10 Stocks Millennials Should Own

The popularity of user-friendly platforms like Robinhood is making stock trading more accessible than ever before, and the number of millennials investing in the stock market is growing exponentially. As more and more millennials infuse their hard-earned cash into the market, various styles of stock trading continue to emerge.

At the end of the day, long-term investing is the best and most effective method of building wealth through the stock market. And certain investment themes ring true whether you’re a conservative investor or you take a more risk-tolerant approach to buying stocks.

It’s important to focus on resilient companies with a multitude of catalysts to drive value and/or growth. If you’re going to invest in a riskier stock, ensure you have other, low-volatility stocks in your basket that can face up to market headwinds. You should also invest in sectors and companies you’re familiar with, and be prepared to wait and let your money work for you.

If you’re ready to build a rock-solid investment portfolio in the new year, these are 10 incredible stocks millennials should scoop up right now.

5 Winning Stocks Under $49
We hear it over and over from investors, “I wish I had bought Amazon or Netflix when they were first recommended by the Motley Fool. I’d be sitting on a gold mine!” And it’s true. And while Amazon and Netflix have had a good run, we think these 5 other stocks are screaming buys. And you can buy them now for less than $49 a share! Simply click here to learn how to get your copy of “5 Growth Stocks Under $49” for FREE for a limited time only.

Streaming services are more popular than ever these days, and Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) is one of the companies leading the charge in digital entertainment. The stock is up by nearly 50% from where it was trading one year ago.

Netflix has reported record earnings increases in the wake of the onslaught of new consumers flocking to its platform during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the January-September period of 2020, the company’s membership base grew to 28.1 million, far surpassing its total membership base for the whole of the prior year. And in the third quarter, management reported that the company’s average streaming paid memberships jumped 25% while revenue surged 23% year over year.

The company continues to expand its stable of shows, films, and limited series with a combination of original content and beloved classics that keeps consumers coming back for more. Analysts think that the company can grow its average annual earnings by more than 40% per year over the next five years. Netflix’s growth streak is far from over, and avid growth investors can find plenty of upside potential in this amazing stock.

ALSO READ: 2 Top Tech Stocks to Buy Right Now

As one of the most prominent market movers in the continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) device industry, DexCom (NASDAQ: DXCM) has remained on a steadfast growth streak since the pandemic began.

Its flagship product, the G6 CGM system, continues to amass significant revenue for the company. The company reported 44% revenue growth in the first quarter of 2020, followed by year-over-year revenue increases of 34% in the second quarter and 26% in the third. DexCom is also preparing to release its next-generation CGM system, the G7, later this year, which will unlock a new and potentially greater source of revenue growth for the company.

The Trade Desk (NASDAQ: TTD) is a demand-side digital advertising platform. Broadly speaking, the digital advertising market has faced some headwinds during the pandemic as media spending has declined. On the flip side, digital ad spending continues to outpace more traditional forms of advertising, and this sector is set for a strong recovery as we slowly emerge from the pandemic.

During the first nine months of 2020, The Trade Desk reported that its revenue grew 16% compared with the same stretch the previous year. In the third quarter alone, both mobile video and audio spending on the company’s platform grew 70% year over year, while its customer retention rate surpassed 95% during the three-month period.

The Trade Desk has soared by more than 178% from 12 months ago, when it was trading at about $285 per share. Now you can buy the stock for a staggering 269 times trailing earnings based on current share prices. But don’t let the price tag scare you off -- fractional investing can be an excellent solution to invest in a company without breaking the bank when a stock achieves a particularly lofty valuation.

It may not be the most glamorous of stocks, but Clorox (NYSE: CLX) continues to prove its mettle as a reliable stock in a volatile market and is a worthy contender for any millennial investor’s “buy” list. The company is known for its consistent habit of increasing its dividend, which currently yields around 2.3%. In fact, Clorox’s track record of raising its dividend is so stellar (over 40 consecutive years) that the company is a Dividend Aristocrat and several years shy of being crowned a Dividend King.

In the company’s fiscal 2020 (ended June 30), it reported 8% year-over-year sales growth while generating 56% higher net cash from operations ($1.5 billion) compared with fiscal 2019. Subsequently, the company reported a 27% surge during the first fiscal quarter of 2021 (ended Sept. 30.), along with double-digit growth in each of its key segments during this three-month period.

Clorox’s stable of consumer goods has helped it to flourish despite economic volatility, and the company is entering the new year from a position of remarkable strength. Investors who buy this stock won’t see lightning-fast growth, but its healthy dividend and stalwart balance sheet make the company a compelling buy.

ALSO READ: Here's My Top Stock to Buy for 2021

NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA) is a leading developer and manufacturer of graphics processing units. The highly lucrative and in-demand industry it deals in has allowed it to avoid mimicking the market’s sharp highs and lows over the past 10 months. As a result, investors have rushed to buy shares of NVIDIA, which has gained 120% in the past year alone.

The company reported double-digit revenue increases in each of the first three quarters of its fiscal 2021 (ended April 26, July 26, and Oct. 25). Its revenue grew 39%, 50%, and 57%, respectively, during these quarters from the year-ago periods.

