3 Best Stocks to Buy in November: The Sell-Off Just Put Three Blue Chips on Sale

Research Desk · October 31, 2026

Microsoft, Broadcom and Nvidia. Logos are trademarks of their owners, shown for editorial identification.

Friday was ugly. The S&P 500 fell 1.8% to 7,580, its worst day since June and its third straight losing week.

The Nasdaq dropped 2.9%. For October, it lost 5.3%, its worst month since March 2025.

The trigger was a string of disappointing tech reports. Alphabet had its worst day ever on Thursday. Amazon burned through cash. Then Intel posted a weak forecast and fell 28.6%, its biggest drop since 1974.

Investors did what frightened investors always do. They sold anything with "chip" or "AI" attached and ran to grocery stocks. The consumer staples sector just had its best month on record.

Why the Best Buys Show Up on the Worst Days

Think about the last time a store you trust put its best merchandise on clearance. The product did not change. Only the price tag did.

That is what a broad sell-off does to great companies. It marks them all down together, whether they deserve it or not.

Microsoft shareholders lived this recently. Between October 2025 and June 2026, the stock fell nearly 35%. A $10,000 position shrank to about $6,510. Then the business kept delivering, and the shares climbed roughly 40% from the end of June. The investors who bought the fear did very well.

This month's sell-off has a similar feel. The selling hit an entire sector at once. Yet the three companies below just reported strong numbers, or have strong numbers on the way.

Stock #1: Microsoft (MSFT), the Fortress That Pays You to Wait

If you only own one technology stock in retirement, this is the one most advisors would point to first.

Microsoft reported on Wednesday. Revenue rose 19% to $92.3 billion. Azure, its cloud business, grew 48% to $33.2 billion, beating the roughly 45% management had guided.

Here is the key difference from this week's losers. Microsoft pays for its AI buildout with the cash its business already throws off. Alphabet and Amazon are leaning harder on borrowing and burning cash, and the market punished them for it.

Then there is the income. Microsoft just raised its quarterly dividend to $0.98 from $0.91, a 7.7% raise. It has increased the payout for 23 straight years, and it pays out only about 20% of earnings to do it.

Timing matters here. You must own the shares before the November 19 ex-dividend date to collect the December 10 payment.

At $521.91, the stock trades near 25 times forward earnings and about 6% below its 52-week high. The average analyst target sits near $630, roughly 20% higher.

Stock #2: Broadcom (AVGO), the Deepest Discount on the List

Broadcom is the company the giants call when they want their own AI chip. Google, Meta and others hand Broadcom a blueprint, and Broadcom builds a custom processor that does their math faster and cheaper.

It also makes the networking chips that let thousands of AI processors talk to each other. Think of it as the plumbing and wiring of the data center.

The business is booming. Last quarter's revenue hit $29.6 billion and earnings of $3.03 a share beat estimates. Management guided to $21.7 billion in AI chip revenue for the current quarter, and it expects AI chip sales to double again next fiscal year.

Wall Street expects next quarter's revenue to land near $34.9 billion, almost double the year before.

The stock tells a different story. Broadcom closed Friday at $326.08, down 5.5% on the day and about 34% below its $495 high. On the same morning, DA Davidson upgraded the shares to Buy with a $400 target, about 23% above Friday's close.

Broadcom also pays a $0.65 quarterly dividend. Its next report is expected around December 10, which gives November buyers about six weeks before the next test.

Stock #3: Nvidia (NVDA), the Leader Sold on Someone Else's News

Nvidia lost about 11% in October. Here is the odd part: almost none of the bad news came from Nvidia.

It came from Intel's warning, Alphabet's miss and Amazon's cash burn. Investors sold the whole chip group first and planned to ask questions later.

Meanwhile, analysts' earnings estimates for Nvidia have held steady or edged higher since the end of September. Last quarter the company booked $96.2 billion in revenue and beat on earnings.

For the quarter that just ended, analysts expect about $109 billion in revenue, nearly double the $57 billion of a year ago. Earnings are expected to roughly double too, to about $2.47 a share from $1.24.

That report is expected around November 18. It is the single biggest event on the November calendar.

Nvidia closed Friday at $204.64, about 16% below its 52-week high of $243.37. The average target from 62 analysts sits near $329, about 60% above the current price.

What Could Go Wrong

These three stocks share one big risk. All of them depend on the largest tech companies continuing to spend heavily on AI data centers.

If Amazon, Alphabet or Meta decide the payoff is too slow and cut their budgets, Nvidia and Broadcom feel it first. Microsoft is the most protected, but it also roughly doubled its own capital spending last quarter to $39.4 billion.

Each has its own wrinkle. Nvidia faces a Justice Department review of its Hugging Face deal and fresh questions about chip exports to China. Some traders see support near $190 if November's report disappoints.

Broadcom leans on a handful of very large customers, and it has agreed to provide Anthropic with up to $42 billion in financing, which some investors view as the company helping fund its own sales. Its stock fell about 13% around its June report, so it can swing hard.

And Microsoft was downgraded to Neutral by Griffin Securities on Friday. Its 35% slide from late 2025 to mid 2026 is a reminder that even the strongest blue chip can fall a long way.

One practical way to handle this: buy in pieces. Put a third to work now, a third after Nvidia reports, and the rest in December. If prices fall further, you buy cheaper.

The Bottom Line

October handed investors a rare setup. Three of the most profitable companies in America got marked down in a sector-wide panic that had little to do with their own results.

Microsoft offers the safest ride and a fresh dividend raise, with the record date just weeks away. Broadcom offers the deepest discount. Nvidia offers the biggest catalyst, with earnings due in the middle of the month.

Markets rarely ring a bell at the bottom. But when quality goes on sale, patient investors have historically been rewarded for showing up.