The stock market has already marked its fair share of high highs and low lows in 2023, and we’re not even a full month in. Still, great companies are making themselves known. While the current environment is tough on a day-to-day basis, for investors who intend to stay in the market for many years, right now is still a great time to invest in wonderful businesses for the long term.
If you have $5,000 to put into stocks right now, here are two fantastic companies to consider putting at least part of that investment toward today.
1. Vertex Pharmaceuticals
Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX 0.51%) isn’t one of those healthcare stocks with a massive portfolio of drugs that has tapped out its heyday of superior growth. Far from it, in fact. At present, Vertex has just four approved drugs in its portfolio, and all of them treat the genetic disease cystic fibrosis.
Vertex Pharmaceuticals is the market leader in the cystic fibrosis drug market, but the company’s potential extends far beyond this multi-billion-dollar space. Its four drugs have enabled the company to grow its annual revenue and profits by more than 200% and 800%, respectively, over the past decade.
The company is currently working on a number of promising drug candidates targeting various rare diseases, several of which could be on the market in the next few years. One example is exa-cel, the rare blood disorder drug candidate it developed with CRISPR Therapeutics.
Not only does exa-cel have the potential to be a one-time functional cure for sickle cell disease and transfusion-dependent beta-thalassemia, but its approval would mark the first time a CRISPR therapy was approved for a genetic ailment.
The companies are in the process of seeking regulatory approval for exa-cel and intend to complete the submission package for U.S. regulators before the end of the current quarter, while targeting the end of the fourth quarter of 2022 to submit the required documentation to EU and U.K. regulators.
At current prices, a $2,500 investment in this healthcare stock would add approximately 8 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals to your portfolio.
2. Etsy
Etsy (ETSY 0.73%) was incredibly popular with investors in the earlier days of the pandemic, with so many people stuck at home and shopping online. Now that consumer spending has slowed in many areas, with discretionary purchases logically taking the hardest hit in the current macro environment, some investors might be wondering whether Etsy can rebound from this period.
As an investor in Etsy myself, surveying the near-term difficult landscape, my thesis for the company still holds true. For one, while e-commerce spending was inevitably going to slow in a tough macro environment that some fear might be teetering on the brink of a recession, online spending is still on track to witness monumental growth over the next decade and beyond.
As a long-term investor, I feel these are tailwinds that Etsy is well-positioned to capitalize on as spending recovers.
E-commerce is a multi-trillion-dollar industry, one that analysts estimate will hit a valuation of $62 trillion by the year 2030. And with the slate of one-of-a-kind, specialty, and vintage products sold on Etsy by its global network of sellers, management estimates that the platform’s total addressable market currently stands at around $2 trillion.
Given the fast-paced growth of the broader e-commerce space, coupled with Etsy’s recent acquisitions of marketplaces like Depop and Elo7, it’s likely that this addressable market could expand aggressively in the years ahead.
Meanwhile, few e-commerce platforms occupy the niche that Etsy does at the scale it has continued to amass, which also bodes well for its future growth trajectory as consumer spending gets back on track. Even though growth has decelerated in recent quarters, particularly compared to pandemic levels, Etsy is still growing strong from pre-pandemic levels.
Case in point: As of the third quarter of 2022, Etsy’s gross merchandise sales rose 150% compared to the same quarter in 2019, while revenue was up 200% on a three-year clip.
At its current price, a $2,500 investment in Etsy would add roughly 19 shares to your portfolio.
Rachel Warren has positions in Etsy. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends CRISPR Therapeutics, Etsy, and Vertex Pharmaceuticals. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.