2020 has been a very unusual year for a stock investment and the stock market as a whole. The first two quarters demonstrated how irrational some investors can be by buying stock into companies that are bankrupt or proved to have cooked their books. Hertz and Wirecard are two such examples but the market suffered other great losses as many companies saw their revenue go down to record lows.
For certain industry segments and especially tech companies, 2020 brought a lot of growth. While some may feel that they missed the opportunity to invest in growing companies, there are still some great investment opportunities. While the below recommendations should not be considered investment advice, they represent 3 companies with strong balance sheets that are worth checking out. They are profitable, stable, and experienced growth for the first half of 2020.
PayPal
PayPal broke off from eBay a while back and if for the past couple of years it saw a stable and modest growth, this year, their revenue skyrocketed. The stock also had a growth of 120% YTD. Still, there is room for more growth since PayPal has a strong financial position, plenty of liquidities, and growing demand for cashless transactions. There isn`t much else to say about PayPal except for the fact that it is a great company worth looking into.
Apple
Usually, tech companies do not pay a dividend. Microsoft is an exception but Apple started paying dividends only just recently. They have so much cash available that the board decided to start paying their shareholders.
If we look at the fundamentals, Apple is a very stable and well-valued stock. It has a PE ratio of 34 which is below the tech industry average. There is plenty of room to grow and the gains so far this year should not make anyone turn away from becoming an Apple shareholder. Apple will keep on expanding into other sectors including fintech. They will most likely have their credit card, improve ApplePay, and introduce new revenue-generating services.
PepsiCo
Coca Cola made Warrant Buffet rich but PepsiCo can help you retire without having to worry about share price. PepsiCo pays a healthy dividend and has a good track history in terms of share growth. It is not as spectacular as tech companies but PepsiCo offers something valuable in dire times. Being a stable company with continuous growth offers investment security and with their recent acquisitions of more brands for their portfolio, PepsiCo will improve their market share and shareholder value which is why most professionals do not shy away to give investment advice and put PepsiCo on their strong buy list.
