Market downturns can be scary, especially when you're new to investing in stocks. But it's important to remember that the Dow Jones Industrial Average has finished the year in positive territory only about two-thirds of the time since 1916.
Wall Street is worried about the war in Ukraine and shortages across the global supply chain that have propelled a spike in wholesale and consumer goods prices. But the stock market has navigated issues like these many times throughout history, including the Great Depression in the 1930s, and still gone on to deliver wealth-building returns. Over the last 50 years, despite plenty of ups and downs, the broad market S&P 500 index has returned an average of about 10% per year.
That said, there are great opportunities to buy growing companies at cheaper prices right now. Splitting a $3,000 investment between the following easy-to-understand stocks should work out well once the dust settles.
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1. Visa
The digital payments industry remains a great opportunity for long-term investors. As of 2018, Visa (V 0.05%) estimated there was still about $18 trillion in consumer spending annually happening using cash and checks. Visa processed $10.4 trillion in payments in its fiscal 2021 (which ended Sept. 30), up 18% year over year.
Visa is a very simple business. It doesn't issue credit cards, nor does it take on any complicated financial risks. Instead, it earns revenue from processing transactions over its payment network. Last year, Visa processed nearly 165 billion transactions, generating $24 billion in revenue from transaction fees. Out of that, it earned $12 billion in net profit. That is an exceptional profit margin of 50%, which you don't see many businesses produce.
The stock has fallen by 8% year to date as investors worry about how a slowdown in consumer spending would affect Visa's payment volumes. But over the last 10 years, the stock delivered a staggering return of 583%, which shows what's possible if you hold it for the long term.
Most importantly, Visa can hold up just fine during recessions. Its revenue declined only slightly in fiscal 2020, when many brick-and-mortar businesses were operating at limited capacity and facing severe declines in customer traffic.
The company is also holding up well in the face of 2022's economic pressures. During its most recent quarterly earnings call with analysts on April 26, CEO Al Kelly said the company has seen "no noticeable impact due to inflation, supply chain issues or the war in Ukraine," as it relates to payment volume trends.
Visa continues to form partnerships with retailers and banks to increase consumers' access to digital payments options. Its "tap-to-pay" penetration in the U.S. reached 20% last quarter, with Target being the first Visa retail partner to reach 50% penetration.
Visa is benefiting from a secular tailwind as people shift more of their spending to digital payment methods, and is well worth considering while the stock is down.
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2. Chewy
Chewy (CHWY 1.92%) is making a lot of progress toward its goal of becoming the leading e-commerce destination for pet owners. The company has experienced substantial growth over the past two years, and the stock soared to an all-time high of $120 in early 2021. But the ongoing bear market has dragged the share price back down to around $28. At these levels, Chewy looks like a steal.
Rising levels of pet ownership and increases in the average spent per pet household have been long-term tailwinds pushing Chewy forward. Millions of people became pet owners during the pandemic, and Chewy gained its fair share of them as customers. The company finished its fiscal 2021 (which ended Jan. 30) with 20.7 million active customers, up from 13.5 million at the end of fiscal 2019.
The great thing about growing customer accounts is that it leads to repeat revenue. Last year, auto-ship customer sales made up 70.7% of total sales, up from 68.2% the previous year.
The big negative for Chewy is that it's not profitable. It lost $74 million in its fiscal 2021. But that was a huge improvement compared to its $252 million loss in fiscal 2020. And those improvements on the bottom line are happening even as management continues to invest for growth. Chewy Pharmacy sales jumped 75% year over year in its fiscal fourth quarter, and management plans to roll out sponsored advertising on Chewy.com next year, which could be a multibillion-dollar opportunity that pads the company's profitability.
These are good reasons to consider buying Chewy at these lows.
