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Going forward, Wall Street expects Shopify’s adjusted earnings to increase at 26% annually through 2027. That consensus estimate makes the current valuation of 75 times adjusted earnings look tolerable. Let me be clear — Shopify is not cheap at its current price, but I still think the stock can outperform the market over the next five years.

Uber operates the largest ride-share platform in the U.S. and globally (outside of China), and it operates the second-largest food delivery platform in the U.S. The company has a key advantage in its ability to blend those services into a single mobile app because it creates cost efficient cross-sell opportunities. For instance, 31% of first delivery trips come from mobility users, and 22% of first mobility trips from delivery users.

Scale affords Uber a data advantage that supports continuous improvements in ride dispatching, routing, and pricing. The company also uses its scale and data to help advertisers reach consumers with relevant offers through the mobile app. In June, Piper Sandler analyst Tom Champion called Uber a “sleeping giant” because its scale lays the foundation for a booming advertising business.

Uber reported strong financial results in the third quarter, beating estimates on the top and bottom lines. Monthly active users climbed 13% and total trips rose 17%, meaning consumers engaged with the platform more frequently. Revenue increased 20% to $11.2 billion and GAAP net income increased 12-fold. But adjusted EBITDA, a better metric because it eliminates unrealized investment gains, increased 55% to $1.7 billion.

On the earnings call, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi told analysts Uber One memberships soared 70% to 25 million over the past year. He also mentioned that advertising revenue increased 80%, and spoke optimistically about the company’s expanded partnership with Alphabet subsidiary Waymo. Specifically, Uber and Waymo have partnered to bring autonomous ride-sharing to Atlanta (Georgia) and Austin (Texas) next year.

Wall Street expects Uber’s earnings to increase at 22% annually through 2027. Compared to that consensus, the current valuation of 36 times earnings looks reasonable. Patient investors should feel comfortable buying a position in Uber stock today, though it would be prudent to start with a small position and build over time.

Ever feel like you missed the boat in buying the most successful stocks? Then you’ll want to hear this.

On rare occasions, our expert team of analysts issues a “Double Down” stock recommendation for companies that they think are about to pop. If you’re worried you’ve already missed your chance to invest, now is the best time to buy before it’s too late. And the numbers speak for themselves:

• Amazon: if you invested $1,000 when we doubled down in 2010, you’d have $22,292!*

• Apple: if you invested $1,000 when we doubled down in 2008, you’d have $42,169!*

• Netflix: if you invested $1,000 when we doubled down in 2004, you’d have $407,758!*

Right now, we’re issuing “Double Down” alerts for three incredible companies, and there may not be another chance like this anytime soon.

See 3 “Double Down” stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of October 28, 2024

John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Trevor Jennewine has positions in Amazon and Shopify. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, Shopify, and Uber Technologies. The Motley Fool recommends Gartner. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

History Says the S&P 500 Could Jump in November: 2 No-Brainer Stocks to Buy With $100 Right Now was originally published by The Motley Fool

Verizon recently delivered its 18th straight annual dividend increase, extending the longest current streak in the U.S. telecom sector. The payout currently yields 6.5%.

The mobile and broadband company’s high-yielding dividend has grown safer by the quarter. Verizon is generating more cash than it needs to cover its capital expenses and dividends. It’s using that excess free cash flow to strengthen its already solid balance sheet.

Verizon plans to use its growing financial flexibility to acquire Frontier Communications in a $20 billion all-cash deal. The transaction will enhance its fiber offerings while growing its earnings and free cash flow. The company’s debt level will rise following the deal, but it expects to repay those borrowings within a couple of years of closing that acquisition. With its capital investments and the Frontier deal boosting its earnings, Verizon should be able to continue increasing its dividend.

Realty Income, Kinder Morgan, and Verizon currently offer higher-yielding dividends backed by solid financial metrics. Meanwhile, all three companies have visible growth ahead, suggesting they should be able to continue increasing their dividends. Those features make them great stocks to buy for passive income this month.

Before you buy stock in Realty Income, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Realty Income wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005… if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $829,746!*

Stock Advisor provides investors with an easy-to-follow blueprint for success, including guidance on building a portfolio, regular updates from analysts, and two new stock picks each month. The Stock Advisor service has more than quadrupled the return of S&P 500 since 2002*.

See the 10 stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of October 28, 2024

Matt DiLallo has positions in Kinder Morgan, Realty Income, and Verizon Communications. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Kinder Morgan and Realty Income. The Motley Fool recommends Verizon Communications. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

3 Top Dividend Stocks to Buy for Passive Income in November was originally published by The Motley Fool

Meta generated a record $40.6 billion in total revenue during the third quarter of 2024 (which ended Sept. 30). It also delivered $15.7 billion in net income (profit) which was another record, and that figure was up 35% from the year-ago period.

