It’s always a good time to invest money, though it might seem scary, primarily if you have never dealt with it. Indeed, it’s easier than you think, and you can start no matter how much you have saved.
Recently investors have witnessed an event that will hardly happen again. Since touching its bottom on March 23, 2020, the benchmark S&P 500 has doubled in value. It’s the most incredible back-and-forth bounce Wall Street has ever seen.
Patience is the evident key to making wealth in the market. Although the broader market is constantly aiming at new unconquerable tops, value can still be found. If you’re buying stakes in giant companies and intending to occupy those positions for a great while, things that might look pricey today could turn out to be a fantastic deal in two, three, or five years.
You also don’t need a suitcase full of money to start your journey toward financial independence. If you have about $500 in the beginning, which is not saved for any cases of emergency, the following five stocks are the best to invest in right now.
Vertex Pharmaceuticals
The first buy that could make long-term investors wealthier is specialty biotech stock Vertex Pharmaceuticals.
Vertex has lost its broad market position after they discontinued two clinical treatments for alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency. But these sad failures pale in comparison to the company’s noticeable achievements in treating people suffering from cystic fibrosis. Cystic fibrosis is still incurable, but Vertex has elaborated four generations of therapies that improve lung function for those having CF.
The key point here is that Vertex’s innovation in cystic fibrosis managed to protect its cash flow for a long time to come. The company’s latest introduced combination therapy, Trikafta (which lets struggle with the most common CF modification), was approved five months earlier than its expected assessment date and yielded nearly $4 billion during its first year on the pharmacy market. Trikafta’s sales reached $1.25 billion in the June-ended quarter, implying a $5 billion annual run-rate.
Vertex also has in stock around one dozen other attainments in clinical development valued at more than $6 billion in total. In other words, dealing with Vertex, investors get innovation, steadily increasing profit, and a big cash buffer.
Ping Identity
One of the win-win opportunities for investors can offer the cybersecurity industry. It doesn’t matter what results in the US and the global stock market show, hackers and scammers are always ready to attack profitable businesses. Cybersecurity has transformed into a must-have service for any company caring for its well-being, which is good news for Ping Identity.
As it’s clear from its name, Ping focuses on identity verification. Their cloud-based Ping Intelligent Identity Platform consolidates with legacy security solutions to improve cyber protection for companies. Based on artificial intelligence, Ping’s platform is supposed to become more skillful over time at detecting and responding to attacks. By and large, it’s designed to exceed the basic settings of local security software also permanently to monitor and allow the user access to vital company data.
The primary reason why Ping Identity surpasses its high-flying competitors is that some of its customers had the opportunity to get short-term renewals during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, with the focus on promoting its higher-margin SaaS platform, which has grown sales at a compound annual rate of 44% since the first quarter of 2020, it’s only a matter of time before sales increase reaches its top.
As a cybersecurity enterprise that’s profitable on a recurring basis, Ping looks like a bargain at less than eight times this year’s forecasted sales.
Square
Financial technology stock Square might look a bit expensive now, but there’s a great chance you will regret missing it at this price in the near future.
Square lets sellers start, run, and expand their businesses by using software, hardware, and financial services to produce services or products that are prompt, fast, and appealing. Sellers use Square to contact buyers online and tet-a-tet, manage their business, and access financing. The seller ecosystem is made up of over 30 different software, hardware, and financial services units that are monetized due to a combination of transaction, subscription, and service fees.
During the seven years before the pandemic, gross payment volume (GPV) going through Square’s platform grew by an annual average of almost 50%. As a result of the Q2 seller ecosystem, GPV hit a new top of $38.8 billion. What’s particularly impressive about the seller ecosystem is that larger businesses (described by Square as those with $125,000 or more of annual GPV) accounted for 65% of GPV at the end of the second quarter, compared to 55% during the same period in 2019. More powerful merchants bring more gross profit to the company.
Nevertheless, Square’s future is fixedly glued to the success of its peer-to-peer payments platform Cash App, which allows customers to transfer their money to one another via a mobile phone. Cash App is available in the UK and US and has become the most downloaded payments app in the US for the past two years, with a recorded 36 million active users. Besides, gross profit per Cash App user amounted to $55 in 2021, about 2.5 times more than in 2019.
To top it off, in August 2021, Square announced they had entered into arrangements for Australian “buy now, pay later” Afterpay to acquire the latter for $29 billion. Though this deal might seem colossal, it’ll perfectly fit Square’s seller ecosystem and Cash App.
Cresco Labs
US marijuana stocks could also be considered as one of the most attractive long-term investments. With 36 states having legalized cannabis in some amount, there are almost endless opportunities for the multistate operator (MSO) Cresco Labs.
Like almost all multistate operators, Cresco has a promising retail development. The recent acquisition (valued at $213 million) of Bluma Wellness, a Florida licensee, along with organic expansion, has increased its operating dispensary up to 33 units (although the company holds nearly fifty retail licenses in total). Cresco is expanding its retail net, targeting high-dollar and limited-license markets. The latter is significant here because states that limit retail and cultivation license issuance create the game rules where every licensed participant has an opportunity to engross a considerable share of the market.
Additionally, what’s far more interesting about Cresco Labs is its industry-leading wholesale brunch. Cresco Labs keeps on dominating the wholesale branded cannabis space, with revenues reaching $109 million at the end of the second quarter. Being a leader in the wholesale environment wouldn’t matter if Cresco Labs hadn’t already turned the business into a very profitable one.
The most important investor conclusion is that Cresco Labs is one of the better positioned MSOs for the likely changing rules of the cannabis market. The stock is extremely cheap, similar to other cannabis stocks. Investors should consider that Cresco Labs will likely be one of the fastest-developing stocks of the decade.
Ford Motor Company
A final stock we suggest you invest $500 in as soon as possible is Ford Motor Company. Chip shortage troubles in the near-term, which have restrained the capacity of auto stocks and weighed the top manufacturers down, gives an excellent opportunity to purchase Ford for less money.
The tremendous push for carmakers is the electrification of vehicles.
In early August, Ford stock rose after the Biden administration announced new national targets for EV sales. The plan sets a voluntary target for 2030 to make roughly half of all cars and light truck sales in the US electric or hybrid vehicles.
A few months earlier, Ford confirmed that the company would increase its expenses on electric vehicles to more than $30 billion by 2025. The plan is to spread 30 new EV models worldwide by mid-decade and reach 40% of its car sales from electric vehicles by 2030. Considering the intention of developed countries to support care for the environment, EVs represent a profitable car replacement opportunity at the commercial level that could significantly improve Ford’s yet modest growth rate.
While Ford’s position in the US will remain steady, China may become an opportunity for the manufacturer to bring more profit. China has the world’s leading car market, and it’s been estimated that half of all vehicles sales could use alternative energy by 2035. Based on the fact that China’s EV market is growing and Ford has the auspicious infrastructure to meet its production needs, it could quickly engross EV share.
To sum it up, Ford Motor started the new decade with optimism as it was accompanied by a total corporate redesign to compete successfully in the era of smart vehicles and alternative energy. The manufacturer is investing significantly in new technologies to keep pace with competitors in the markets for autonomous and electric cars. Additionally, Ford’s F-Series pickups have been the best-selling vehicle in the US for 39 years. Are you still hesitating whether Ford stock is worth a buy now? Doubts aside, grab it.
