In much of 2020 and 2021, a mention of "Robinhood stocks" may have conjured up images of meme stocks that were making insane -- and mostly short-lived -- gains in the market.
Now investors that use the Robinhood Markets (HOOD -1.76%) online trading platform appear to be shifting their focus to more stable companies, likely as the broad market sell-off of the past year caused many investors to take a more cautious approach to where they put their remaining money.
For investors looking for a few great companies to give further consideration to from the current list of most popular stocks among Robinhood users, look no further than Tesla (TSLA 12.06%), Amazon (AMZN -1.64%), and Apple (AAPL 1.27%). These three Robinhood stocks are worth consideration as buy-and-hold-forever investments.
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1. Tesla is leading the shift to EVs
There's no getting around the fact that Tesla's stock took a turn for the worst in 2022. The electric vehicle (EV) maker's share price has tumbled roughly 49% since the start of the year as some investors have left the once red-hot EV market. And there are certainly some hurdles Tesla faces. Supply chain issues, rising material costs, and CEO Elon Musk's current focus on his newly acquired Twitter purchase are all affecting Tesla's near-term share price.
But zoom out and you'll see a clearer picture of the company. Tesla is still the leading EV manufacturer in the world, and in the third quarter (ending Sept. 30), the company's production continued chugging along -- rising 42% year over year to 343,830 vehicles produced.
Tesla is on track for a 2 million-vehicle production run rate in 2023, which helps it take another step toward achieving Musk's goal of producing 20 million vehicles per year by 2030. Earnings are moving in the right direction as well, as non-GAAP (adjusted) earnings per share climbed 69% in the quarter to $1.05.
Tesla's stock isn't cheap, with shares trading at about 55 times the company's earnings. But the current price is far less expensive than the stock's P/E ratio of 344 this time last year.
Investors will need to be patient with some of the EV industry's current volatility. But with Tesla already an electric vehicle leader, production continuing to ramp up, and the company expanding its profits, this EV stock still looks like a good long-term buy.
2. Amazon still has a lot of irons in the fire
Another popular stock with the Robinhood crowd is Amazon and its massive e-commerce business. Like many other stocks this year, Amazon's share price took a significant hit, sliding 43.8% in 2022.
But don't let the short-term deep drop steer you away from the company's long-term opportunity. In addition to being a leading e-commerce juggernaut, the company's Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a leading cloud computing platform. AWS brings the vast majority of Amazon's profits, and in the third quarter (ending on Sept. 30) the segment's operating income rose 10% year over year to $5.4 billion.
And last but not least, Amazon also has a rapidly expanding advertising business that is now the third-largest in the digital ad space, behind just Alphabet's Google and Meta Platforms.
Amazon's ad revenue spiked 25% year over year in the most recent quarter to $9.5 billion. Considering that the U.S. digital advertising market will reach $315 billion market by 2025 -- up from $240 billion this year -- Amazon could continue to capture more revenue as it expands.
Like Tesla, Amazon's price-to-earnings ratio of 86 isn't cheap, but with the company's current lead in e-commerce and cloud computing, and its expanding advertising segment, there's still plenty of room for Amazon to grow.
3. Apple is still a tech winner
Apple may not be as exciting of an investment as Tesla or Amazon, but if you're looking for some stability in your portfolio it's still a great investment. Sure, Apple's stock slid a bit over the past year -- it's down 1.3% over the past 12 months -- but it hasn't experienced the large 15.6% decline of the S&P 500 over the same timeframe.
The lack of volatility may be what initially draws some Robinhood investors to Apple's stock, but it's the company's consistent growth that keeps them there. In the company's fourth quarter (ended on Sept. 24) Apple's sales increased 8% from the year-ago quarter to $90.1 billion, and earnings increased 4% to $1.29 per share. Strong demand for Apple's iPhone gave the company's results a boost, with the segment's sales increasing 10% from the year-ago quarter to $42.6 billion.
And there could be more iPhone growth in the coming years as more consumers switch to 5G phones. Apple already holds 29% of the global 5G smartphone market right now as this space grows into a nearly $668 billion market by 2030.
With Apple's shares trading at just 24 times the company's earnings, down from 27 times earnings at this time last year, investors can buy Apple's stock at a discount right now.
Remember to hold these stocks for years
Tech and EV stocks are especially volatile right now, so if you buy these stocks you're likely to see some share price swings in the near term. But being a long-term investor means holding stocks for five years or longer to let them grow and ride out the short-term volatility.
