Three Elite Stocks to Buy Now with $10,000: Positioning for 2026 Growth

The stock market continues to reach unprecedented levels, yet this environment presents meaningful opportunities rather than warnings. When investors have capital ready to deploy, identifying equities positioned for sustained growth becomes crucial. Among the top stocks to buy now, three companies stand out as exceptional choices for 2026: Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA), MercadoLibre (NASDAQ: MELI), and The Trade Desk (NASDAQ: TTD). Each represents a distinct investment thesis, offering diversified exposure to transformative market trends.

These selections reflect opportunities across artificial intelligence acceleration, emerging market e-commerce, and advertising technology recovery—sectors showing fundamental strength heading into 2026.

Nvidia: Capitalizing on the AI Infrastructure Boom

Nvidia holds the position as the world’s largest company by market capitalization, primarily due to its dominant graphics processing units (GPUs) that power artificial intelligence workloads globally. As the essential hardware for training and deploying generative AI models, Nvidia’s technological moat has created one of the most formidable businesses ever built.

The company’s growth trajectory shows no signs of deceleration. Wall Street analysts project 50% revenue growth for fiscal year 2027 (ending January 2027)—a remarkable achievement for a corporation of Nvidia’s scale. Several positive catalysts support this outlook: continued elevated spending from major AI cloud providers and the launch of its new Rubin architecture represent substantial drivers.

Few large-cap companies achieve 50% annual revenue expansion, making Nvidia’s expected performance particularly noteworthy. The convergence of sustained AI infrastructure investment and architectural innovation positions this stock among the best stocks to buy now for growth-oriented investors.

MercadoLibre: Double-Engine Growth in Latin America

While less recognized globally than Nvidia, MercadoLibre has established an exceptional competitive position across Latin America. Frequently called the Amazon of the region, this characterization actually understates the company’s scope.

MercadoLibre operates two distinct high-growth engines: its e-commerce platform and financial technology services. The company constructed comprehensive digital payment infrastructure from the ground up—addressing a gap that didn’t exist when Amazon expanded internationally. This dual competitive advantage mirrors proven business models from developed markets, yet MercadoLibre captures these opportunities as Latin America undergoes digital transformation.

The historical performance demonstrates consistent market outperformance, yet the stock currently trades approximately 20% below all-time highs. Such valuations rarely emerge for this company, creating a genuine window for capital deployment. For investors seeking meaningful exposure to emerging market secular trends, this represents an opportune entry point.

The Trade Desk: Recovery Play in Ad Technology

Unlike the previous two selections, The Trade Desk currently faces near-term headwinds. The company operates an advertising technology platform connecting advertisers with premium digital inventory—excluding walled gardens like Facebook and Google but encompassing connected TV and broader programmatic opportunities.

Recent performance challenges stem from the company’s launch of an AI-enhanced advertising platform, which encountered implementation difficulties. However, critical underlying metrics reveal underlying strength: 95% of customers maintained their platform relationships in Q3, a consistency maintained across 11 consecutive years.

Quarterly revenue grew 18% year-over-year in Q3 2024—still respectable but the lowest expansion rate in company history (excluding a COVID-affected quarter). This slowdown understandably concerned investors, yet important context deserves consideration: Q3 2024 benefited from substantial political advertising spending entirely absent in Q3 2025. This comparison mismatch exaggerated the apparent deceleration.

The Trade Desk maintains fundamental business quality with growth rates exceeding market averages, currently trading at just 18 times forward earnings compared to the S&P 500’s 22.4 multiple. Acquiring a faster-growing company at a lower valuation multiple represents compelling value mathematics. As the company resolves its platform challenges, a meaningful recovery appears probable throughout 2026, making this stock attractive for value-conscious investors.

Investment Implications: Building a Diversified Portfolio

These three equities offer complementary exposure to distinct secular trends reshaping global markets. Nvidia captures artificial intelligence infrastructure consolidation, MercadoLibre participates in emerging market digital transformation, while The Trade Desk provides recovery potential in advertising technology. For investors with $10,000 available to deploy, allocating across these best stocks to buy now creates meaningful diversification while maintaining focused exposure to identified growth catalysts.

Each company demonstrates fortress-like competitive positioning, experienced management execution, and fundamental business models that should generate substantial value creation over coming years.