Consistently investing even moderate sums can grow your portfolio with time.
Bull and bear markets come and go, and along with them come short-term investment opportunities. However, investors with a long-term buy-and-hold perspective can find opportunities in any market environment. And those opportunities don’t always require a lot of available cash to tap into.
Even with a more modest stash of cash — say $500 — to invest, you can find plenty of companies to put some or all of that amount into to benefit. All it takes is making the right choices. If you’ve got $500 and want to add to your portfolio this month, here are two no-brainer stocks to consider.
1. Hims & Hers Health
Hims & Hers Health (HIMS 4.71%) stock is trading up by nearly 100% so far in 2024 and about 180% from one year ago. That’s a notable run-up for a telemedicine stock that went public via a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) only a few years ago. Many stocks that held initial public offerings during the pandemic (especially SPACs) have crashed notably since then.
Hims & Hers still trades at less than $20 a share, but it’s doing very well from a share price perspective and, more importantly, from a financial standpoint. The company reported its first quarter of profitability according to generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) in the first three months of 2024. It generated $11 million in net income in Q1, and management expects to hit its first year of net income profitability and exceed $1 billion in revenue in fiscal 2024.
Looking at the first six months of 2024, Hims & Hers Health generated total revenue just shy of $594 million, a 49% increase from the same time frame in 2023. That revenue was split between about $575 million in online revenue and $19.2 million in wholesale revenue. Those figures were up 49% and 44%, respectively, from the year-ago period.
Most of the company’s revenue is derived from subscriptions users pay to receive recurring deliveries of prescriptions and non-prescription products straight to their door. Through the Hims & Hers Health platform, users can also access licensed medical providers on demand and various healthcare resources. The company also makes a much smaller portion of revenue from wholesale arrangements it maintains with third-party retailers to sell various non-prescription products.
Hims & Hers Health generated a net income of $24.4 million in the first half of 2024, compared to a net loss of $17.2 million in the same time frame of 2023. Free cash flow is shaping up to be another strong profitability metric for this business. The company raked in free cash flow of more than $59 million in the first half of 2024, more than triple the figure it reported in the first six months of 2023.
The company has approximately 1.9 billion subscribers at last count, up 43% year over year. Bear in mind that the global market for telehealth solutions is only expanding as healthcare consumers look for flexible, accessible ways to get the care they need.
With medical debt on the rise and roughly one-fifth of Americans living more than 10 miles from their nearest physician, demand for quality, affordable virtual healthcare solutions is a durable trend for consumers and investors. Hims & Hers Health could provide a compelling means of capitalizing on the long-term growth trajectory of the telehealth space and a profitable, relatively asset-light business at that.
2. Shopify
Shopify (SHOP 0.64%) currently serves millions of merchants in over 175 countries, ranging from small business owners to large brands that find considerable value in its platform’s offerings and solutions. Well-known brands like Gymshark, Boden, Spanx, Overstock.com, Crate&Barrel, Staples, and Steve Madden are just a handful of the big names that use Shopify’s services.
Shopify’s solutions enable seamless offline, online, and cross-border sales. They include everything from shipping services, back-office software, and consumer-facing payment apps to point-of-sales hardware devices and artificial intelligence-driven tools.
The company’s in-house payment solution, Shop Pay, has seen rapid adoption by store owners in recent years, magnifying conversion rates for merchants and enhancing growth rates for Shopify. Not only have over 150 million buyers opted in to Shop Pay at this point, but the app has also processed $158 billion in gross merchandise volume (GMV) since its launch in 2017.
Merchants benefit from up to a 50% higher conversion rate when Shop Pay is used, and the app processed $16 billion in GMV in the second quarter of 2024 alone. Shopify has made some big changes in recent years since its pandemic heights, post-pandemic struggles, and return to steady growth in the time that has followed. It enacted a series of layoffs and sold off its logistics business. All are key cost-cutting maneuvers and part of a strategy to return to its roots: helping merchants thrive and facilitating a smooth customer shopping experience.
Shopify continues to partner with a growing number of companies that offer apps merchants can use on the front or back ends of their stores to drive sales growth and conversion rates. These partnerships include big names like Walmart, Meta Platforms, Amazon, and Intuit. In the second quarter of 2024, Shopify’s GMV rose 22% year over year to $67.2 billion, while revenue rose 21% to $2 billion. The penetration of Shopify Payments as a percentage of overall GMV continues to increase rapidly, reaching 61% as of Q2.
Monthly recurring revenue hit the $169 million mark in the second quarter of 2024, up 29% on a five-year compound annual growth rate basis. Subscription solutions revenue and merchant solutions revenue rose 27% and 19%, respectively, in the three-month period. Free cash flow more than tripled to $333 million, and net income came in at $171 million (compared to a net loss in Q2 2023).
Meanwhile, Shopify estimates it has penetrated a mere fraction of its total addressable market. Management estimates the company’s total addressable market opportunity is in the ballpark of $849 billion, and it’s penetrated just 2% of its opportunity in the geographical areas it serves. Shares of Shopify are trading up by approximately 56% over the trailing-12-month period. Investors with a multiyear hold horizon can benefit from the company’s growth trajectory over a much lengthier time frame.
John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Randi Zuckerberg, a former director of market development and spokeswoman for Facebook and sister to Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Rachel Warren has positions in Amazon and Shopify. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon, Intuit, Meta Platforms, Shopify, and Walmart. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
