You'd be better off not touching many of the most popular stocks on the Robinhood trading platform with a 10-foot pole. Some of them sport nosebleed valuations. Others are just too risky.
On the other hand, there are plenty of stocks that rank on Robinhood's "100 Most Popular" list that are pretty good picks. A few are really good choices. Here are three undeniably brilliant Robinhood stocks to buy right now even if the market crashes.
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1. Amazon
What happened with Amazon (AMZN +1.61%) during the stock market crash earlier this year? Sure, the giant technology stock initially fell. But they rebounded more quickly and a whole lot stronger than the overall market did.
There's a good reason behind Amazon's resilience: The COVID-19 pandemic boosted the company's business instead of hurting it. Consumers are shopping online more than ever. Organizations continue to migrate their apps and data to the cloud, benefitting Amazon Web Services.
The bottom line is that Amazon remains the 800-pound gorilla of e-commerce. It's also expanding its presence in new markets, such as groceries and healthcare, while getting a toe in the door with the self-driving car market thanks to its acquisition of Zoox.
What about Amazon's valuation and the possibility that it could be broken up by regulators? The stock's price-to-earnings multiple is actually on the low end of its range over the last 10 years. Even if Amazon is forced to divest some of its businesses, it will take a long time for any antitrust actions to take effect. More importantly, the sum of the company's parts would probably be worth more than Amazon as a whole if the company did have to break up in the future.
2. AstraZeneca
The COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted sales of some of AstraZeneca's (AZN +0.00%) drugs earlier this year. But CEO Pascal Soriot noted in the big drugmaker's Q2 conference call that other drugs "more than compensated" for any problem spots.
AstraZeneca is poised to prosper regardless of what happens next with the pandemic or the overall economy. The company continues to generate strong revenue growth, with cancer drugs Imfinzi, Lynparza, and Tagrisso enjoying especially impressive momentum.
What really makes AstraZeneca a brilliant Robinhood stock to buy, though, is its pipeline. The company has a whopping 166 programs in clinical development. Of those programs, 24 are in late-stage testing. While many are pursuing additional approvals for new indications of drugs already on the market, nine are new drugs in late-stage testing.
Arguably the most highly anticipated candidate in AstraZeneca's pipeline is its COVID-19 vaccine AZD1222. Should investors worry about the late-stage study of AZD1222 being paused after a suspected serious adverse reaction in a participant? Not really. The delay might not last very long. More importantly, AstraZeneca's future should be bright regardless of what happens with AZD1222.
3. PayPal Holdings
Like Amazon, PayPal Holdings (PYPL 0.49%) made an especially robust comeback after its shares initially dropped during the stock market crash earlier this year. Also like Amazon, PayPal benefited from the coronavirus outbreak.
Don't think the boost from COVID-19 will only be a temporary one for PayPal. CEO Dan Schulman said in the company's Q2 call, "In the midst of the COVID pandemic, we have seen substantial macro changes that we believe will have a lasting and profoundly positive impact on our business."
The adoption of e-commerce is one obvious tailwind for PayPal that has gained momentum due to the coronavirus outbreak. PayPal has also made other moves as a result of the pandemic that could accelerate its future growth, such as rolling out QR code functionality in its apps to support touch-free purchases in brick-and-mortar retail stores.
With cash giving way more and more to digital payments, PayPal should be a big winner for investors over the long run. This fintech leader definitely appears to be one of the smartest stocks to buy right now.