Increasing profitability has been the key driver behind the 527% surge in Meta stock since it bottomed in October 2022. However, the company plans to invest heavily in AI data centers and graphics processing units (GPUs) from suppliers like Nvidia, which could be a headwind for its earnings.

Features like Meta AI are powered by the company’s Llama large language model (LLM), which is quickly becoming one of the most advanced in the entire industry. The current Llama 3 models were trained on around 16,000 GPUs, but Zuckerberg says Llama 4 is already in the works, and it’s going to require over 100,000 of Nvidia’s H100 GPUs (or equivalents).

Nvidia’s chips can often sell for up to $40,000 each, so Meta is making an enormous financial commitment. In fact, the company told investors its capital expenditures (which mostly relate to AI) will come in between $38 billion and $40 billion for the whole of 2024 — and that forecast has been raised four times this year. The company intends to spend “significantly” more in 2025.

Meta generated $21.23 in earnings per share over the last four quarters, and based on its stock price of $567 as of this writing, that places it at a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 26.8.

That means Meta stock would have to climb by 20.5% just to trade in line with the Nasdaq-100 technology index, which sits at a P/E ratio of 32.3. Considering Meta is delivering record financial results, combined with its leadership in the AI race, I think it’s reasonable to expect the company to trade in line with its peers in the tech sector.

After all, Meta’s average P/E over the last 10 years is 37.7.

If Meta’s P/E ratio does rise to 32.3, that alone would lift its market cap to $1.75 trillion. Plus, Wall Street analysts (according to Yahoo!) expect the company to generate 14.2% earnings growth in 2025 despite all of its spending, which would result in a market cap of $1.99 trillion if it maintains that same P/E ratio.

That means any amount of earnings growth in 2026 would propel Meta into the $2 trillion club. The company might even get there next year depending on how quickly it can start monetizing features like Meta AI and Business AI, because that could be a source of upside to Wall Street’s earnings forecast.

Before you buy stock in Meta Platforms, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Meta Platforms wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005… if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $829,746!*

Stock Advisor provides investors with an easy-to-follow blueprint for success, including guidance on building a portfolio, regular updates from analysts, and two new stock picks each month. The Stock Advisor service has more than quadrupled the return of S&P 500 since 2002*.

See the 10 stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of October 28, 2024

John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, 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. Anthony Di Pizio has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

1 Unstoppable Stock Set to Join Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, and Alphabet in the $2 Trillion Club by 2026 was originally published by The Motley Fool

The company sells products that address every layer of the robotics computing stack: Its DGX systems provide supercomputing infrastructure for training models, its Isaac platform provides development tools for building and testing robotics applications, and its Jetson embedded systems provide the on-board computing power robots need to make decision.

Wall Street expects Nvidia’s earnings to increase at 35% annually over the next three years. That makes the current valuation of 63.5 times earnings look reasonable. I am skeptical about its market capitalization reaching $10 trillion by 2030, but patient investors should still feel comfortable buying a small position today.

Alphabet subsidiary Google is the largest digital advertiser and third-largest public cloud, and the company is using AI to strengthen its standing in both markets. For instance, its leadership in advertising is due in large part to dominance in internet search, so Alphabet has added generative AI overviews to Google Search to improve the experience. It’s still early, but CEO Sundar Pichai says usage and satisfaction are trending higher.

Likewise, Alphabet introduced more than 500 updates for its machine learning (ML) platform Vertex AI last year, including the ability to develop generative AI applications with its Gemini models. Forrester Research and Gartner have since recognized Google as a leader in AI/ML platforms, a noteworthy distinction given that IDC analysts expect AI/ML platforms to be the fastest-growing subcategory of cloud services through 2028.

Google accounted for 13% of public cloud infrastructure and platform services spending in the third quarter, while Amazon and Microsoft accounted 31% and 20%, respectively. However, Google gained 2 percentage points of market share over the past year, and Forrester analyst Mike Gualtieri says the company is “the best positioned hyperscaler for AI.” That portends further share gains in the future.

Alphabet reported encouraging financial results in the third quarter. Revenue increased 15% to $88.2 billion on especially strong momentum in the cloud computing segment, coupled with modest growth in Google Search and YouTube advertising. Meanwhile, the company’s operating margin expanded 4 percentage points and GAAP earnings increased 37% to $2.12 per diluted share.

