Retiring early has become a pipe dream for many Americans. But thankfully, early retirement is much closer than it might seem if you can save and plan ahead. The key is to invest strategically in high-growth investments, to boost your savings while creating reliable passive income streams.
Two stocks that both offer money-making opportunities are Airbnb (ABNB 2.77%) and Home Depot (HD 0.86%). Here's a closer look at each company, and at why these stocks could help set you up for success in retiring early.
1. Airbnb
Airbnb has grown massively since its humble beginnings in 2007. The vacation-rental listing platform is now the largest in the world, with over 6 million active rental listings in over 220 countries. And the company still has plenty of room to keep growing.
Since its initial public offering in early 2021, Airbnb has increased its positive free cash flow by over 500% and grown its operating margin by 138%. Generating such a healthy profit as a young company is pretty rare in the world of high-growth tech companies. 2022 was a strong year for Airbnb, as travel demand soared once COVID-19 travel restrictions eased.
In the third quarter of 2022, nightly bookings increased by 25%, while higher average daily rates (ADR) helped gross booking value jump by 31% compared to last year. The company also had the most profitable quarter ever, with $1.2 billion in net income. Yet Airbnb is still down 37% since its IPO. Part of this is bad timing, as the overall market is in bear territory, but another part is concern about the impact of a recession on travel spending.
A recession could certainly stunt growth in the short term, but I don't think it would take Airbnb out of the running for achieving incredible growth in the next 10 to 20 years. The shares are priced extremely well today and trading near their 52-week low, making right now the perfect time to buy this high-growth stock.
2. Home Depot
Airbnb offers investors an excellent growth opportunity, but a big part of retiring early is also having sufficient passive income to support your monthly living expenses. This is where Home Depot comes in.
Being the largest home renovation store in the world has made it harder to achieve double-digit annual growth. The company instead achieves a steady increase in revenue and earnings per share each year, and its dividend yield is now over 2.3% -- better than that of the S&P 500.
Like Airbnb, Home Depot has benefited over the last few years thanks to a boom in the housing market fueled by COVID-19. Demand for home renovation skyrocketed as people made improvements to their properties during self-isolation and lockdowns. The company's revenue is returning to more normalized levels of growth as we near 2023, but that's not a bad thing. It means investors should be able to rely on dividend income for years to come.
Home Depot has raised its dividend by 700% since 2010 through 12 years of consecutive increases. Chances are low that it will cut the dividend in the near future, even if a recession and inflationary pressures continue to weigh on the company, thanks to its conservative dividend payout ratio of 44%.
Its price-to-earnings ratio of 19 is slightly lower than that of its closest competitor, Lowe's -- and a fair valuation given the company's size, healthy balance sheet, and track record of growth.
