My 3 Favorite Stocks to Buy Right Now

With the S&P 500 near an all-time high and trading at roughly 30x earnings, the piece urges selective buying of recession-resilient “evergreen” names — highlighting Costco, Amazon and Uber. Costco is lauded for membership-driven profits and scale (cardholders 105.5m → 140.6m from FY2020–FY2025; renewal rate 88% → 90.5%; warehouses 795 → 914), plans 35 new openings, and is forecast by analysts to deliver ~7% revenue and 20% EPS CAGR to FY2028 despite trading at ~45x this year’s earnings. Amazon’s AWS remains the primary profit engine, supported by a >240m Prime base and a growing ad business; analysts see ~11% revenue and 20% EPS CAGR to 2027 and value the stock at about 28x next year’s earnings. Uber has scaled to 189m monthly active consumers (Q3 2025) and 36m Uber One subscribers, has returned to GAAP profitability, and is projected to grow revenue and adjusted EBITDA at ~16% and 28% CAGR to 2027, trading at an enterprise value of $190.5bn or ~17x next year’s adjusted EBITDA — making all three candidates for buy-and-hold allocations in a richly valued market.

Analysis

The S&P 500 is trading near an all-time high at roughly 30 times earnings, prompting the article's central recommendation that investors be selective and favor recession-resilient “evergreen” stocks rather than chasing high-growth, higher-risk darlings. The author highlights Costco, Amazon and Uber as three defensive growth candidates built to withstand bear markets.

Costco’s argument rests on membership economics and scale: cardholders rose from 105.5 million to 140.6 million between fiscal 2020 and fiscal 2025, renewal rates increased from 88% to 90.5%, warehouses grew from 795 to 914, it raised membership fees in 2024, plans 35 new warehouses in fiscal 2026, and analysts project ~7% revenue and ~20% EPS CAGR to fiscal 2028 despite a current valuation near 45x this year’s earnings.

Amazon’s thesis emphasizes AWS as the primary profit engine, a Prime base exceeding 240 million subscribers, expansion of higher-margin advertising and AI-driven retail efficiencies; analysts forecast ~11% revenue and ~20% EPS CAGR to 2027 and value the shares at about 28x next year’s earnings. Uber’s scale gains—189 million MAPCs in Q3 2025 (vs. 93 million in 2020) and 36 million Uber One subscribers—alongside a return to GAAP profitability and analyst projections of ~16% revenue and ~28% adjusted EBITDA CAGR to 2027 support a valuation near $190.5 billion or ~17x next year’s adjusted EBITDA, making it a buy-and-hold growth candidate if execution holds.

Key Decisions for Investors

• Consider modestly overweighting Costco for defensive exposure given its membership-driven cash flow, high renewal rates and analysts’ 7% revenue/20% EPS CAGR thesis, but limit position size because the stock trades near 45x current earnings
• Accumulate Amazon on meaningful pullbacks to capture AWS-led margin expansion and advertising secular growth given analysts’ 11% revenue/20% EPS CAGR outlook and a ~28x next-year P/E, while monitoring AWS margins and Prime subscriber trends as key catalysts
• Treat Uber as a selective growth-hold opportunity—its MAPC and Uber One traction and GAAP profitability justify a buy-or-hold stance at ~17x next-year adjusted EBITDA, but actively monitor adjusted EBITDA conversion and competitive dynamics in delivery and ride-hailing
• Manage macro valuation risk across portfolios by sizing positions conservatively while the S&P trades near 30x earnings, and monitor company-specific KPIs (Costco membership growth/renewal, Amazon AWS/ad margin trends and Prime metrics, Uber MAPCs and adjusted EBITDA) as triggers to add, trim, or hedge