It's tempting to buy and sell stocks based on short-term price fluctuations. But long-term investing is the best way to benefit from a company's value creation because it smooths out the volatility so the fundamentals can shine through over time.
Two excellent examples right now are Luckin Coffee (LKNC.Y 2.92%) and Global-e Online (GLBE 2.44%). Both are ideal to hold for the long haul because of their rapid growth rates and vast addressable markets. Let's dig deeper.
Luckin Coffee
You probably remember Luckin Coffee for its high-profile fraud scandal when former management fabricated around $300 million worth of 2019 sales. But after replacing the old leadership and restructuring its governance structure with more transparency and accountability, the Chinese coffee chain has turned over a new leaf.
Luckin's third-quarter earnings highlight its impressive momentum. Net revenue surged 85% to $986.8 million based on new store openings and organic growth at its existing locations. With a total of 13,273 locations, Luckin is by far China's biggest coffee chain, dwarfing Starbucks, which has around 6,500 stores in the country. That said, Luckin is still relatively small on a global basis, considering that its American rival has a whopping 35,711 locations worldwide.
Luckin aims to close that gap through its own international expansion. In the third quarter, management opened 11 new stores in its first overseas market, Singapore. And industry watchers expect Luckin to test its business model in other Asian markets like Thailand and Indonesia, where relatively similar consumer cultures could help it replicate the success it enjoys in China.
For long-term investors, valuation is key. And with a price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple of just 29, Luckin Coffee is still relatively cheap considering its rapid growth rate and large addressable market. With sales skyrocketing and an international expansion underway, the stock is ideal for long-term investors.
Global-E Online
Global-E Online brings a unique spin to the e-commerce industry. Instead of operating a third-party marketplace (like Amazon, for example), it helps other merchants offer their products internationally by assisting them with things like customs compliance, website translation, and international returns. Its unique niche and rapid business expansion make it ideal for investors who want to get in on the ground floor of a long-term opportunity.
Image source: Getty Images.
Second-quarter revenue jumped by an impressive 53% year over year to $825 million based on a similar jump in the amount of merchandise handled on the platform.
But while adjusted EBITDA roughly doubled to $21 million, Global-e is not yet profitable according to generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), which adds back non-cash outflows like stock-based compensation. GAAP losses are relatively normal for growth stocks, and investors should expect this problem to resolve over time as Global-e's business scales up. The trend is moving in the right direction, with third-quarter net losses dropping by almost 30% year over year to $35.5 million.
With a price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple of 49, Global-e's shares are not cheap. But the stock still compares favorably to other e-commerce alternatives like Shopify, which trades for 60 times forward earnings.
The next Amazon or Starbucks?
Many investors would love to go back in time and invest in leading companies like Amazon and Starbucks while they were still small and relatively early in their growth trajectories. And while nothing is guaranteed, Luckin Coffee and Global-e Online have the potential to become giants over the coming decades because of their rapid growth and extensive addressable markets. Both stocks remain strong, long-term buys.
