Each year, MoneyShow.com asks the nation’s leading advisors for their favorite ideas for the coming year. Consistently among the top performers every year are the investing experts from Eagle Publishing; here, 5 of these advisors highlight at their favorite ideas for 2021, ranging from e-commerce and cryptocurrency to sports betting and space travel.
My top stock pick last year, Chewy (CHWY), rose 209%. Ironically enough, I loved Chewy before the pandemic was even a rumor and now that it’s been characterized as a “COVID stock” I love it even more.
People were already buying pet food online and having it shipped to their doors because these bags and cans get heavy and nobody wants to run out. And unlike Amazon (AMZN), which has been dithering for years about getting serious about pet products, there’s huge word of mouth here.
The lockdowns only accelerated the growth curve by a few months, nudging the company closer to ultimate sustainable profitability. People burned by the dot-com frenzy laughed at this company. They’re not laughing now.
The 100 Best Stocks to Buy for 2021: The top performing newsletter advisors and analyst are back, and they just released their best stock ideas for 2021. Get your FREE copy of MoneyShow’s 2021 Top Picks report here and see why the nation’s leading investment experts believe these stocks will significantly outperform the market in 2021.
Airbnb (ABNB) — an aggressive favorite for 2021 — waited years to go public, and I think the timing was perfect. The pandemic set growth back a year, giving post-IPO shareholders a chance to capture more of the company’s robust expansion.
As far as I can tell, lockdowns didn’t change travelers’ habits or preferences one bit. If anything, people seem to be gravitating away from hotels faster than ever toward low-contact short-term home rentals . . . and that’s not even factoring in the potential for a post-lockdown vacation boom.
Management took huge steps to contain out-of-control costs going into the company’s Wall Street launch, resulting in healthy $500 million in “adjusted” EBITDA for the debut quarter. Is that the same as old-fashioned profit? No way.
But in what’s currently a blue-hot IPO market, it proves that ABNB can make money as long as people keep listing houses. Residential real estate indicators tell me we’re on pretty firm footing here.
Sally Beauty Holdings (SBH) is a conservative idea for the coming year and a recommendation in my Value Authority newsletter. There’s still plenty of value to capture as the beauty products market looks toward a post-lockdown world and new brands rise to fill the gap faltering competitors like Coty (COTY) and Revlon (REV) leave in their wake.
Management spent the year fortifying the balance sheet. Now it’s time to dazzle the world. Revenue has stabilized thanks to what amounts to curbside pickup programs that ultimately build momentum for true direct-to-consumer online sales.
While it might take another year to get all the numbers back on trend, I’m heartened by the way my earnings models for 2021 have started calling out for revision to the upside.
There’s huge value here at barely 10X last year’s depressed EPS. And if you shunned the stock while growth decelerated, how do you feel now that it’s looking at 50% re-expansion in the coming year? There’s no intrinsic reason this isn’t already an $18 stock.
My top speculative idea last year was Guardant Health (GH), which rose 65%. The stock is trading to new all-time highs as the market for liquid biopsy testing continues to receive growth adoption by cancer treatment centers.
Historically, the presence of cancer has been confirmed via tissue biopsy and examined under a microscope. One in five tissue biopsies fails to provide sufficient material for analysis.
Liquid biopsy overcomes this drawback by virtue of using blood samples, is virtually painless, is easily administered, considerably less expensive and highly accurate on one blood draw. 2020 revenues grew by 32% and 2021 revenues are forecast to grow by 36% to $390 million. I’m looking for further gains.
Virgin Galactic Holdings (SPCE)started trading in late 2017 and is co-founded by Sir Richard Branson. The company is a vertically integrated aerospace and space travel company, pioneering human spaceflight for private individuals and researchers, as well as a manufacturer of advanced air and space vehicles. It is developing a spaceflight system designed to offer customers a unique and transformative experience.
NEW YORK, NY – OCTOBER 28: Sir Richard Branson, Founder of Virgin Galactic, gives the thumbs up … [+] after ringing a ceremonial bell on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) to promote the first day of trading of Virgin Galactic Holdings shares on October 28, 2019 in New York City. Virgin Galactic Holdings became the first space-tourism company to go public as it began trading on Monday with a market value of about $1 billion. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
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SPCE provided an update following its recent test flight on December 12, 2020 that came up short of expectations. During the test flight, the rocket motor did not fire due to the ignition sequence not completing and therefore not achieving its objective of reaching outer space.