5 Winning Stocks Under $49
We hear it over and over from investors, “I wish I had bought Amazon or Netflix when they were first recommended by the Motley Fool. I’d be sitting on a gold mine!” And it’s true. And while Amazon and Netflix have had a good run, we think these 5 other stocks are screaming buys. And you can buy them now for less than $49 a share! Simply click here to learn how to get your copy of “5 Growth Stocks Under $49” for FREE for a limited time only.

Social media users love Pinterest (NYSE: PINS), and more and more are flocking to the fun and innovative platform to get inspiration for everything from food to fashion to home decor to motivational quotes. Likewise, companies are increasingly seeing the power of advertising using Pinterest’s platform.

In the company’s third-quarter report, management said that Pinterest’s revenue rose 58% year over year, while global monthly active users on the platform surged 37%.

Pinterest operates in an environment that is generally more recession resistant by nature, and the unprecedented number of users staying home for long periods due to lockdowns has only accelerated these trends. But even after the pandemic, Pinterest’s platform will continue to provide innovation and value to its user base, which is great news for investors, too.

As one of the top retailers that has continued to thrive since the pandemic began, Walmart (NYSE: WMT) is one of those stocks you can buy and easily hold for decades.

During the first nine months of Walmart’s fiscal 2021 (the period ended Oct. 31), the company reported a 7% increase in its total revenue from the year-ago time frame. The company is also steadily increasing its cash reserves. Walmart currently has $14.3 billion in cash and cash equivalents on its balance sheet, with total assets of $250.9 billion and only $4.4 billion in long-term debt due within the next year.

Walmart is a Dividend Aristocrat. The criteria to be a Dividend Aristocrat is that a company must achieve 25 consecutive years of dividend increases, but Walmart has upped its dividend for more than 40 years in a row. The stock currently yields about 1.5% for investors based on current share prices, which is slightly below that of the average stock on the S&P 500.

ALSO READ: My 3 Best Stocks to Buy in 2021

Cannabis is big business, albeit a volatile one. However, companies like Innovative Industrial Properties (NYSE: IIPR), a real estate investment trust (REIT) that operates in the marijuana space, have managed to avoid some of the common pitfalls many top pot stocks seem to be afflicted with.

The REIT boosted its revenue by 197% year over year during the third quarter, while its net income surged by 205% from the year-ago period. Innovative Industrial Properties continues to maintain a zero-debt balance sheet, exclusive of $144 million in unsecured liabilities. The company also has approximately $161.1 million in cash on its balance sheet.

Last but not least is the REIT’s dividend, which yields 2.8% based on current share prices. If you’re a risk-averse investor looking to invest in cannabis and want to score some reliable dividend income to boot, Innovative Industrial Properties could be a match made in heaven.

Fulgent Genetics (NASDAQ: FGLT) makes a range of genetic testing kits for all manner of conditions from hereditary cancers to certain types of diseases. The stock stayed steady when the market fell almost one year ago, and shares have continued to rise slowly but surely ever since. Although the stock is about 367% higher than one year ago, it’s still trading for under $100.

Demand for the company’s tests has skyrocketed during the pandemic. Fulgent Genetics’ third-quarter revenue increased 880% year over year, while it delivered 4,800% more billable tests than during the year-ago period. The company is expecting to report $300 million in revenue for the full-year 2020, which would be approximately 800% higher than its revenue in 2019.

If you want to invest in the 5G revolution, few stocks operating in this market can compete with Verizon (NYSE: VZ). The company’s dividend pays a yield (4.3%) considerably above that of the average stock on the S&P 500. Shares of the company dipped slightly when the market crashed in March of 2020 but are back to trading close to the stock’s position one year ago.

Although Verizon’s revenue has taken a hit due to the pandemic, the company’s cash position continues to shield it from excess volatility while preserving its dividend. In Verizon’s third-quarter financial statement, management reported year-to-date cash flow from operations of $33 billion, a nearly $6 billion increase compared with the same stretch in 2019.

And the company’s revenue decreased by a relatively slim margin during the quarter -- just 4% from the year-ago period. As Verizon continues to expand its 5G network, the strength of its wireless business can help it to overcome any dents the pandemic has put in its balance sheet.

5 Winning Stocks Under $49
We hear it over and over from investors, “I wish I had bought Amazon or Netflix when they were first recommended by the Motley Fool. I’d be sitting on a gold mine!” And it’s true. And while Amazon and Netflix have had a good run, we think these 5 other stocks are screaming buys. And you can buy them now for less than $49 a share! Simply click here to learn how to get your copy of “5 Growth Stocks Under $49” for FREE for a limited time only.

2020 taught investors many important lessons. One was to avoid focusing all your cash on just a handful of stocks or sectors. If your portfolio isn’t properly diversified, you may end up unnecessarily exposed to risk and losses when market headwinds strike. And whether another market crash is in the offing soon or in many more years, the fact remains that another one will strike at some point.

Take a thorough assessment of the stocks that pose a greater risk to your portfolio, examining whether incorporating a few more stalwarts into the bunch might be in order. Don’t panic about another market crash. Stick to your investment strategy and think in context of the longer-term horizon when you buy shares of any company.

As Warren Buffett says, “The key to investing is not assessing how much an industry is going to affect society, or how much it will grow, but rather determining the competitive advantage of any given company and, above all, the durability of that advantage.”

Rachel Warren has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Fulgent Genetics, Inc., Innovative Industrial Properties, Netflix, NVIDIA, Pinterest, and The Trade Desk. The Motley Fool recommends DexCom and Verizon Communications. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.