Bargains seem to be running a bit scarce in the stock market these days. Knowing what will be a good stock to buy is even more challenging right now given the inflationary environment and the supply chain obstacles impacting so many companies.
Despite these headwinds, Airbnb (ABNB 0.90%) and Starbucks (SBUX 0.73%) are two companies still capable of producing good results in the near term as well as growing your stock investment over the long term. Airbnb has a long runway of growth in the travel industry, while Starbucks' pricing power and strong brand are key traits that make it a great business to add to your holdings.
Let's take a deeper look at these two stocks worthy of a $3,000 investment.
Image source: Getty Images.
1. More people are skipping hotels for the Airbnb experience
Airbnb has experienced rapid growth since its founding in 2008 by offering travelers something different than the usual hotel experience. Millions of hosts list all types of homes, apartments, and other experiences from all over the world to meet demand from guests who want a more local experience. While business suffered last year during the travel restrictions, the travel industry is roaring back, and the surging pent-up demand puts Airbnb in a strong position.
Gross booking value, which includes the total charge to guests for a stay, cleaning, and other fees, jumped 320% year over year in the second quarter to reach $13.4 billion. Airbnb makes money off the service fee charged to hosts, which left the company with $1.3 billion in revenue for the quarter. Analysts expect revenue to reach $5.7 billion in 2021, up 68% over 2020, and Airbnb should keep growing from there.
Airbnb is seeing growing demand for longer stays by guests, as remote workers are looking for relaxing new locations to stay for weeks or months. In this way, Airbnb is demonstrating a very strong business model, allowing it to adapt to new experiences that travelers are looking for.
Airbnb has a very profitable model. It collects service fees at the time of booking and ahead of guest stays, which boosts free cash flow. Through the second quarter, Airbnb generated $1.45 billion in free cash flow on $4.4 billion in revenue on a trailing 12-month basis.
With travel on the rebound and a massive addressable market of $1.5 trillion, this is a great time to consider buying shares in an industry disruptor.
Image source: Starbucks.
2. Starbucks' pumpkin spice lattes never get old
There are not many consumer brands stronger than Starbucks. It's delivered incredible returns for investors over the last few decades by turning a commodity product into something you really can't get anywhere else. A $1,000 investment 10 years ago would already be worth $4,900, which gives an idea of what's possible if you buy the stock and stick with it for a decade or more.
Starbucks just reported another strong quarter of growth, with revenue up 31% year over year, as people return to their pre-pandemic coffee routines. The stock fell about 8% after earnings, apparently due to revenue of $8.1 billion coming in a little short of the consensus estimate of $8.2 billion, but that only makes this top consumer brand an even better buy.
Management is making investments in higher wages for its employees, which should help Starbucks keep its stores staffed despite the current labor shortages and potentially help it gain market share. The coffee chain also saw a sequential uptick of Starbucks Rewards active members, increasing by 33% year over year to 17.9 million, which should fuel growth in repeat purchases.
While inflationary pressures could weigh on profit margin over the next year, Starbucks has great pricing power with its premium beverages that can offset those cost headwinds.
Another plus with Starbucks is its dividend, where the payout increased consistently in recent years. With the post-earnings sell-off, the dividend yield has drifted up to 1.72%, which is higher than the average market yield of 1.38%.
All said, Starbucks is a top consumer discretionary brand that can anchor any investor's retirement account.
