How many millionaires are there in the U.S.? According to Swiss bank UBS (UBS 0.01%), the answer is 23.8 million (as of the end of 2024, anyway). For many investors who haven't built a net worth of $1 million or more, though, the response might be: One too few.
Making $1 million is easier to accomplish with the right stocks. Nu Holdings (NU) seems to check off many of the characteristics needed to be in that group. While it's unlikely investors can find just one stock to rocket them to millionaire status, it's worth asking if this fintech stock could be a millionaire maker.
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What Nu Holdings does
If you don't live in Latin America, you might not have heard of Nu Holdings. If you do live in the region, you're probably quite familiar with the company.
Nu runs Nubank, one of the world's largest digital financial services platforms. The company has over 107 million customers in Brazil, representing a whopping 60% of the country's adult population. It serves 12 million customers in Mexico, around 13% of the adult population. Nu also has 4 million customers in Colombia, equating to nearly 10% of the adult population.
Nubank's first product was a no-fee purple credit card that became wildly popular, attracting 10 million customers in less than five years. Today, the company offers multiple credit cards, savings accounts, personal loans, solutions for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME), a platform for investing in stocks and cryptocurrencies, insurance plans, and more.
The rapid expansion of Nu's product portfolio has contributed to the company's impressive growth. Since the second quarter of 2021, Nu's revenue has soared by a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 85%. The company was unprofitable for its first several years of operations. However, over the last three years, Nu's earnings have increased by a CAGR of 80%.
Along the way, Nu has picked up multiple awards. Most recently, it was included in Time's 100 Best Companies of 2025 in September. Finovate also named Nubank as the "Best Digital Bank" last month.
Nu's big opportunity
Arguably, the best way for Nu to grow is to follow the directions on many shampoo bottles (without the lather step): rinse and repeat. The company has achieved tremendous success in Brazil. Taking the same approach that worked exceptionally well in this country and applying it to Mexico and Colombia should pay off handsomely.
These three Latin American nations have relatively young populations that have high smartphone adoption. Their middle classes are growing, and regulators are encouraging innovation in the financial services market. These factors provide a big opportunity for Nu to disrupt traditional banks.
And those banks are ripe for disruption. The five largest banks based on deposits and outstanding credit portfolios in Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia charge high fees. Nu's low-fee strategy could be appealing to the incumbent banks' customers.
Many people in Latin America don't use banking services. Nu estimates this total at 96 million adults in its three main target countries. Credit card adoption is also low. So there's room for it to gain customers.
But Nu doesn't have its eyes set only on the Latin American market. The company recently applied for a national bank charter in the U.S. It seeks to expand globally, with moving into the U.S. market a major step to achieve that goal.
A millionaire-maker stock?
With its growth opportunities and great track record so far, is Nu Holdings stock a millionaire maker? Maybe, but the chances of Nu growing a relatively modest initial investment of $10,000 into $1 million over the next 20 years probably aren't very high.
Nu's market cap already tops $73 billion. That amount would need to mushroom to $7.3 trillion for an initial $10,000 investment to make you a millionaire. To put that number into perspective, it's more than twice the current market caps of the five largest financial stocks combined.
I wouldn't bet on a $10,000 position in Nu growing into $1 million anytime soon. However, this stock could nonetheless be a huge winner over the long term.
