If you’re feeling uncertain about the market’s direction, you’re not alone. Despite positive economic and stock market indicators suggesting renewed financial strength, the sentiment on the ground often tells a different story. With that in mind, when finding smart stocks to buy, it’s important to remain grounded in solid investment principles rather than purely emotional reactions.

Finding smart stocks to buy now is a challenge amid this uncertainty. Questions linger: Have you missed the boat on Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA)? Will it continue to soar post-split as it has since June 7? Is Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) partnership with OpenAI a risky move or a strategic advancement in consumer electronics?

Navigating today’s markets is tough, but these diverse smart stocks to buy now offer a balanced approach. They combine long-term speculative opportunities with the stability of perennial winners, providing a broader perspective and a solid foundation for future growth.

Stem (STEM)

Stem (NYSE:STEM) is a unique player in the sustainable energy sector, merging two highly lucrative fields: renewable energy solutions and artificial intelligence. At the heart of Stem’s offerings is its Athena software, an advanced control system that seamlessly integrates and optimizes resources from generators, grid power, solar farms, and battery storage. Athena leverages AI to make real-time decisions based on variables like weather and energy pricing, providing large-scale enterprise customers with a self-managing, efficient energy solution.

Despite its penny stock status, Stem is aiming high, with leadership envisioning a tenfold increase in value. The company’s strategic vision is outlined in its “AI and the Future of Energy” white paper, which details how AI integration will drive efficiency and growth in sustainable energy markets.

However, like many speculative smart stocks, Stem faces challenges, including a lack of profitability and cyclical sales that introduce variability. Yet, the company has moved beyond the pre-revenue phase and boasts a growing portfolio of completed projects. Stem represents a promising long-term investment opportunity in the sustainable energy sector, particularly for those looking to capture the emerging influence of AI within green infrastructure. Adding Stem to your portfolio could be a strategic move to benefit from the ongoing integration of AI in renewable energy.

Fresh Del Monte Produce (FDP)

Even as inflation eases, consumers remain cautious with their spending due to persistently high prices, positioning Fresh Del Monte Produce (NYSE:FDP) as a smart defensive stock to buy with notable growth potential. Despite a slight dip in sales in the latest quarterly report, the seasonal nature of fresh fruit and produce suggests a likely rebound in summer sales, making the stock an attractive buy at its current price.

Significantly, Fresh Del Monte is optimizing operations across its enterprise to navigate economic and consumer pressures better. Financially, the company reduced total debt by 15%, a strategic move to save costs in today’s high-interest-rate environment. Additionally, a renewed focus on fresh and value-added sales resulted in a 5% revenue increase in this segment, with avocado sales soaring by 23% despite overall lower sales. This strategic pivot has proven successful, and management is expected to continue pursuing this direction.

Fresh Del Monte’s current dividend yield stands at a solid 4%, offering investors a chance to build a position through dollar-cost averaging and capitalize on the company’s growing blue-chip potential.

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock (GLDD)

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock (NASDAQ:GLDD) provides a crucial service that often escapes the attention of most retail investors, making it one of those overlooked smart stocks to buy. The company specializes in deepening, dredging, and expanding waterways along coasts and within ports, playing an essential role in global trade and supply chains. This makes it relatively recession-proof, while its efforts in coastal beach reclamation align it with climate change management initiatives.

Great Lakes’ recent financial performance highlights its strength in a sector that faced prolonged challenges during the pandemic. The company’s EBITDA reached $43 million, the highest since the end of 2021, indicating a significant resurgence.

Looking forward, Great Lakes is well-positioned to benefit from a record-setting $8.7 billion budget from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, creating a robust bidding environment for securing steady contract cash flows. With a dredging backlog of $879 million, the company has a clear projection of future income, further stabilizing its financial outlook as supply chains normalize.

Rumble (RUM)

Rumble (NASDAQ:RUM) is steadily carving out its niche within the tech industry, positioning itself as one of the undervalued smart stocks to buy now with significant growth potential.

