Investors in tech stocks have suffered through their fair share of tough market days over the past year. The way that the first couple of months of 2023 played out there may be some light at the end of the bear market tunnel, but patience will likely still be required.
What's also required is finding compelling businesses with competitive advantages, strong leadership, and the means to drive sustained growth. Regardless of how long it takes for the next prolonged bull market to arrive, here are three such stocks you may want to add to your portfolio before then.
1. Shopify
Lately, Shopify's (SHOP -0.95%) normally strong financial results have been underwhelming, but its growth story is far from waning. The company is operating at a net loss, but revenue growth is strong, and the investments it's making in its business now should enable it to remain competitive in an increasingly crowded e-commerce space.
As of the end of 2022, management reported that Shopify had penetrated 10% of the U.S. e-commerce market -- no small feat considering this market was valued at $905 billion in 2022 and is on track to be worth $1.7 trillion by 2027, according to the analysts at Statista. Meanwhile, Shopify's gross merchandise volume of $197 billion was not only up 12% from 2021, but was more than three times higher than it was in 2019.
Management has made it clear that getting Shopify's bottom line back in the green is a key priority. President Harley Finkelstein noted during the Q4 2022 earnings call, "If you look at our seven years since IPO, we were profitable five out of the seven. And we like being profitable, and we're going to work toward that."
In the meantime, Shopify is continuing to roll out new tools and solutions to help merchants thrive, from its ongoing integration of e-commerce fulfillment provider Deliverr with its Shopify Fulfillment network to the newly released all-in-one mobile point of sales device POS Go to its cross-border solution Shopify Markets Pro. Those investments could pay off many times over for the business in the future, including in the form of profits, enabling Shopify to continue to seize market share and retain more merchants. Shopify's continued strides in this challenging environment for e-commerce bode well for its future, and investors who stay with the growth stock may well reap generous returns.
2. Fiverr
Fiverr (FVRR) continues to see its platform expand. There has been a broad adoption of the gig economy, both by workers looking to supplement their incomes and by those seeking to replace the incomes of full-time jobs. The challenging macroeconomic situation is affecting businesses across all industries, including Fiverr. It's boosting the money being spent on its platform, but it's also affecting margins.
Still, revenue acceleration is solid, active buyer acquisition continues, and Fiverr is steadily expanding its take rate. These are all good signs that even if a difficult economic environment affects the trajectory of buyer spending on Fiverr's platform in the near term, the company is building a solid foundation from which it can generate durable, long-term growth. In 2022, Fiverr generated revenue of $337 million, a 13% increase from 2021. At the same time, active buyers and active spend per buyer accelerated by 1% and 8%, respectively.
Fiverr continues to grow its take rate with each successive quarter. In Q4, it was 30.2%, up 100 basis points year over year. The company still posted a net loss of $71.5 million for the year, but in Q4, its GAAP net loss narrowed to just $1.3 million.
According to a recent McKinsey study, independent "gig" workers comprise 36% of the U.S. workforce. This sector of the labor force will only continue to grow, even if spending headwinds persist in the short term. It's a tide that can lift all boats in the long run, including Fiverr.
3. Airbnb
Airbnb (ABNB 2.25%) remains a bright spot in the beleaguered travel industry over the last few years, largely due to the wide range of offerings that its platform has for just about any type of traveler in the modern age. It also benefits from the fact that it caters to two very distinct sides of the broader travel economy.
Consumers can book stays on Airbnb -- everyone from your average vacation-goers to business travelers to digital nomads -- for anywhere from a few nights to months at a time. Hosts can earn a second or even full-time income from renting their properties on the platform.
In its Q4 2022 report, Airbnb said demand for hosting skyrocketed as a difficult economy incentivized more people to try out hosting as a means of supplementing their incomes. As of the end of the year, Airbnb reported a record 6.6 million active listings on its platform, up 16% from the close of 2021. Hosts earned $21 billion on the Airbnb platform in the first six months of 2022 alone.
The draw of Airbnb for both hosts and travelers isn't something that is going to just evaporate. Even if a recession does come, the catalysts driving more hosts and travelers to Airbnb's platform can outlast a recession and well beyond. The platform benefits from the popularity of short-term travel (which has surged again as pandemic issues eased) as well as the new reality that more people have the option of taking their work on their computer with them and set up shop wherever they wish for weeks or months at a time.
Right now, revenue and profits are jumping, as is cash generation. This creates a robust foundation upon which Airbnb can weather any near-term market or economic storm.
