3 Top Stocks to Buy in October

Key Points

• This e-commerce company can grow for decades.

• Falling mortgage rates could drive a recovery for this home furnishings stock.

• Lower interest rates will help this top cruise company pay back its debt much faster.

• 10 stocks we like better than Shopify ›

Patiently holding shares of competitively positioned companies is the path to a happy retirement. The stock market is full of innovative businesses that have substantial opportunities to expand and help you grow your money.

To assist you in putting together an unstoppable investment portfolio, three Fool.com contributors recently selected quality stocks to consider buying right now. Here's why they selected Shopify (NASDAQ: SHOP), RH (NYSE: RH), and Carnival (NYSE: CCL) (NYSE: CUK).

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

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A top-tier growth stock to hold for the long haul

John Ballard (Shopify): Shopify has delivered tremendous growth over the last decade. The stock has returned over 400% since 2022, but there are still plenty of opportunities for the business to expand.

Shopify offers an affordable option for a business owner to set up an e-commerce store and connect with buyers worldwide. However, subscriptions to access its selling tools only make up a small part of its revenue. Most comes from merchant solutions, including payments, capital lending, and other services, which grew 36% year over year in Q2 to over $2 billion.

There's almost endless opportunity for the company to launch new products that bring more value to merchants. For example, Shopify is starting to lean heavily into artificial intelligence (AI). More shoppers are using AI for searching products. In response to this trend, Shopify launched Catalog last quarter that puts millions of products from Shopify merchants on AI-powered shopping apps, which keeps these merchants on the cutting edge of technological trends without them having to do anything.

Shopify's innovative solutions that help merchants make more sales give it a strong brand and competitive advantage. Because most of its revenue growth depends on the growth of its merchants, Shopify has a powerful incentive to bring more value to its customers, which in turn, helps attract more businesses to sign up for Shopify.

These are the qualities that make Shopify one of the best growth stocks to hold for the long haul. Total spending across all Shopify merchants in the U.S. alone was just 12% of the e-commerce market entering 2025, providing plenty of upsides for more growth.

A bet on a housing market recovery

Jeremy Bowman (RH): For the first time this year, the Federal Reserve just cut benchmark interest rates. This was long-awaited by investors and housing market observers, as the housing market has been essentially frozen for the last three years due to elevated interest rates and the lock-in effect from low mortgage rates during the pandemic.

The Fed also forecast two more cuts before the end of the year, and one of those is likely to come at the end of October.

Mortgage rates have already started coming down in anticipation of those cuts, and they could breathe some life into a torpid housing market. That's good news for a range of stocks that benefit from housing activity, but RH seems especially poised to be a winner. Home transactions tend to drive furniture sales, and CEO Gary Friedman hasn't been shy about discussing the challenges from the housing market.

The company, which was formerly known as Restoration Hardware, has managed to deliver solid growth even in a challenging housing market. Since it caters to the higher end of the market, it should also be more insulated from any headwinds in the labor market.

In its recent second-quarter earnings report, revenue increased 8.4% to $899.2 million, and profits surged as it lapped earlier investments in its European expansion.

RH has a lot of leverage in its business model, and margins could expand if demand jumps. The stock currently trades at a P/E of less than 20 based on fiscal 2027 earnings estimates, and the company can exceed that forecast with some help from the housing market.

Given the company's growth opportunity as it expands to new regions and businesses, RH could soar.

High demand, lower interest rates

Jennifer Saibil (Carnival): Carnival's business has made an incredible comeback. Although demand spiked when it reopened its cruises, the market was worried that it couldn't last. But it has remained strong for years already, and management is investing in all sorts of projects to keep it that way.

It continues to report records across metrics. In the 2025 fiscal second quarter (ended May 31), it had record revenue; operating income; adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA); net yields; and customer deposits. It outperformed management's guidance on every metric, and management raised full-year guidance again, like it did after the first quarter.

Customer deposits reached $8.5 billion in the quarter, and it's already booked 93% of 2025 occupancy. So far, 2026 demand is in line with 2025's historical highs. Plus, the bookings are at high ticket prices.

Cruises are far from essential purchases, so this shows incredible resilience in a tough environment. Carnival is the leader in cruises, with the most ships and the highest revenue at nearly $26 billion in trailing-12-month sales. It's expanding its fleet to cover high demand, with the new Star Princess set to sail in the fourth quarter and several more in the works. It's also adding new attractions onboard and exclusive destinations.

However, Carnival stock remains 58% off its all-time high due to its staggering debt. Although it's already paid off several billion dollars of it, the debt still stands at more than $27 billion as of the end of the second quarter.

The good news is that lower interest rates will make it easier to pay off the debt. That's already been happening, and Carnival refinanced $7 billion in the first half of the year at better rates. The new rate cut announced last week should help even more, and the Federal Reserve is expecting to cut another quarter-percent in October, and then again in December.

Carnival announces third-quarter earnings this week. Expect good news on the debt front, which should make October a great month for Carnival stock.

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Jennifer Saibil has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Jeremy Bowman has positions in RH and Shopify. John Ballard has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Shopify. The Motley Fool recommends Carnival Corp. and RH. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.