Following this event, the pilots conducted a safe landing and return, as planned, to Spaceport America, New Mexico. The company is preparing further test flights for early 2021.
Shares of SPCE were trading at $35 just prior to the December 12 test flight and have since retreated to $25 where they trade today. The technical pattern is just now showing signs for reversing higher where I want to get involved.
SelectQuote (SLQT) — my top pick in my Quick Income Trader — pioneered the direct-to-consumer model of providing unbiased comparisons from multiple, highly rated insurance companies. This allows consumers to choose the policy and terms that best meet their unique needs,.
Two foundational pillars underpin SelectQuote’s success: a force of more than 1,000 highly trained and skilled agents who provide consultative needs analysis for every consumer, and proprietary technology that sources, scores and directs high-quality sales leads.
The company has three core business lines: SelectQuote Senior, SelectQuote Life and SelectQuote Auto and Home. SelectQuote Senior, the largest and fastest-growing business, serves the needs of a demographic that sees 10,000 people turn 65 each day.
It provides a range of Medicare Advantage and Medicare Supplement plans from 15 leading, nationally recognized carriers, as well as prescription drug plans, dental, vision and hearing plans.
SelectQuote has posted two consecutive quarters that featured better-than-forecast results, increased its revenues by 90.5% in the third quarter to $124 million and set itself for a move back towards its 2020 high of $29. The stock currently trades at $22.25.
Meanwhile, my top conservative idea from last year was Walt Disney Co. (DIS), which rose 26% in 2020. The stock is enjoying strong tailwinds that support a higher stock price for 2021.
Although the Disney Plus streaming business dominated the headlines in 2020, it’s the return of the theme park business in 2021 that will likely be the big news as pent up demand should produce record attendance later this year.
The stock probably has another 10%-15% upside where valuation for the stock would be on the high side where booking some profits might prove timely. Longer-term, the stock is a solid hold.
Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) is a great speculative stock that invests in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Based in New York, Grayscale is the world’s largest digital currency manager. It offers exposure to Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Ethereum Classic, Horizen, Litecoin, Stellar Lumens, XRP and Zcash.
Bitcoin Symbol in a digital raster microstructure – 3d illustration
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Bitcoin and other digital currencies are viewed as an alternative to gold as an inflation and crisis hedge. Consumer are still not using Bitcoin for retail purchases, largely due to its volatility.
But that could change now that two huge consumer-payment companies, PayPal (PYPL) and Square (SQ), have added it to its payment system. Bitcoin has also drawn institutional interest because of its technological innovation.
JPMorgan (JPM) recently stated, “We have always believed in the potential of blockchain technology and support cryptocurrencies as long as they are properly controlled and regulated.”
Blockchain is an integral part of the digital currency world. It has great promise in data storage and has particular application to record keeping in financial markets, real estate (eliminating the need for title insurance) and even politics (eliminating voting fraud).
The famed commodity trader Paul Tutor Jones, Wall Street legend Bill Miller and hedge fund billionaire Stan Druckenmiller are fans. The stock was up sharply last year, and is undoubtedly selling at a premium, so expect lots of volatility along the way.
You don’t need me to tell you that 2020 was a wild year with many changes and surprises. While the details will be different, expect more of the same in 2021.
WCM Focused International Growth (WCMRX) is a top pick for conservative investors in the coming year This open-end mutual fund invests in a small number of stocks of which the managers consider to be great growth companies around the globe.
The fund seeks to identify growing companies that seem likely to be able to maintain that growth for years. The average holding period for stocks in the fund is about five years.
The 100 Best Stocks to Buy for 2021: The top performing newsletter advisors and analyst are back, and they just released their best stock ideas for 2021. Get your FREE copy of MoneyShow’s 2021 Top Picks report here and see why the nation’s leading investment experts believe these stocks will significantly outperform the market in 2021.
Investors need to plan for the probability that investment returns in the coming years are likely to be lower than they’ve been in some time, maybe ever.
That’s because interest rates are at historic lows. Returns of stocks and other investments are based on the risk-free rate of return, which is the yield on short-term treasury debt. Over time, returns on stocks and other investments can exceed the risk-free return by only so much.
Only a few pockets of the investment universe are extremely high valuations or in bubble territory. But the strong returns stocks and a few other investments had the last few years aren’t sustainable indefinitely.
The fund has been among the top performers in its category since its inception and is likely to continue the above-average performance.
