If you made it through 2022 with $200 in cash available to invest, congratulations. By investing in the right companies, you can plant the seeds of a large cash pile down the road.
With all the major market indexes down this year, it can seem like stocks are not a good investment right now. But the truth is it depends on how long you have to invest. In fact, famous investor Warren Buffett made a fortune buying top stocks when they were trading below their intrinsic values. If you have the patience to wait years, not months, now is the time to put your money to work.
What follows are two stocks that don't require a PhD to understand and could deliver monster gains over the long term.
1. Etsy: This e-commerce stock still has legs
The e-commerce competitive landscape is vast, but it's also crowded. At the top of the food chain is Amazon, which sells everything under the sun, while Shopify has emerged as a leading platform powering the e-commerce needs of small businesses. But Etsy (ETSY -2.17%) has carved out a lucrative position as an online marketplace of vintage and handmade items. About 200 million unique visitors come to Etsy searching for that perfect item every month. Since 2019, Etsy's revenue, which it earns by charging a small transaction fee on every purchase, and free cash flow have more than tripled.
The stock has risen in tandem with the growth of the business, up 184%, although it fell this year with the broader market sell-off. However, the stock has significantly outperformed the market since hitting a low earlier this year. After experiencing a deceleration in growth at the start of the year, the business showed good stability over the last few quarters.
In the third quarter, Etsy generated $3 billion in gross merchandise sales over its marketplace. While that was down 3% over last year's same quarter, it represented growth of 150% over the same quarter in 2019. The three-year growth comparison is more indicative of the long-term trajectory of the business.
Management says the company's addressable market is in the trillions, indicating that this business could grow for potentially decades. There are not only many new buyers and sellers to reach around the world, but management is still working to increase the shopping frequency of its existing buyers. It is also gradually identifying new marketplaces to acquire, as it did a few years ago by scooping up the popular secondhand clothing reseller Depop and Brazil-based Elo7.
With tremendous growth opportunities still ahead, it's not too late to add this growth stock to your portfolio.
2. Sonos: A convenient home audio solution
Sonos (SONO -2.09%) is a leading brand of wireless speakers and home audio accessories. The company introduced the first multi-room wireless sound system in 2005, and it completed its initial public offering in 2018.
Sonos is building a strong consumer brand by making it easy to play audio wirelessly throughout the home, all controlled by the Sonos mobile app. Over the last five years, revenue increased by 60% to reach $1.75 billion. But management sees a market worth $96 billion that it has yet to meaningfully penetrate.
One hurdle to growth that experienced investors might recognize is that home audio products are basically one-time purchases, which means Sonos must reach more customers every year to keep growing. But that it isn't holding Sonos back.
Previous customers drove nearly half the company's new product registrations last year. Many first-time customers buy a single speaker before buying add-on products to build a complete wireless sound system throughout the home.
The company has continued to build on its repeat business by expanding into more products and services, such as new sound bar models for home theater. Management believes the company has yet to realize the full lifetime value of its customer base, and as it seeks to achieve this, the business could create sustainable long-term growth.
The stock trades at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 22, which isn't much for a company with so much headroom for growth. This is a promising small-cap growth stock that could surge higher over the next five years.
