This holiday season, several stocks are particularly appealing for investors looking to make purchases.
With Black Friday and Cyber Monday behind us, the shopping season continues. For investors, December presents a chance to put some money to work. Here are three stocks that stand out this month.
1. MercadoLibre
MercadoLibre (MELI 0.46%) is the top player in e-commerce across Latin America and also significant in the fintech landscape of the region. Over the past five and ten years, their stock has seen compound annual growth rates exceeding 30%.
However, recently, MercadoLibre’s stock has struggled, sitting about 20% below its peak from late June. This decline is largely influenced by increasing competition from Amazon (AMZN +0.28%) in its home market.
Today’s changes
–0.46% $–9.45
current price
$2062.33
Key data points
Market capitalization
$105 billion
daily range
$2035.44 – $2084.27
52 week range
$1646.00 – $2645.22
volume
12K
average volume
513K
gross profit
45.14%
dividend yield
Not applicable
Should investors feel alarmed by Amazon’s competition? Personally, I wouldn’t. Instead, I view this dip as a good chance to invest in solid international stocks.
E-commerce is still catching up in Latin America, lagging significantly behind the U.S., with market penetration in the mid-teens. Similar to Amazon, MercadoLibre is growing in digital advertising, which is another viable growth area. Additionally, the fintech segment offers many opportunities for further expansion, especially in Argentina, Chile, and Mexico.
2. TransMedics Group
TransMedics Group (TMDX +2.72%) is shaking up the organ transplant sector with its organ care system (OCS). Traditionally, donor organs would be transported using cold storage, which often damages them, making them unusable. Complications after transplants can be common as well.
OCS solves these problems by maintaining donor hearts, lungs, and kidneys alive during transport. This method uses warm perfusion, supplying oxygen-rich blood and nutrients, while allowing medical professionals to monitor the organs in real time. TransMedics is the only firm with FDA-approved warm perfusion technology for multiple organs.
Today’s changes
2.72% $3.98
current price
$150.29
Key data points
Market capitalization
$5 billion
daily range
$142.46 – $151.75
52 week range
$55.00 – $151.85
volume
35K
average volume
983K
gross profit
60.23%
dividend yield
Not applicable
One key benefit of OCS over cold storage is that it significantly boosts utilization rates. Thanks to this technology, more than 80% of hearts and lungs from donors, which cannot be refrigerated, are now transplantable. TransMedics’ method allows for nearly double the number of donor livers to be used compared to traditional storage.
Moreover, organs transported via OCS experience fewer complications post-transplant. Believe it or not, there’s been a reduction of severe complications: 43% for livers, 50% for lungs, and 65% for hearts.
With a market cap around $5 billion, it seems like a reasonable valuation considering the company’s growth possibilities. TransMedics plans to enter Italy in 2026, which could pave the way to other European markets. Also, there’s a kidney version of the OCS on the horizon, which could greatly impact the field, given that kidney transplants now surpass heart, liver, and lung transplants in the U.S.
3. Vertex Pharmaceuticals
Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX 1.92%) leads the market for cystic fibrosis treatments primarily because it offers the only approved therapy targeting the root cause of this genetic disorder. Rival companies are still in earlier stages of development, making it hard for them to catch up, especially given Vertex’s latest CF treatment, Alyftrek, is more effective and convenient than its top seller, Trikafta/Kaftrio.
While Vertex excels in CF, it may have even broader potential across other treatments. Journavx, a non-opioid pain relief medication, appears set to become a major product. It has received approval for acute pain management and is undergoing late-stage studies for diabetic neuropathy.
Today’s changes
–1.92% $–8.34
current price
$425.27
Key data points
Market capitalization
$110 billion
daily range
$423.52 – $433.79
52 week range
$362.50 – $519.68
volume
33K
average volume
1.5M
gross profit
86.29%
dividend yield
Not applicable
Vertex has initiated a phased Biologics License Application for pobetacicept to treat IgA nephropathy, a serious kidney condition affecting around 300,000 in the U.S. and Europe, and over 750,000 in China. In comparison, cystic fibrosis impacts about 109,000 individuals globally.
The company also aims to file for Dimisrecel, intended for severe type 1 diabetes, next year. The ambition is to pave the way toward a functional treatment for a disease affecting approximately 3.8 million people.
