolia, which treats osteoporosis by decreasing bone breakdown.
The strategic edge of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) lies in its portfolio of products, with at least 10 products posting double-digit growth during the third quarter of fiscal 2024. As a result, the company generated more than $8.5 billion in revenue, up 23% year-over-year. While revenue growth was impressive, what’s more interesting is its pipeline. The company has been advancing its product pipeline with MariTide in the phase 2 study for treating type 2 diabetes, UPLIZNA, generating positive results in phase 3, and Xaluritamig also entering phase 3 to treat metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer.
PGIM Jennison Health Sciences Fund stated the following regarding Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) in its Q2 2024 investor letter:
“Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) is a large cap global biotech company with a diverse portfolio of marketed and pipeline products. Amgen’s discovery pipeline had led the company to broaden its focus from oncology, immunology, and renal disease to include musculoskeletal, cardiovascular, and neurologic conditions. In addition, Amgen has turned its expertise in antibody manufacturing into a leading position in the development of biosimilars of competitor drugs. Most recently, Amgen shares advanced in 2Q following its announcement that its novel injectable GLP-1 agonist / GIPR antagonist, MariTide, for obesity showed promising interim Phase 2 data and has shown enough promise to warrant advancement into pivotal trials as soon as late 2024. While Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk will remain the market leaders in the diabetes / obesity space, we think there is room for Amgen to carve out a meaningful share of the market with its antibody-peptide conjugate approach that could enable monthly or better dosing for MariTide.”
