My 3 Favorite Stocks to Buy Right Now

Is it time to review your portfolio allocations and make any necessary adjustments? Maybe you need to swap out some of your less desirable holdings with some more promising new ones?

Not that you and I necessarily have the exact same needs, but a handful of stocks that I've got my eye on could be good fits for your portfolio as well.

Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Learn More »

MercadoLibre

It's often described as the Amazon.com of Latin America -- and that's not an unfair description. It is a somewhat incomplete description though. MercadoLibre (NASDAQ: MELI) may be that region's e-commerce leader, but it could also be accurately compared to eBay, PayPal, and even FedEx by virtue of its online auction platform, online payments and fintech platform, and its logistics operations (respectively).

That all positions it to capitalize on some massive opportunities.

In many ways, this region is on the cusp of its version of the e-commerce and digital banking explosion that took place in North America around the turn of this century. Research outfit Payments & Commerce Market Intelligence reports that in South America, the share of consumer payment volume handled using cash has fallen from 57% in 2022 to 37% now. Separately, researchers at PYMNTS Intelligence have predicted that cash will only account for 17% of Latin America's in-store payments by 2030, down from last year's 25%, which was well down from 2014's figure of 67%.

The rise of digital payments paired with the advent of mobile connectivity (smartphone shipments to Latin America reached a record-breaking 137 million last year, according to data from Canalys) is of course driving continued growth of the continent's e-commerce industry. Payments & Commerce Market Intelligence expects Latin America's e-commerce market to grow to the tune of 21% this year, in fact, reaching $769 billion en route to topping $1 trillion by 2027 -- about doubling 2023's tally of $507 billion.

All of this, of course, bodes well for MercadoLibre, which has already been capitalizing on its well-established foothold within these businesses. The company reported revenue growth of 37% year over year for 2024 and a comparable increase in earnings. Analysts expect similar growth this year and for the next few years.

Just don't tarry if you're interested. The stock's 10% pullback from its recent peak may be all the discount you're going to get any time soon.

Realty Income

Technically speaking, Realty Income (NYSE: O) isn't a company. It's a real estate investment trust, or REIT. That just means it owns a portfolio of rental real estate, and regularly passes along the large majority of its profits to shareholders in the form of dividends.

It's still ultimately operated as a for-profit business though, so the underlying business model and the quality of its operation still matter to would-be buyers.

REITs can vary in their focus. Some only hold hotels and motels. Others stick to office buildings. Still others only own and manage apartment complexes. Realty Income's primary focus is on brick-and-mortar retail. It owns 15,600 properties that it leases to more than 1,500 different tenants including FedEx, Walmart, Dollar General, and 7-Eleven, just to name a few.

Image source: Getty Images.

At first blush, it may seem like a needlessly risky investment. After all, isn't the brick-and-mortar retail industry slowly dying? Coresight Research reported that another 7,325 U.S. storefronts were shuttered last year alone.

That figure may be accurate. But it's misleading by virtue of being incomplete. There were also 5,919 new stores opened in the U.S. in 2024. While one could argue the segment is getting slightly smaller, one could also argue that it's also getting better by pruning its weaker players.

Not that Realty Income has much to worry about on that front. Its most resilient tenants like the aforementioned Walmart and 7-Eleven occupy the bulk of its properties. Underscoring this idea is the fact that its current occupancy rate stands at 98.5%, and only slipped to 97.9% in pandemic-crimped 2020, when many stores and chains buckled.

And this REIT's historical return to shareholders speaks volumes about its own resiliency. Not only has it paid a dividend every month (yes, monthly) like clockwork since 1970, but it has raised its per-share payout in every single quarter since 1997.

Newcomers will be plugging into this name while its forward-looking yield stands at a healthy 5.6%.

Dollar Tree

Finally, I'm adding Dollar Tree (NASDAQ: DLTR) to my list of favorite stocks to buy right now.

Anyone keeping tabs on Dollar Tree of late likely already knows that its shares tumbled a little over a week ago after the company warned that profits for the quarter currently underway might be a little subdued due to tariffs. This caution, of course, shouldn't have come as a complete surprise.

There's a reason, however, that Dollar Tree stock has since recovered from that one-day setback and rekindled the share-price rally that began back in March: The company can get past this headwind. It even told shareholders as much.

As CEO Mike Creedon explained during the Q1 earnings conference call, Dollar Tree "will be able to mitigate most, if not all of the potential earnings impact from higher tariffs, assuming the current levels remain in place." Most investors seem to believe it, too.

There's a bigger philosophical reason I'm a fan of Dollar Tree here though, and not just its impending sale of its struggling Family Dollar division. As I noted last month, whereas rival Dollar General may technically be less vulnerable to import tariffs, Dollar Tree offers a dirt cheap "treasure hunt" that's appealing in any and all economic environments -- it is the discretionary price trade-down from Walmart or Target. Lingering inflation may actually be working in Dollar Tree's favor. Dollar Tree also isn't as reliant as Dollar General is on sales of lower-margin consumer staples, for which there is no price trade-down.

The analyst community says this ticker is already fully and fairly priced near their consensus price target of $95.14. Most analysts also currently only rate Dollar Tree stock a hold, perhaps wanting to wait and see how the discount retailer emerges from the upcoming exit of its Family Dollar business. Which, I get.

You buy stocks based on their likely future though, and not their past or even their present. Dollar Tree's long-term future actually looks pretty promising even if few others can see past the current noise.

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John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. James Brumley has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon, FedEx, MercadoLibre, PayPal, Realty Income, Target, Walmart, and eBay. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2027 $42.50 calls on PayPal and short June 2025 $77.50 calls on PayPal. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.