Investing in These 3 Stocks Could Make You Richer

It may be a bit easier than you think to make a lot of money. One solid way is to invest in great and growing businesses, and then to hang on through thick and thin, as long as the companies' growth potential and your faith in them remains intact. Adding more money into your best ideas over many years can help you get richer even faster.

Different people will define being "rich" in different ways. If you invest a single $5,000 sum for 20 years and it grows by, say, 10% annually, you'll end up with about $33,600. That probably doesn't qualify as rich in your book. (By the way, 10% is the long-term average annual return of the stock market. But don't forget that's a long-term average and the market also goes down.) If your investments averaged, say, 15% over 20 years (a tall order), you'd end up with close to $82,000.

But what if you invested that $5,000 every year -- or, better yet, invested $10,000 annually -- amd earned 8%? Well, then getting "rich" looks much more achievable:

Calculations by author.

If you've got money to invest, here are some companies that look like good candidates to help you on your road to getting "rich."

1. Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms (META 0.43%) is the parent company of Facebook, which has nearly unfathomable potential thanks to its incredible reach. It recently boasted more than 2 billion active daily users -- up 4% over prior-year levels. When you count its other properties, such as Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp, it has 3 billion daily active users (up 5% year over year). Clearly, with that big an audience, the company has many monetization opportunities.

There are headwinds, such as competition from the likes of TikTok and a metaverse vision that hasn't yet come to pass, but its formidable free cash flow -- topping $17 billion annually -- can help it develop (or buy) technology to offer new products and services. There's talk of a Meta-backed alternative to Twitter in the works, for example, as well as artificial intelligence chips being developed.

The stock's recent forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio is in line with its five-year average and its price-to-sales ratio was recently a bit below the average, suggesting that Meta Platforms is roughly fairly valued. It could be worth a spot in your portfolio.

2. Amazon.com

Amazon.com (AMZN 3.43%) is another titan in the digital world, with a recent market value of $1.3 trillion. It's hard to envision a world where Amazon isn't much bigger 20 years from now (though no company is guaranteed long-term success). The company already has its flagship online marketplace and market-leading cloud-computing provider Amazon Web Services (AWS), not to mention its technologies such as Kindles, Fire tablets, Echoes, and Alexa.

Like Meta Platforms, Amazon has a wide reach, too, having hit the 200 million Prime member mark back in 2021. With such a strong user base, its introductions of new offerings can quickly be competitive -- and the company likes to enter new markets whenever it can. If recent reports that Amazon is considering offering wireless services, for example, come to fruition, that could threaten big businesses such as AT&T and Verizon Communications. Amazon has also long been eying the healthcare arena, and with its purchase of One Medical earlier this year, it aims to offer primary care.

Amazon's stock also looks fairly valued to slightly undervalued, with its price-to-sales ratio below its five-year average and its forward P/E ratio slightly above its average.

3. Autodesk

Autodesk (ADSK 0.71%) is less well known, but also a giant in its field, providing software used in the architecture, engineering, construction, and media industries. (You may have heard of its AutoCAD platform.) It has grown to a market value north of $40 billion, rewarding shareholders along the way: Over the past decade its stock has grown by an annual average of 19%, well above the S&P 500's average of 12%.

Like other software businesses, Autodesk has been transitioning to a subscription model, which makes revenue more reliable and predictable. In its first quarter of fiscal 2024, which ended April 30, revenue grew 8% year over year to $1.3 billion, with subscription revenue up 10%. The company also offers a pay-as-you-go option, which can attract occasional users who may be converted into subscribers.

Autodesk stock's valuation looks attractive, with both its price-to-sales and forward P/E ratios well below their five-year averages.

Each of these businesses is poised to keep growing over the years to come, and they can help you get richer in the process.