An aggressive pick for the coming year is Draftkings (DKNG). It’s one of the leaders in online sports betting. Sports betting is rapidly shifting online. Draftkings will benefit.
The company and the whole sports betting sector took a hit in 2020 as most major sports were canceled or limited. More major sports events should be held in 2021 as the vaccines are rolled out, increasing interest in gambling.
In addition, a number of states are permitting sports gambling for the first time. There’s a good prospect that New York will do so in the near future. Despite strong returns for much of 2020, the stock took a steep drop in the second half and should be poised for a recovery in 2021.
One of the biggest trends of 2020 also is a trend that I suspect is likely to continue into 2021, and that is the stunning rise and growing acceptance of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin.
Now, I am a fan of Bitcoin in theory, as well as the blockchain digital technology that it operates on. Yet investing in actual Bitcoins or in the Bitcoin ETF can be extremely volatile. But I am a stock picker at heart, and that means I like to buy into companies that are benefitting from a specific trend.
Another way to put this is I like to buy the so-called “picks and shovels” plays, meaning that instead of investing in gold during the gold rush, I would have invested in the companies making and selling the picks and shovels used to dig for that gold.
In the cryptocurrency space, there aren’t many picks-and-shovels plays. However, there is one very good stock that fits that bill, and it is Voyager Digital Ltd. (VYGVF).
Voyager operates a digital platform that enables users to buy and sell digital assets (cryptocurrencies) across multiple exchanges in one account primarily in the United States and Canada. The company is considered an agency broker, which is basically a platform that is trying to get the best price on a security for their clients.
Other cryptocurrency exchanges want to fulfill a customer’s order on their platform, but Voyager will scan through a list of 10 to 12 exchanges looking to fill your order at the best price.
Interestingly, a lot of these exchanges are not available to the average North American retail trader, as most of the largest crypto exchanges are based in Asia and Europe and do not allow North America retail investors to trade on their exchanges.
In return for the better trade execution, Voyager gets paid, and they take a portion of that spread they have found on the purchase. On average, Voyager makes 65 basis points on each trade. This operation accounts for about 70% of the company’s revenue. The other 30% of revenue comes from security lending.
On January 5, the company announced that it expects Q4 2020 revenue to reach $3.5 million. That’s a 75% increase from the third quarter, and a whopping 3,877% from the fourth quarter of 2019.
Voyager also said that its December revenue run rate was over $20 million, compared to $200,000 in December 2019 (run rate is estimated revenue extrapolated from available figures).
The company also said that its assets have continued to grow, increasing over three times from the September quarter to over $265 million in early January.
“As widespread adoption of cryptocurrency grew in the latter part of 2020, we have seen 2021 get off to a quick start and we are well-positioned to continue our extraordinary growth through 2021 and beyond,” said Stephen Ehrlich, co-founder and CEO of Voyager.
Ehrlich is a big player in the online/digital brokerage business, as he was a former executive at E*TRADE and at Lightspeed Financial. This is another thing to like about Voyager, as its executive team is filled with big hitters from the online brokerage, investment and technology sectors.
Of course, the best thing about Voyager is the share price performance, which in 2020 was an incredible gain of 1,650%! This is the kind of big upside we can participate in with this cryptocurrency trading platform company — one that I consider the very best picks-and-shovels play on this exhilarating sector.
I am a huge fan of Big Tech, not just for the money that those stocks have made me and my subscribers, but also because this is where the innovation, technological prowess and unrivaled Silicon Valley brain power reside. Moreover, this is where the big earnings growth resides.
Of course, technologic savvy, innovation and big brain power aren’t just found in Silicon Valley and other U.S. tech hotbeds. Sometimes, the tech is south of the border, and sometimes it’s in South America.
Let me ask you this: How would you like to own Amazon (AMZN), Etsy (ETSY), PayPal (PYPL), and eBay (EBAY) all in one stock — and in a stock that’s outpaced 95% of all other stocks in the market with a gain of some 193% in 2020? That’s what you get with Latin American e-commerce giant MercadoLibre, Inc. (MELI).
This company is sometimes called the “Amazon of Latin America,” because it’s that region’s leading e-commerce platform. MELI — my top pick for my Intelligence Report newsletter — operates in 18 countries spanning from the company’s home base in Argentina to Mexico.
The 100 Best Stocks to Buy for 2021:The top performing newsletter advisors and analyst are back, and they just released their best stock ideas for 2021. Get your FREE copy of MoneyShow’s 2021 Top Picks report here and see why the nation’s leading investment experts believe these stocks will significantly outperform the market in 2021.
