5 Best US Shares to Buy Right Now

US equities offer Australian investors access to some of the most innovative and fastest-growing companies in the world. The sheer depth of the American market means there are opportunities across sectors that simply do not exist on the ASX, from cutting-edge biotech platforms to global streaming businesses with hundreds of millions of subscribers. For investors looking to diversify beyond the financials and resources heavy ASX, a carefully selected allocation to US stocks can meaningfully improve portfolio quality and long-term return potential.

Investing in US equities also provides natural currency diversification. With the Australian dollar historically correlated to commodity cycles, holding US dollar denominated assets can reduce overall portfolio volatility and provide exposure to structural growth themes in technology, healthcare, and industrials that are underrepresented on the local exchange.

We apply the same institutional-grade research process to our US coverage as we do to ASX stocks. Each name on this list has been through a full assessment covering competitive positioning, earnings drivers, valuation, and management quality. We are looking for businesses with clear catalysts, defensible market positions, and a risk-reward profile that justifies the position at current prices. The five stocks below represent our highest conviction US ideas right now.

Last updated 22 October 2026.

Our Top 5 US Stocks To Buy Right Now

Applied Materials (AMAT)

Buy, 12-month price target US$670.00 (~65% upside). Rating and price target from institutional sell-side research; upside based on prices at time of publication.

Applied Materials supplies the equipment chipmakers use to build semiconductors, a category known as wafer fab equipment, or WFE. Its tools are concentrated in deposition, where thin layers of material are laid down on a silicon wafer, and etch, where patterns are carved into those layers. The company can sell into about 55 per cent of the WFE market, and its services business, AGS, earns recurring revenue maintaining and upgrading installed tools under multi-year subscription agreements. Applied reported revenue of US$28.4 billion in its 2025 financial year, which ends in October, with earnings per share of US$9.42 and operating profit of US$8.6 billion. It reported earnings per share of US$3.49 for the July 2026 quarter.

At its October investor event, management said AI will keep accelerating equipment spending through CY30. Roughly 75 per cent of that growth is expected to come from leading-edge logic, DRAM and advanced packaging, areas where Applied holds leadership positions. AI is also driving 1.5 times more leading-edge process steps, and each extra step adds work for its deposition and etch tools. The company is targeting about 200 basis points of overall WFE share gain. Services, packaging and inspection add growth beyond factory equipment orders. AGS revenue is set to grow 20 per cent this year and in the mid-teens after that. Subscription agreements average more than 2.5 years, renewal rates sit at about 90 per cent, and the company expects US$15 billion in services revenue by CY30. In packaging it is targeting about 60 per cent share of HBM packaging and more than US$5 billion in annual advanced packaging revenue. Process control and inspection is expected to grow by more than 50 per cent in CY26.

The shares fell 7 per cent around the event amid a sector-wide selloff. The fall followed the lack of a medium-term equipment forecast or earnings target before 2030. The stock closed at US$404.98. Institutional sell-side research has a 12 month price target of US$670.00, which is 65.4 per cent above that close. Applied is aiming for a gross margin of about 54 per cent and an operating margin of about 40 per cent by CY30. It plans to return 80 to 100 per cent of free cash flow to shareholders over time. Forecasts have earnings per share rising to US$19.76 in FY27 and US$25.01 in FY28. The main risks are incremental export restrictions and share gains by local China-based equipment suppliers. Semiconductor stocks can also fall sharply in a broad selloff. Read the full article on Applied Materials here.

4D Molecular Therapeutics (FDMT)

Buy, 12-month price target US$32.00 (~149% upside). Rating and price target from institutional sell-side research; upside based on prices at time of publication.

4D Molecular Therapeutics is a NASDAQ-listed, clinical-stage gene therapy company focused on retinal disease. Its lead therapy, 4D-150, uses the company’s proprietary R100 vector to instruct retinal cells to make anti-VEGF themselves. Wet AMD patients now receive anti-VEGF by repeated injection into the eye, often every 6 to 7 weeks in real-world practice, and 4D-150 is designed to replace that routine with a single treatment. Phase 3 results in wet AMD are due in 2Q27, and a second global Phase 3 trial in diabetic macular edema has enrolled its first patient. The company reported revenue of US$85.2 million in 2025 and an EBITDA loss of US$154.9 million. Revenue is forecast to fall to US$15.5 million in 2026 while EBITDA losses widen to US$306.0 million.

More than 60 per cent of Phase 3 wet AMD patients will be treatment-naive, the type of patient that did best in Phase 2, and the trial screens out lesions that have historically been hard to treat with standard anti-VEGF drugs. Management points to a gain of 5 to 7 letters on the eye chart and a supplemental injection-free rate of 70 to 80 per cent, consistent with Phase 2. The R100 vector reaches retinal cells efficiently, so 4D-150 uses a far lower viral dose than competitor programs. A higher viral load in the eye brings a greater risk of inflammation. 4D-150 has shown a mild inflammation rate of 2 to 3 per cent, and patients have stayed injection-free for two years. In diabetic macular edema, Phase 2 patients at the Phase 3 dose gained 10.8 letters with a 61 per cent reduction in treatment burden. Management projects the anti-VEGF market for retinal indications will reach US$20 billion by 2030.

At US$12.87 the stock cannot be valued on earnings, which are negative and forecast to stay that way, with a loss per share of US$4.22 expected in 2026. Institutional sell-side research has a 12 month price target of US$32.00, which is 148.6 per cent above that close. Losses are forecast to widen every year to 2028, so the company will need access to capital, and a Phase 3 failure could limit the potential of the therapy. The rival RGX-314 program reports Phase 3 data in 4Q, which will show whether a competing gene therapy works in a late-stage trial before 4D-150 reports. This is a speculative position for an investor comfortable with clinical risk. Read the full article on 4D Molecular Therapeutics here.

