Some investors "aped" into AMC Entertainment (AMC 2.02%) in order to get their share of newly minted AMC Preferred Equity (APE) that the company issued to AMC holders last week. The move was described as a dividend, and the company issued one APE share for each share of AMC held. AMC previously pledged not to dilute shareholders by issuing more AMC shares, and APE is a creative way of keeping that promise.
The problem is that management has the option to issue up to 5 billion APE shares over the long term, which would significantly dilute AMC and APE shareholders. When you look at this potential for dilution coupled with news that one of its competitors is considering bankruptcy, this doesn't look like the type of stock I want to have in my portfolio right now.
Why roll the dice on shares of AMC and APE when there are plenty of great, high-growth stocks that are also down significantly from their 52-week highs? Let''s look at several below.
Image source: Getty Images.
1. Dutch Bros
If you're looking for potential long-term growth, Dutch Bros (BROS -1.04%) is a good place to start. The Oregon-based coffee chain's store count is spreading across the country like wildfire. Dutch Bros grew its store count from 471 during the second quarter of 2021 to 603 in the second quarter of 2022. Meanwhile, revenue grew 44%, from $129 million to $186 million.
And Dutch Bros is nowhere near close to taking its foot off the gas. CEO Joth Ricci says that the chain's long-term plan is to grow to 4,000 locations. A cluster of shops in Tennessee represents Dutch Bros' easternmost foray to date, meaning that there are still huge swaths of the country, including some massive east coast markets, that haven't yet gotten their first taste of Dutch Bros.
When Dutch Bros enters a new market, it does so in a big way. For example, the company first entered the Texas market about 18 months ago, and it now has a significant Lone Star State presence with 61 stores there. This purveyor of drinks like the Midnight Rebel and the Dinosaur Egg continues to expand and grow revenue as it works toward its long-term growth goals.
2. MercadoLibre
If you liked the revenue growth that Dutch Bros posted during the last quarter, you're going to love MercadoLibre (MELI -0.37%). During the most recent quarter, Latin America's e-commerce leader grew revenue by 57% to $2.6 billion year over year, an already strong number made even more impressive by the fact that it was lapping a strong second quarter in 2021 and dealing with a more challenging macroeconomy.
The company has a strong presence in some of Latin America's largest markets, including Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico. Gross merchandise volume on these platforms grew by 28%, 33%, and 30%, respectively, in these markets. And while MercadoLibre is a great e-commerce stock, it is much more than that. It is also home to a burgeoning payments business -- Mercado Pago. During the last quarter, total payment volume (TPV) on Mercado Pago increased by a whopping 70% and eclipsed the $30 billion mark.
This juggernaut is firing on all cylinders and riding the tailwinds of two major long-term trends in e-commerce and online payments, while tapping into the enormous potential of the Latin American market.
3. Bill.com
Bill.com (BILL -0.36%) provides software that helps small business owners streamline and automate their billing and accounts-payable processes. The company's solutions are in high demand. For example, Bill.com just concluded its fiscal year, and it grew revenue by 169%, from $238 million in 2021 to $642 million this year. For the latest quarter, revenue increased 156% year over year to $200 million.
Meanwhile, the company posted a net dollar-retention rate of 131%. Net dollar-retention rate is an important metric for evaluating softward-as-a-service (SaaS) companies. This 131% rate means that Bill.com is retaining revenue from its current customers and making 31% more revenue from them when compared to the year before. This indicates that Bill.com's customers value the services that it provides and are expanding their use of its services over time.
Bill.com tripled its customer count year over year to 158,000, and while these are incredible growth numbers, it doesn't look like Bill.com is anywhere close to hitting saturation. The company estimates that there are about 6 million small businesses in the U.S. and 20 million globally, meaning that there is still a long runway of growth ahead. Obviously, Bill.com won't capture all of these small businesses. Many will likely never automate their back-office practices, but the potential for growth is enormous.
Forget about APE!
Investors don't need to gamble on shares of AMC or its APE shares when they can buy shares of great growth stocks with significantly more long-term potential and without the same existential risk or threat of dilution.