The platform boasts over 40 million monthly active users. While this number is modest compared to major video platforms like Alphabet’s (NASDAQ:GOOG, NASDAQ:GOOGL) YouTube, it represents a dedicated and loyal audience that consistently engages with the content.

This consistent user engagement underlines Rumble’s long-term viability as it continues to expand its advertising ecosystem. The company is also gaining traction by securing exclusive deals with prominent creators. A notable example is the recent partnership with the popular political show “Breaking Points”, highlighting Rumble’s increasing industry influence.

Moreover, Rumble is diversifying its revenue streams by venturing into cloud services and data hosting. This strategic pivot could be the catalyst for significant growth. An example of this expansion is the e-commerce and payments processing company PublicSquare (NYSE:PSQH) migrating its Marketplace platform hosting to Rumble. This move demonstrates Rumble’s rapid growth beyond video hosting and into broader media and technology markets.

BuzzFeed (BZFD)

Like Rumble, BuzzFeed (NASDAQ:BZFD) is an undervalued media stock that may soon capture more attention as activist shareholder activity ramps up. The company has faced numerous scandals over the years, including accusations of plagiarism, undue advertiser influence, and divisive political stances that have alienated many readers.

These challenges, coupled with declining sales and limited profitability, likely caught the attention of former presidential candidate and activist investor Vivek Ramaswamy. He recently acquired a large stake in BuzzFeed, signaling plans to drive significant changes within the company.

Ramaswamy is actively engaging with BuzzFeed’s board and met with CEO Jonah Peretto this week to explore various operational and strategic opportunities to maximize shareholder value. This includes potential staff cuts and a shift in the company’s editorial and business strategies.

His investment points to a broader strategy of addressing the dearth of high-quality, independent media outlets while advocating for greater transparency, objectivity, and quality in media content.

Despite some resistance from BuzzFeed’s current management, Ramaswamy’s Strive Asset Management is emerging as a formidable force in activist investing, potentially eyeing further investments in the media sector.

Riot Platforms (RIOT)

Riot Platforms (NASDAQ:RIOT) is best known as a Bitcoin (BTC-USD) mining company, but its broader potential often goes unnoticed, making it one of the smart stocks to buy. As Bitcoin mining becomes more costly and less profitable, Riot’s extensive energy resources position it as an ideal partner for AI enterprises, which require vast amounts of power.

Riot has already capitalized on its excess energy by selling it to local municipalities and utility operators, generating $71.2 million in revenue last year. While the company has yet to specifically target the AI industry’s energy demands, the evolving economic landscape suggests such a partnership could be mutually beneficial.

Additionally, the construction of new data centers is lagging behind the skyrocketing demand for AI, indicating that existing GPU facilities like Riot’s could soon be in high demand. Investors in Riot can appreciate not only the company’s future AI stock potential but also its current involvement in the crypto market. This dual focus is underscored by Bitcoin’s impressive 50% gain over the past six months, highlighting Riot’s robust position in the market.

Apple Hospitality REIT (APLE)

Improved consumer sentiment and the summer travel season are converging, making Apple Hospitality REIT (NYSE:APLE) a prime stock to buy now. Apple Hospitality owns over 200 hotel properties across the United States, leasing them to top-tier hoteliers like Marriott (NASDAQ:MAR) and Hilton (NYSE:HLT). With a 6.5% dividend yield, Apple Hospitality offers an attractive alternative to fixed-income investments, providing upside through ownership of some of the priciest properties with the most reliable tenants in the industry.

In its most recent quarterly report, Apple Hospitality reported a significant boost in funds from operations (FFO) to $83.24 million, up from $78.96 million the previous year. FFO is a key metric for REITs as it represents earnings without property sale revenue and better represents leasing operations’ cash flow. This increase, particularly during a relatively subdued travel period, bodes well for the future.

Additionally, Apple Hospitality is benefiting from a rise in business travel, with midweek bookings showing substantial growth over the quarter. This positions the company to capitalize on the summer leisure travel season while maintaining stability through increased business travel, ensuring steady occupancy rates throughout the week.

On the date of publication, Jeremy Flint held no positions in the securities mentioned. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.