Investors buy stocks for various reasons, and the hope of getting rich is one of the more popular ones. But unless employed slowly and deliberately, such a strategy carries a high risk of failure. Also, the stocks often perceived as safe are typically low-growth names better at preserving than building wealth.
One way to balance the potential for wealth building while adding a margin of safety is to pursue large-cap stocks with market caps under $100 billion. While the market offers no guarantees, investors will increase their chances of building wealth by owning stocks such as Shopify (SHOP 1.11%), CrowdStrike (CRWD 2.03%), and MercadoLibre (MELI 3.09%).
1. Shopify
Shopify operates in the competitive e-commerce platform space. It has stood out above its peers by building a fast, flexible platform where entrepreneurs can add their products and customize them to their liking.
Business owners can also benefit from its ecosystem, including marketing tools, payment infrastructure, and inventory management. This allows them to handle most business functions within Shopify's environment, a likely reason why it has become the most popular platform in the U.S., according to BuiltWith.
Admittedly, that ecosystem became smaller when Shopify decided to sell its fulfillment business to Flexport. Nonetheless, exiting this capital-intensive, low-profit business allows the company to return to profitability faster, making it a more appealing investment.
Its $3.2 billion in revenue for the first six months of 2023 grew 28% compared to the same period in 2022. And though it lost $1.2 billion over that time, only a $1.3 billion impairment loss stood in the way of profitability.
Additionally, its price-to-sales (P/S) ratio of 11 is a premium valuation but historically low for this stock. That indicates its run can take it well above its recent $68 billion market cap.
2. CrowdStrike
Fortune Business Insights forecasts a compound annual growth rate of 20% for cloud computing through 2030. Such increases foster demand for the cybersecurity needed to protect such networks, and CrowdStrike stands to benefit. The company has stood out over competing products by leveraging crowdsourced data to identify potential attacks; hence its name.
Moreover, it has become a leader in endpoint security, which protects devices such as laptops, smartphones, and servers from potential attacks. This endpoint security has become a segue into selling additional security modules, and about 62% of CrowdStrike customers have purchased five or more modules.
Hence, it should not surprise investors that its $693 million in revenue for the first quarter of fiscal 2024 (ended April 30) grew 42% in one year. That almost matched the 54% yearly revenue growth in fiscal 2023.
Also, in fiscal Q1, it earned a net income of $491,000. This was CrowdStrike's first generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) profit in company history, a factor that could draw investors as it builds on that milestone.
Indeed, investors will have to pay 14 times sales to benefit. While that may seem high, it is much lower than the 40 times sales they paid during the 2021 bull market. Assuming CrowdStrike maintains a high level of revenue growth, investors may be glad they bought when its market cap was its current $34 billion.
3. MercadoLibre
Investors can easily write MercadoLibre off as the Amazon of Latin America. Indeed, the internet and direct marketing retail stock has leveraged its position as the region's largest e-commerce operation to build vibrant businesses in other areas.
Nonetheless, its strength may lie in turning Latin America's challenges into advantages. A large unbanked population gave rise to the fintech business Mercado Pago. And with Argentina's triple-digit inflation, some Mercado Pago accounts pay interest to help offset its currency's declining value. Additionally, the company's logistics business offered same- or next-day shipping, previously uncommon in Latin America.
MercadoLibre's financials speak to its success. Its $6.5 billion in revenue for the first half of 2023 rose 33% versus year-ago levels. Moreover, it earned $463 million in that time frame, up from $188 million one year ago.
Furthermore, given the rapid net income increases and the 5 P/S ratio, investors are likely to pay the current 80 times earnings for this stock. With a $60 billion market cap and the growing importance of both e-commerce and fintech in the region, MercadoLibre's rapid growth could continue for years to come.
