Some stocks that are great picks today won't be all that great a few years from now. Others that aren't great choices now might be at some point in the future. Valuations can change. So can a company's underlying business prospects.
But investors looking for opportunities in the present can't afford to spend much time on those kinds of stocks. Instead, they need to evaluate stocks that have a lot to offer today, and are tied to resilient businesses that should remain strong for a long time to come. The good news is such candidates exist. Here are the best stocks to invest $5,000 in right now, in my view.
1. Amazon
Amazon (AMZN 3.43%) has skyrocketed by close to 50% so far this year. And the outlook for the e-commerce and cloud services giant continues to look better and better.
That's easily apparent from Amazon's financial results. Profitability and free cash flow have improved significantly thanks to streamlining efforts. On average, analysts surveyed by Refinitiv forecast that Amazon's earnings per share will grow at a whopping 79% annualized rate over the next five years.
The tech giant's biggest growth opportunity comes from Amazon Web Services (AWS). While AWS already has the top market share in cloud infrastructure services, it could realistically expand its cloud revenues by a factor of 10 over the next 10 to 15 years. The rapid adoption of artificial intelligence should serve as the greatest catalyst for AWS.
What about the antitrust lawsuit against Amazon brought by the Federal Trade Commission and 17 states? I predict that the company will be able to successfully defend itself. Amazon shouldn't have a hard time showing how a victory for the regulator would actually hurt consumers more than help them.
2. Enterprise Products Partners
Enterprise Products Partners (EPD 0.45%) stock recently hit a 52-week high. It's easily beating the S&P 500 so far in 2023. However, the midstream energy company's share appreciation doesn't tell the full story.
We can't talk about how great Enterprise Products Partners really is without referencing its distribution. The company has increased its payouts annually for 25 consecutive years. At the current share price, its distribution yield stands at 7.3%. Even if Enterprise's stock didn't do anything, investors would still be able to make a tidy profit.
No company could achieve such an impressive distribution track record without having a resilient underlying business. Enterprise Products Partners operates more than 50,000 miles of pipelines, plus a variety of other energy assets that make money regardless of what commodity prices are.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration projects that the global consumption of fossil fuels will increase through 2050. With particularly significant growth in demand for liquefied natural gas, I think that Enterprise Products Partners will remain a winner for investors even with the increased use of renewable energy sources.
3. Vertex Pharmaceuticals
Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX -0.06%) jumped by nearly 32% in 2022 when the broader market was tanking. The biotech stock is up 22% so far this year with the market performing well.
The company's four marketed products are the only game in town for cystic fibrosis patients. And when I say "town," I really mean the world. No other therapies have been approved for treating the underlying cause of the rare genetic disease.
Vertex could further cement its dominance in cystic fibrosis with vanzacaftor. The big biotech expects to wrap up three late-stage studies of the triple-drug combo therapy by the end of this year. I look for it to become Vertex's biggest success story in cystic fibrosis yet.
However, Vertex's programs in other indications are what should really fire up investors. The gene therapy exa-cel seems to be headed toward U.S. approval as a treatment for sickle cell disease and transfusion-dependent beta-thalassemia. Non-opioid pain drug candidate VX-548 should enter the regulatory approval process next year.
In addition, Vertex could have another cystic fibrosis-like opportunity with inaxaplin in treating APOL1-mediated kidney disease. It's also making solid progress with three programs in earlier-stage testing that hold the potential to cure type 1 diabetes.
