You don’t need much money to invest in the stock market. Fractional investing makes it possible to invest in any company, even if you do not have enough cash to buy an entire share.
While stock investors can get wealthy by picking the right stocks, it ultimately comes down to regularly contributing to your portfolio. Did you find a stock that’s going to double this year? That will only turn your $1,000 portfolio into a $2,000 one. Once you get up to a $100,000 portfolio, a doubling and any incremental gain start to mean much more.
Regularly investing in your portfolio is a common path to achieving long-term financial goals. If you only have $500 to invest, you may benefit from putting that cash to work in one of these compelling growth stocks to buy, or you could use the power of fractional shares to get at least a portion of each. These picks feature rising revenue and plenty of long-term catalysts that can support further acceleration.
Meta Platforms (META)
It’s been hard to bet against Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) since CEO Mark Zuckerberg strongly focused on efficiency. Revenue growth remains elevated while net income continues to soar. Facebook’s parent company reported strong results in the first quarter. Revenue increased by 27% from a year ago, while net income surged by 117%.
Rising profit margins will continue to strengthen the firm’s price-to-earnings ratio, which currently stands at 28.5x. Given the company’s tremendous growth and dominance in the online advertising, it’s a reasonable valuation. Meta Platforms has some of the most popular social networks under its corporate umbrella, and they have delivered astonishing gains for its investors.
Meta Platforms stock gained 43% year-to-date and has rallied by 159% over the past five years. Analysts have been rushing to raise their price targets as the “strong buy” pick continues to rise. The average price target suggests a 6% upside from current levels.
Microsoft (MSFT)
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) is one of the most well-diversified corporations on the stock market. It exposes investors to many growing industries, and Microsoft is gaining market share in many of them. Artificial intelligence continues to capture headlines, and the company has taken advantage of the opportunity. Microsoft Cloud and Copilot are two of the company’s catalysts for AI.
Microsoft Cloud, in particular, has been a big winner for the company. Cloud revenue increased by 23% from a year ago to reach $35.1 billion in in the company’s fiscal third quarter of 2024. That’s more than half of the company’s revenue in the quarter. Microsoft reported $61.9 billion in revenue, up 17% from a year ago. Net income increased by 20% to reach $21.9 billion.
Wall Street is bullish on Microsoft, and analysts have given it a “strong buy” rating. The average price suggests an 11% upside from current levels. Microsoft has been consistently outperforming the market for many years. It logged a 21% year-to-date gain and has jumped by 228% over the past five years.
Nvidia (NVDA)
Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) is on a historic tear, soaring by more than 3,200% over the past five years. The chipmaker is at the forefront of the AI boom and has a comfortable lead over its competitors.
While investors know that Nvidia can’t maintain triple-digit revenue growth rates forever, the firm is still maintaining that growth rate. Revenue surged by 262% year-over-year in the first quarter of fiscal 2025, while net income was up by 628%. Both growth rates comfortably exceed the stock’s 194% gain over the past year.
Nvidia is one of the few high-growth corporations that are keeping up with its growth. Recent gains are backed by impressive revenue and earnings growth rates. Nvidia briefly became the world’s most valuable publicly traded corporation and will likely reclaim that crown. The stock has a $3.1 trillion market cap and trades at a P/E of 74x.
Duolingo (DUOL)
You don’t have to narrow your search to multi-trillion-dollar tech companies to find compelling opportunities in the stock market. Some corporations are much smaller and have market caps below $10 billion. Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) certainly fits this description.
The stock is barely down year-to-date and has logged a 45% gain over the past year. The company has strong financials and rising profit margins. The only weakness is the educational tech firm’s P/E of 214x, but that should improve soon. The language learning app reported 45% year-over-year revenue growth and $27 million in profits in the first quarter. In the same quarter last year, Duolingo lost $2.6 million.
A rapidly growing user base forms the foundation for future growth. Daily active users were up by 54% from a year ago while monthly active users increased by 35%. With 97.6 million monthly active users at the end of the first quarter, it’s likely for Duolingo to exceed 100 million monthly active users in its next quarterly report. The app also has 31.4 million daily active users.
Robinhood (HOOD)
Robinhood (NASDAQ:HOOD) is innovating the brokerage industry. The firm started moving toward commission-free stock trades and has a few resources to help it stand out.
Robinhood seems to be swinging for the fences with Robinhood Gold. The number of benefits in this plan suggests that other brokerage firms and traditional banks will have to offer better products and services to catch up.
Robinhood Gold offers many products that the average consumer will find difficult to resist. You can receive 1% back on all qualifying deposits, a credit card that offers unlimited 3% cashback on all purchases, zero interest on the first $1,000 of margin, lower margin rates than most of the competition, 3% IRA matching on every dollar each year, and more.
It’s no wonder the stock has doubled over the past year. Recent financials were also great. Revenue increased by 40% year-over-year in the first quarter while net income more than doubled.
Nu Holdings (NU)
Nu Holdings (NYSE:NU) is another fintech firm worth monitoring. The Brazilian digital bank gained 51% in 2024 and is rated as a “strong buy” among Wall Street analysts. The average price target suggests a 12% upside, while the highest price target indicates that a 22% gain is possible.
What’s up with the gains and strong investor sentiment? The company’s first-quarter earnings offer a glimpse into the excitement. Revenue increased by 69% from a year ago, while net income soared by 167%. The firm reported a 43.2% gross profit margin.
A booming customer base has supported the bank’s expansion as it taps into loans, credit cards, bank accounts, brokerage accounts, and other financial services. The company closed out the first quarter with 99.3 million customers, a 26% year-over-year improvement. That’s also up sequentially from 93.9 million customers in Q4 2023. More than 80% of Nu Holdings’ customers are active.
Deckers Outdoor (DECK)
Everyone needs sneakers, and there’s plenty of competition in the industry. However, newer companies like Deckers Outdoor (NYSE:DECK) are gaining market share from their larger rivals. You may not know the company by its corporate name, but you may have heard of Hoka and Ugg. Deckers Outdoor is the parent company of those brands.
The athletic apparel company is currently rated as a “moderate buy” and has a projected 8% upside from current levels. Shares are up 45% year-to-date and have soared 459% over the past five years. The company’s recent inclusion in the S&P 500 brought more attention to the stock.
Deckers Outdoor shined in its first quarterly report as a corporation listed in the S&P 500. The firm reported 21.2% year-over-year net sales growth in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024. Domestic and international sales had double-digit growth rates with Hoka leading the way. The company’s profits increased by 39% year-over-year, resulting in a 13.3% net profit margin.
On this date of publication, Marc Guberti held long positions in MSFT, NVDA, and DECK. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
