Are you thinking about beginning to invest in the stock market but don't have a lot of extra money to get started? I have some great news. In recent years, discount stock brokerages chased each other to the bottom in an attempt to gain market share. Now, the high costs of maintaining a brokerage account that you need to buy and sell stocks are a thing of the past.
If you have an extra $200 that you won't need to pay bills or cover an unforeseen emergency, you could buy shares of these two exceptional growth stocks. Read on to see why they look like outstanding options for beginners and seasoned investors alike.
Amazon
Shares of Amazon (AMZN 3.65%) are around 50% below the high watermark they set during the lockdown phase of the pandemic. Now you can buy the e-commerce and cloud computing giant for around $94 per share.
Amazon's stock price is beaten down because its e-commerce operations lost a lot of money in 2022. In a nutshell, the company overinvested to meet pandemic-driven demand that didn't last very long. The good news is that demand is catching up to capacity. Losses from the North America segment that reached $2.6 billion during the first nine months of 2022 shrank to just $240 million in the fourth quarter.
It might take several more quarters before demand for online order fulfillment catches up with Amazon's current capacity. In the meantime, its industry-leading cloud computing segment is offsetting the losses. Operating income from Amazon Web Services grew 23% year over year to a stunning $22.8 billion in 2022.
Right now shares of Amazon are trading at 28.9 times 2021 earnings. That's a nice price to pay for a business growing at Amazon's pace. It's just a matter of time before demand for online order fulfillment catches up with capacity. Once it does the company's bottom line, and its stock price could soar to new heights.
The Trade Desk
Shares of The Trade Desk (TTD 1.93%) are down around 61% from the all-time high they set in 2021. Now, $43 is all it takes to buy a share of this exceptional growth stock.
The Trade Desk runs an independent demand-side platform that ad buyers use to run their digital ad campaigns. Advertisers increasingly prefer the independent platform because, unlike Alphabet and Meta Platforms, it doesn't own the ad inventory it asks clients to bid on.
In addition to an independent platform, The Trade Desk is a leader in the rising market for connected television (CTV) ads. Streaming fatigue has led to the rapid growth of ad-supported streaming services. The Trade Desk is already the most popular platform ad buyers use to bid on CTV inventory, a service its largest competitors can't even offer.
A lack of transparency during the bidding process and a dearth of CTV inventory caused Meta Platforms to report a 1% revenue contraction last year. Alphabet reported fourth quarter Google Advertising revenue that fell 3.6% year over year. In 2022, The Trade Desk reported revenue that soared 32% year over year.
Right now shares of The Trade Desk are trading at around 42 times forward-looking earnings estimates. This is a high multiple that implies at least several more years of rapid growth. An unexpected deceleration would lead to swift losses, but this stock is probably worth the risk.
In addition to an independent platform, The Trade Desk's proprietary technology for providing relevant advertising to viewers while maintaining their anonymity is becoming an industry standard. With strong competitive advantages and a lot of room to grow, this stock has a great chance to outperform over time for patient investors.
