As 2022 proved, short-term movements in the stock market can be unpredictable. Last year, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500, and Nasdaq Composite respectively lost 9%, 19%, and 33% of their value, with all three indexes falling into a bear market at one point or another.
But it's a completely different story when the lens is widened. Despite the S&P 500 undergoing 39 separate double-digit percentage corrections since the start of 1950, each of the previous 38 declines (i.e., not counting the current bear market) have eventually been placed into the back seat by a bull market rally. In other words, every single correction and bear market throughout history has proved to be a buying opportunity for patient investors.
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Equally important, most online brokerages have completely shelved their commission fees and done away with minimum deposit requirements. It means any amount of money -- even $400 -- can be the ideal amount to put to work.
If you have $400 ready to invest, and this cash won't be needed to cover emergencies or pay any bills, the following three stocks stand out as no-brainer buys right now.
Meta Platforms
The first surefire stock to buy with $400 right now is social media juggernaut Meta Platforms (META 0.43%). Meta is the company formerly known as Facebook.
Meta struggled mightily in 2022 because of two well-defined headwinds. To start with, it's an ad-driven company, with more than 97% of its revenue derived from ads last year. With the Federal Reserve now modeling a recession in their outlook for later in 2023, and a number of economic indicators suggesting a recession is likely, we've witnessed advertisers pare back their spending.
The other issue for Meta Platforms has been its aggressive spending on metaverse and augmented reality initiatives. Reality Labs has lost close to $24 billion, combined, over the past two years. During a bear market, Wall Street becomes less tolerant of projects that divert a lot of capital without much near-term reward.
However, these hurdles are only headwinds for investors looking a couple of quarters into the future. Historically, buying stakes in ad-driven companies during sizable pullbacks and/or recessions has been a genius move. Even though recessions are an inevitable part of the economic cycle, they've only lasted between two and 18 months after World War II. Meanwhile, economic expansions are measured in years. In short, being patient tends to pay off handsomely for investors in advertising stocks.
To build on this point, Meta Platforms owns some pretty desirable social media real estate. Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook Messenger are consistently among the four most downloaded social media apps in the world. These apps combined for 3.74 billion unique monthly visitors during the fourth quarter of 2022 -- and businesses know this. With economic expansions lasting disproportionately longer than downturns, Meta is well positioned to command superb ad-pricing power in the years to come.
Additionally, Meta Platforms has the balance sheet and operating cash flow to navigate short-term turbulence. It closed out 2022 with $30.8 billion in net cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities, and had its board approve a $40 billion share-repurchase program. Even if Reality Labs takes years to develop into a meaningful sales channel, Meta remains an amazing deal for long-term-minded investors.
JD.com
A second no-brainer stock that can be confidently bought with $400 right now is Chinese e-commerce company JD.com (JD 6.12%).
For three years, the COVID-19 pandemic had been a particularly large headwind for China-based companies. China's zero-COVID strategy led to stringent, unpredictable lockdowns in various provinces throughout the country. These lockdowns disrupted supply chains for virtually all sectors and industries, as well as hampered consumer and business demand for products and services.
The good news for JD.com is that Chinese regulators abandoned the country's zero-COVID mitigation strategy in December. Although it could take a couple of quarters for China's residents to build natural or vaccine-based immunity to the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19, reopening China's economy is a best-case scenario for e-commerce stocks like JD.
China stocks are also off the hot plate with U.S. regulators. There had been some concern about China stocks being delisted from major U.S. exchanges if years of financial audits weren't made available. These disclosures occurred late last year, which represents another headwind removed.
On a more company-specific basis, JD's operating model gives it a clear-cut advantage over its larger peer, Alibaba. Whereas Alibaba generates a significant percentage of its revenue from third-party marketplaces, JD's online marketplace is modeled similarly to Amazon. JD generates most of its sales from direct-to-consumer (DTC) purchases. By controlling the inventory and logistics behind these DTC purchases, JD has more control over its operating margin than China's top e-commerce company, Alibaba.
Something else that should excite prospective and current JD.com shareholders is the company's recent proposal to spin off its industrial and property units, and list them on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Spinoffs have the ability to unlock shareholder value by making growth and profit potential from individual operating segments more transparent.
Lastly, investors should be aware that JD.com is more than just an e-commerce company. Its other ventures, which include JD Logistics, JD Health, and JD Cloud, offer substantially higher long-term organic growth potential than e-commerce.
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Paramount Global
The third no-brainer stock to buy right now with $400 is media stock Paramount Global (PARA -2.22%).
Like Meta Platforms, Paramount's biggest hurdle at the moment is advertising weakness. Even though Paramount has (pardon the pun) numerous channels to generate sales, its legacy TV media operations still bring in a decent chunk of annual revenue from advertising. It's perfectly normal for advertisers to reduce their spending when even the slightest hint of recession is detected in the breeze.
But there are two sides to this coin. Just as the ball is in Meta's court a disproportionate amount of time, Paramount should enjoy strong ad-pricing power during long-winded economic expansions.
However, investors aren't going to be purchasing shares of Paramount Global for its modest, long-term ad-growth potential. Rather, it's all about the company's streaming services.
Over the past five reported quarters (Sept. 30, 2021 to Dec. 31, 2022), Paramount's DTC subscriber count has jumped by 30 million to 77 million. Mind you, this includes losing 3.9 million DTC subscribers when Paramount stopped offering its services in Russia last year following its invasion of Ukraine. A combination of monthly price hikes, subscription growth, and proprietary programming should help Paramount move its paid streaming operations toward profitability in the quarters to come.
Equally interesting is the company's success with Pluto TV, the United States' No.1 free, ad-supported streaming platform. Pluto TV closed out 2022 with 79 million monthly active users, which is bound to draw the attention of advertisers. If the Federal Reserve is correct and the U.S. does fall into a mild recession later this year, "free" can be a compelling price point for consumers.
Even Paramount Global's film segment is raising eyebrows. Last year, Top Gun: Maverick grossed nearly $1.5 billion at box offices worldwide. Altogether, a half-dozen Paramount films debuted at No. 1 at the U.S. box office in 2022.
With a high-yield dividend and a history of profits, Paramount Global is the ideal stock to invest $400 in right now.
