A $5,000 investment can be a good amount to aim for if you're buying stocks in this bear market. It's a large enough figure where if you pick a winner, it can mean hundreds or even thousands of dollars in profits. At the same time, you ideally aren't putting money that may play a big role in your retirement plans at risk.
A couple of good options for a $5,000 investment today are two beaten-down growth stocks trading near their lows: Elanco Animal Health (ELAN 2.52%) and Paramount Global (PARA 1.25%).
1. Elanco Animal Health
Did you know that more than 90 million homes in the U.S. have a pet, or 70% of households? Dogs and cats are by far the most commonly owned pets, and even a routine vet visit can cost around $200. And surgical vet visits can cost more than $450 for dogs, based on a recent survey that the American Pet Products Association conducted.
Elanco sells treatments and products that can help keep pets healthy, including Galliprant, which is for osteoarthritis. The company also has products that help treat fleas and ticks as well as vaccines that can prevent serious illnesses. Pet health accounts for half of Elanco's revenue (its farm animal products make up the other half), but it was the fastest-growing business last year, rising by 73% to under $2.4 billion. Its top line totaled $4.8 billion and rose by 46%. Last year was the first full one that included the results of Bayer Animal Health, which Elanco acquired in 2020. Bayer focuses on treating diseases affecting farm animals.
The company is facing challenges due to the war in Ukraine, lockdowns in China, and foreign exchange headwinds, so it isn't projecting any growth for 2022; sales should come in relatively flat at less than $4.8 billion. However, those obstacles won't last over the long term and buying Elanco now, amid a 31% decline in share price this year (far worse than the S&P 500's 13% drop ), could be a good move. The healthcare stock trades at a modest 1.3 times its book value and is near its 52-week low.
2. Paramount Global
Media and entertainment company Paramount Global has fared a bit better than Elanco but its 21% slump this year has also lagged the broader market. The underperforming stock now trades at a steep discount of just 0.7 times its book value.
Its results through the first three months of 2022 weren't terribly impressive, with Paramount reporting a 1% decline in revenue to $7.3 billion. But included within those numbers was a fast-growing segment: its direct-to-consumer streaming business, which posted 82% growth and came in at just under $1.1 billion in sales.
Paramount+, its flagship streaming service, added 6.8 million subscriptions during the period, bringing the company's global streaming subscribers (including its Showtime Networks service) up to more than 62 million. Although that's nowhere near the 221 million subscribers that Netflix has, the service is still in its early growth stages. In June, Paramount+ launched in the U.K. and Ireland and will expand to more countries later this year.
Paramount may never be the streaming giant that Netflix is, but with a more diversified business, it also doesn't need to rely as heavily on that segment. With a stable media business that includes CBS, Paramount could offer investors a good mix of growth and safety. Buying it while it's near a low for the year could be a genius move a year or two from now.
