My 3 best stocks to buy in 2023

Investors have historically been rewarded after buying major dips Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust (LSE: SMT).

Every time Scottish Mortgage shares fell by more than 50%, they recovered and hit record highs. Obviously past performance isn’t a guide to future returns, but I believe that confidence looks good going forward.

The top position in the current portfolio is vaccine development Modern (NASDAQ: MRNA). Managers think that the mRNA platform has the potential to be applied to diseases beyond Covid.

That hypothesis got a boost recently, as the company released promising data from a phase 2 trial for an experimental cancer vaccine. Obviously, it will still be years (if ever) before this treatment gains commercial traction.

But Moderna has $17bn in cash and investments to fund 35 active clinical trials. I think the stock has immense long-term potential.

The risk for Scottish Mortgage shares is that market sentiment towards growth stocks remains negative. However, with shares down 50%, I am ready to add to my holding soon.

Intuitive surgery (NASDAQ: ISRG) is perfectly positioned to ride one of the biggest investment trends of the 21st century: an aging global population. By 2050, the population of people aged 60 and older will double to 2.1 billion, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

That means there will be increased pressure on the health service for different types of surgery. That’s good for Intuitive Surgical, a global leader and pioneer of robotic-assisted surgical systems.

As of the end of September, the company had more than 7,300 high-tech da Vinci systems installed in hospitals around the world. The machine costs more than $2.5m and surgeons do a lot of training to use it.

So, if these robots come in, they will usually be fine. It’s rare for a healthcare setting to switch to a competing system, for safety reasons as well as the headache (and cost) of re-surgeons.

Robot-assisted surgery has been proven to reduce the risk of infection and complications. Less scarring due to smaller incisions and fewer stitches. This results in faster recovery times, which means healthcare providers save money because patients are discharged faster. That may remain a selling point as an aging population puts pressure on hospital waiting lists.

The company makes most of its profits from selling the instruments (or consumables) needed to continue operating the system. So one risk here is the potential for another Covid outbreak, which would cause the surgical procedure to be delayed. This will result in short-term profits.

The stock is down 27% in the past year. So I recently took the opportunity to add more money.