This company is part online marketplace, part fintech and part e-commerce retailer. You see, in addition to being a storefront for Latin American retailers, it also sells its own items. Plus, it provides the payment facilitation to get the transactions done.
All of this adds up to a stock with multiple bullish “NewsQ,” i.e., a term I developed to describe the confluence of news-related and secular-trend related tailwinds pushing a stock forward. One strong bit of positive NewsQ here is the demographic tailwind of a rapidly growing Latin American middle class.
In November, MercadoLibre posted its most-recent earnings results, which the company said came in at 28 cents per share in Q3, a metric that easily beat estimates for earnings per share (EPS) of just 8 cents.
Moreover, the top line also was impressive, with revenue in the quarter up some 85% year over year. Look for more of this kind of strong fundamental performance in 2021 — and look for more market-crushing gains in MELI shares.
Meanwhile, my Top Pick from last year was human resources software firm Paycom Software (PAYC). The stock was up a very robust 71% in 2020, which was remarkable given the constrictive COVID climate and the squeeze it put on so many businesses. The success of Paycom shows the resilience of a great enterprise with an outstanding product that adds to it customers’ bottom lines.
NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of Tesla soared Wednesday as investors bet that the electric vehicle maker and its CEO Elon Musk will benefit from Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
Tesla stands to make significant gains under a Trump administration with the threat of diminished subsidies for alternative energy and electric vehicles doing the most harm to smaller competitors. Trump’s plans for extensive tariffs on Chinese imports make it less likely that Chinese EVs will be sold in bulk in the U.S. anytime soon.
“Tesla has the scale and scope that is unmatched,” said Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, in a note to investors. “This dynamic could give Musk and Tesla a clear competitive advantage in a non-EV subsidy environment, coupled by likely higher China tariffs that would continue to push away cheaper Chinese EV players.”
Tesla shares jumped 14.8% Wednesday while shares of rival electric vehicle makers tumbled. Nio, based in Shanghai, fell 5.3%. Shares of electric truck maker Rivian dropped 8.3% and Lucid Group fell 5.3%.
Tesla dominates sales of electric vehicles in the U.S, with 48.9% in market share through the middle of 2024, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Subsidies for clean energy are part of the Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law by President Joe Biden in 2022. It included tax credits for manufacturing, along with tax credits for consumers of electric vehicles.
Musk was one of Trump’s biggest donors, spending at least $119 million mobilizing Trump’s supporters to back the Republican nominee. He also pledged to give away $1 million a day to voters signing a petition for his political action committee.
In some ways, it has been a rocky year for Tesla, with sales and profit declining through the first half of the year. Profit did rise 17.3% in the third quarter.
The U.S. opened an investigation into the company’s “Full Self-Driving” system after reports of crashes in low-visibility conditions, including one that killed a pedestrian. The investigation covers roughly 2.4 million Teslas from the 2016 through 2024 model years.
And investors sent company shares tumbling last month after Tesla unveiled its long-awaited robotaxi at a Hollywood studio Thursday night, seeing not much progress at Tesla on autonomous vehicles while other companies have been making notable progress.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 100 points in late-morning trading, helped by strength in base metal and utility stocks, while U.S. stock markets were mixed.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 103.40 points at 24,542.48.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 192.31 points at 42,932.73. The S&P 500 index was up 7.14 points at 5,822.40, while the Nasdaq composite was down 9.03 points at 18,306.56.
The Canadian dollar traded for 72.61 cents US compared with 72.44 cents US on Tuesday.
The November crude oil contract was down 71 cents at US$69.87 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was down eight cents at US$2.42 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$7.20 at US$2,686.10 an ounce and the December copper contract was up a penny at US$4.35 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 16, 2024.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 200 points in late-morning trading, while U.S. stock markets were also headed higher.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 205.86 points at 24,508.12.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 336.62 points at 42,790.74. The S&P 500 index was up 34.19 points at 5,814.24, while the Nasdaq composite was up 60.27 points at 18.342.32.
The Canadian dollar traded for 72.61 cents US compared with 72.71 cents US on Thursday.
The November crude oil contract was down 15 cents at US$75.70 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was down two cents at US$2.65 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was down US$29.60 at US$2,668.90 an ounce and the December copper contract was up four cents at US$4.47 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 11, 2024.
