While $1,000 might not seem like a lot of money to invest, a little can go a long way in the stock market if you find the right stocks.
Take a look at what $1,000 would have turned into if you'd invested it in one of these stocks 20 years ago:
- $1,000 invested in Amazon stock would now be worth $51,000.
- $1,000 invested in Netflix would give you $157,700 today.
- And $1,000 invested in Apple would now be worth $464,400.
Of course, it's not easy to find these kinds of stocks that can deliver transformative returns, but they are out there. Keep reading to see two stocks with serious upside potential.
Image source: Getty Images.
1. Perion Network
Perion Network (PERI 0.76%) may not be a household name, but the ad tech company already has strong returns, up nearly 400% over the last three years. And it was the only ad tech stock to post a positive return last year.
Perion occupies a unique position in the ad tech space through its intelligent hub, which connects ad buyers and sellers to optimize ad buys and placements. The technology is based on machine learning and is highly scalable, allowing the company to earn higher margins as it grows.
The company also offers premium features like in-game ads during live events and a "connected cart" that allows retailers to update the products being advertised according to conditions like inventory and weather.
Perion is also a preferred partner of Microsoft's Bing, which could be an especially valuable relationship if the ChatGPT-powered version of Bing gains traction in search.
Perion's results speak for themselves. Revenue in the second quarter rose 22% to $178.5 million, and it continues to gain leverage with adjusted earnings per share jumping from $0.51 to $0.84.
The company is seeing solid growth in both search advertising and display advertising, driven by the Bing partnership, and growth in connected TV, which jumped 104% to $7.2 million in the quarter.
However, the best reason to invest in Perion might be its discount valuation, trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of just 13.5. There's still a lot of room for growth in ad tech, and if Perion continues to execute its strategy, the stock could be a big winner.
2. MongoDB
MongoDB (MDB 4.83%) is the leader in NoSQL database software, allowing customers to record and manage data beyond the conventional spreadsheet.
The company has a long track record of delivering superior growth, including from its cloud database product, Atlas. In the second quarter, revenue rose 40%, including 38% growth from MongoDB. Its high-level enterprise advanced subscription also continues to be a key growth driver for the stock. On the bottom line, it reported an adjusted operating income of $79.1 million, up from an adjusted loss of $12.4 million in the quarter a year ago.
The software-as-a-service stock now has more than 45,000 customers, and it looks well positioned to benefit from the artificial intelligence (AI) boom.
Running generative AI models will demand large amounts of data and new ways of processing, and MongoDB should be able to capitalize on that opportunity as AI will bring an increase in data demand along with it.
Unlike other cloud stocks, the company has been able to deliver strong growth even amid a slowdown in tech spending.
After a recent pullback, the stock looks well priced for new buys, trading at a price-to-sales ratio of 15. And while that might not look like a typical bargain, the price looks right considering the company's superior growth rate, margin expansion, and the massive opportunity in AI.