On Holding AG (ONON)

Buy, 12-month price target US$44.00 (~46% upside). Rating and price target from institutional sell-side research; upside based on prices at time of publication.

On Holding is a Swiss performance footwear, apparel and accessories brand founded in 2010 and headquartered in Zurich, selling running, outdoor, training, all-day and tennis products in more than 90 countries through wholesale partners and its own direct-to-consumer channel. Net sales reached CHF 3,014.0 million in 2025, up 30.0 per cent on the prior year, and the company is valued at about US$10.1 billion on its full economic share count.

The case rests on margins. Gross margin reached 65.4 per cent and adjusted EBITDA margin 19.8 per cent in the second quarter of 2026, both up year on year, even while the company absorbed a 20 per cent US reciprocal tariff on Vietnam, where about 90 per cent of its footwear was made in 2025, and before any of the up to USD 65 million in tariff refunds it expects in the third quarter of 2026 was booked. Growth is also shifting toward Asia-Pacific and direct-to-consumer: Asia-Pacific net sales rose 43.1 per cent in the quarter, and direct-to-consumer reached a second-quarter record of 45.7 per cent of net sales. In September 2026 management set targets of at least CHF 5.6 billion in net sales and an adjusted EBITDA margin of at least 22 per cent by 2029.

With institutional sell-side research setting a 12-month price target of US$44, roughly 46 per cent upside from the US$30.20 close, a Class A buyback of up to USD 1 billion running through the end of 2029, and margin expansion arriving ahead of the tariff relief still to come, the risk-reward looks favourable for a brand still growing net sales at double-digit rates. Read the full article on On Holding here.

Tradeweb Markets Inc (TW)

Buy, 12-month price target US$146.00 (~47% upside). Price target and upside based on prices at time of publication.

Tradeweb Markets operates one of the world’s largest electronic marketplaces for trading bonds, interest rates and other fixed income products, connecting institutional, wholesale and retail investors with dealers across rates, credit, money markets and equities. The company generated more than US$2 billion of revenue in 2025, is majority-owned by London Stock Exchange Group, and trades on the Nasdaq with a market value of around US$22 billion.

The shares have sold off around a third from their high over the past year on three fears: that revenue growth is maturing, that the tokenisation of financial assets will eventually disrupt the model, and that the whole listed trading-venue group deserves a lower multiple. We think the sell-off has run well ahead of the business. Rates trading, more than half of revenue, is still taking share and most swaps still trade by voice, leaving a long electronic runway. The Credit worry looks overdone against record issuance and stabilising portfolio-trading share. And the multiple has fallen to around 22 times forward earnings, well below the roughly 37 times it averaged over the past five years, even as earnings are forecast to compound close to 19 per cent a year.

With a 12-month price target of US$146 implying roughly 47 per cent upside from the recent close, a net-cash balance sheet, and mid-teens revenue growth running at about twice the pace of the average listed venue, the risk-reward looks asymmetric for a durable grower trading near the bottom of its own valuation range. Read the full article on Tradeweb Markets here.

Interactive Brokers Group (IBKR)

Buy, 12-month price target US$109.00 (~25% upside). Price target and upside based on prices at time of publication.

Interactive Brokers Group is a global electronic broker that runs a direct-market-access trading platform for active retail investors and small to mid-size institutions. The group covers 160 markets across more than 200 countries and territories, and is best known for industry-low commissions and margin rates alongside professional-grade execution and risk technology. IBKR US$83.54 ▲ +1.57% generated US$6.16 billion in revenue in FY25, has approximately five million accounts, US$937 billion of client equity, and a market capitalisation around US$147.5 billion. The company is listed on NASDAQ.

The May 2026 monthly metrics print reset the earnings power of the platform. Daily Average Revenue Trades (DARTs) hit a record 4.22 million, up 45% year on year and 26% above the prior 12-month average, with net new accounts of 135.9 thousand (+82% year on year) and total accounts up 32% year on year, well above the high end of management’s prior long-term guide of 20% to 25%. The balance sheet is compounding alongside the activity: margin balances at US$101 billion (+65% year on year), client cash at US$180 billion (+34%), and client equity at US$937 billion (+49%). That mix lifts both commission revenue and net interest income at the same time, and is the source of the recent 4%/4%/3% upgrades to FY26-FY28 EPS estimates.

The institutional sell-side 12-month price target was lifted to US$109 from US$102, implying approximately 25% upside from the recent US$86.97 close. At the new target, IBKR trades on roughly 33 times FY26 estimated EPS of US$2.61, compressing to 26 times FY28 estimates of US$3.33 as earnings scale. Read the full article on Interactive Brokers here.

How We Pick US Stocks for This List

Our selection process applies institutional-grade research to identify US-listed companies with compelling risk-reward profiles for Australian investors. We assess competitive positioning, earnings trajectory, management quality, and valuation against both historical ranges and global peers. Every stock on this list carries a Buy rating with a defined price target and a clear investment thesis backed by detailed fundamental analysis.

We focus on businesses with identifiable catalysts, whether that is an acquisition integration, a product cycle inflection, a margin expansion opportunity, or a valuation re-rating driven by improving fundamentals. We are not chasing momentum or speculative themes. The companies featured here have established or rapidly maturing market positions and offer a risk-reward profile that we think makes sense for investors looking to build long-term wealth through US equity exposure. We refresh this list as new research is completed.

If you would like to discuss any of these names, request a callback or call us on 1300 889 603.