Even with all of the major U.S. stock indexes nipping at record highs, history is clear that it's always an opportune time to put your money to work in the stock market. That's because operating earnings growth over time tends to drive the major indexes higher. In other words, patience literally and figuratively pays when investing in stocks.
The big question isn't whether or not you should put your money to work in the market; it's where you should invest?
Depending on your risk tolerance and investment timeline/goals, here are some of the smartest ways to invest $1,000 right now.
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For aggressive growth investors: Lovesac
If you're an investor with a high tolerance for risk and a very long investment horizon, an intriguing way to put $1,000 to work right now would be to buy small-cap furniture designer and retailer Lovesac (LOVE 2.21%).
Generally speaking, the furniture industry is slow-growing and stodgy. It's one of the last industries you'd associate with aggressive growth. But the way Lovesac has approached its designs and operating model has completely disrupted this relatively boring industry.
The secret to Lovesac's success is its modular furniture, known as sactionals. Making up more than 80% of total sales, these sactionals can be rearranged a variety of ways to fit most livable spaces. There are also more than 250 different covers that can be purchased, making them compatible with any living space and giving Lovesac an opportunity to rake in the dough with high-margin add-ons. And it's an ESG investing dream, too. That's because the yarn used in Lovesac's sactional covers is made entirely from recycled water bottles.
The other great aspect of Lovesac is the company's ability to pivot its operating model based on prevailing market conditions. Though most furniture companies are reliant on foot traffic into brick-and-mortar stores, Lovesac has been able to shift its focus online and to pop-up showrooms to make sales. After all, its core customer is older millennials -- a group that's perfectly comfortable purchasing goods online.
Lovesac reached recurring profitability about two years before expectations, and its fiscal first-quarter sales growth of 53% blew Wall Street's consensus estimate out of the water. It remains a top-tier aggressive growth stock worth buying.
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For patient growth investors: Facebook
Meanwhile, if you want to buy into a growth stock that's more established (i.e., with less implied volatility), consider investing $1,000 into social media giant Facebook (META -4.13%).
Don't let Facebook's $943 billion market cap fool you -- it's nowhere close to done growing. In fact, you could reasonably argue that CEO Mark Zuckerberg hasn't even fully depressed the gas pedal yet.
Facebook ended March with 2.85 billion people visiting its namesake site on a monthly basis. It also reported 600 million additional unique monthly visitors for Instagram and WhatsApp, which it owns. That's 3.45 billion people, or 44% of the entire global population, visiting a Facebook-owned asset each month. Advertisers are keenly aware that no social platform offers a broader or arguably more-targeted audience than Facebook, which is why its ad-pricing power is so exceptional.
The kicker is that Facebook is on pace to generate over $100 billion in ad revenue this year almost exclusively from its namesake site and Instagram. Neither WhatsApp nor Facebook Messenger have been meaningfully monetized as of yet, and its Oculus virtual reality accessories are still early in their existence. In short, when Facebook does depress the gas pedal on all of its assets, its sales and cash flow will explode higher.
It's jaw-dropping that investors can buy into Facebook, a company that's consistently growing by 20% (or more), for a multiple of only 22 times forward-year earnings.
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For concerned/hedge-seeking investors: VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF
Another way to invest $1,000 right now is as a hedge. Even though the stock market has performed exceptionally well over the long-term, the historic bounce-back from the coronavirus pandemic crash is almost too good to be true. History suggests that a crash or steep correction is coming, which would make an exchange-traded fund (ETF) like the VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX 0.95%) a smart buy.
As the name implies, the VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF invests in major gold stocks around the globe. One fairly obvious benefit is that this ETF would provide a way to take advantage of higher gold prices. Historically low lending rates, dovish Federal Reserve monetary policy, and the prospect of higher inflation down the road, are all helping to push the per-ounce price for gold higher. Since gold stocks can adjust their output and spending to match prevailing conditions, as well as pay dividends, an ETF is a much better way to leverage a bet on gold moving higher than owning physical gold.
The VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF is also focused on major producers. While I have nothing against the VanEck Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF, larger mining companies will have the available infrastructure to drive down their all-in sustaining costs to take full advantage of higher spot gold prices.
With the balance sheets of major gold stocks improving across the board, the VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF could bring the luster back to investors' portfolios.
Image source: Getty Images.
For value/income seekers: Bristol Myers Squibb
Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about value stock investors and income seekers! If you have $1,000 at the ready, pharmaceutical stock Bristol Myers Squibb (BMY 1.30%) is a smart place to put your cash to work. That's because it offers a healthy blend or organic and inorganic growth, as well as a market-topping dividend.
From an organic perspective, Bristol Myers has worked with development partner Pfizer to turn Eliquis into the world's leading oral anticoagulant. Based on the nearly $2.9 billion generated by Eliquis to in the first three months of this year, it's well on its way to topping $10 billion in annual sales. There's also cancer immunotherapy Opdivo, which is pacing about $7 billion in yearly revenue. Opdivo has a good chance of expanding its label in clinical studies, which will help boost sales and lift Bristol Myers' pricing power on the drug.
Bristol Myers Squibb made a big splash on the inorganic growth front with its November 2019 purchase of cancer and immunology drug developer Celgene. The big prize of this deal was multiple myeloma treatment Revlimid. Through a combination of label expansion, longer duration of use, and strong pricing power, Revlimid has seen its sales climb by a double-digit percentage for more than a decade. This key therapy is protected from a flood of generics for nearly another five years.
The icing on the cake is the 3% dividend yield income seekers will net while owning a cash cow that's valued at a multiple of less than 9 times forward-year earnings.