Going forward, Alphabet has a big opportunity in its autonomous driving subsidiary Waymo. The company already provides more than 100,000 fully autonomous rides per week across Phoenix, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, and it will expand in Austin and Atlanta in 2025. Bank of America analyst Justin Post estimates Waymo’s sales could hit $75 million this year, but sees a long-term opportunity of $144 billion.

Looking ahead, Wall Street expects Alphabet’s earnings to increase at 16% annually over the next three years. That consensus estimate makes the current valuation of 23 times earnings look quite reasonable. Similar to my comments about Nvidia, I am cautiously optimistic about Alphabet reaching $500 per share by 2030. But patient investors should feel comfortable buying a position in this stock today even if that doesn’t happen.

Before you buy stock in Nvidia, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Nvidia wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005… if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $829,746!*

Stock Advisor provides investors with an easy-to-follow blueprint for success, including guidance on building a portfolio, regular updates from analysts, and two new stock picks each month. The Stock Advisor service has more than quadrupled the return of S&P 500 since 2002*.

See the 10 stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of October 28, 2024

Bank of America is an advertising partner of The Ascent, a Motley Fool company. John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Trevor Jennewine has positions in Amazon and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, Bank of America, Microsoft, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool recommends Gartner and recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

2 Brilliant Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stocks to Buy Before They Soar 190% and 200%, According to Certain Wall Street Analysts was originally published by The Motley Fool

Here are some kinds of income streams you might have in retirement:

• Part-time work for the first few years of retirement.

• Social Security income.

• Income from dividend-paying stocks.

• Rent checks from properties you own and lease out.

• Income from one or more annuities.

• Pension income from job(s) you and/or your spouse had.

• Income from selling stocks in your portfolio whenever needed.

• Income from interest-bearing investments such as bonds, bank accounts, CDs, etc.

• Inheritances.

A little thinking outside the box can yield even more income possibilities, such as cashing out a life insurance policy, getting a reverse mortgage, taking in a boarder, and so on. Simply delaying your retirement by a few years can be a powerful move, keeping more dollars in your pocket.

However you go about it, it’s smart to be working toward funding most of your retirement on your own. Take some time to develop a good plan, and then execute it well. And don’t expect Social Security to provide most of your retirement income because it probably won’t — and you probably don’t want it to, either.

If you’re like most Americans, you’re a few years (or more) behind on your retirement savings. But a handful of little-known “Social Security secrets” could help ensure a boost in your retirement income. For example: one easy trick could pay you as much as $22,924 more… each year! Once you learn how to maximize your Social Security benefits, we think you could retire confidently with the peace of mind we’re all after. Simply click here to discover how to learn more about these strategies.

View the “Social Security secrets” »

The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Social Security’s New Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) Is Out — and Most Americans Think It’s Not Enough. What Do You Think? was originally published by The Motley Fool

This marked the first drop-off of at least 2% in M2 money supply from an all-time high, as well as the first year-over-year decline of at least 2%, since the Great Depression.

Before digging any deeper, be aware that there are two caveats to this meaningful decline in M2 money supply.

First, M2 is once again climbing. Based on the September 2024 reading of $21.221 trillion, M2 has risen by 2.7% on a year-over-year basis, which would generally be good news for the U.S. economy. In aggregate, M2 is still 2.31% below its all-time high.

Second, this peak-to-trough drop in U.S. M2 money supply followed a historic year-over-year expansion of more than 26% during the height of the pandemic. Fiscal stimulus and historically low interest rates flooded the U.S. economy with capital. In other words, it’s possible this first-in-90-years decline in M2 is a benign reversion to the mean following a never-before-seen expansion of the money supply.

However, more than a century of history suggests this decline may have more ominous implications.

In March 2023, Nick Gerli, the CEO of Reventure Consulting, released the post you see above on the social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter). Using data from the Federal Reserve and U.S. Census Bureau, Gerli was able to back-test M2 growth and contraction over more than 150 years.

Although this post is more than a year old, it highlights key correlations between rare year-over-year declines in U.S. M2 money supply and big-time weakness in the U.S. economy.

Since 1870, there have been only five instances where M2 fell by at least 2% on a year-over-year basis: 1878, 1893, 1921, 1931-1933, and 2023. All four prior occurrences correlate with a U.S. depression and double-digit unemployment rate.

Once again, there is a caveat to this data. Specifically, the Federal Reserve didn’t exist in 1878 or 1893, and the fiscal and monetary-policy tools and knowledge available today far exceeds what was known and understood in 1921 and during the Great Depression. In short, a U.S. depression would be incredibly unlikely to occur in modern times.

Nevertheless, the biggest peak-to-trough decline in M2 since the Great Depression signals the possibility of consumers having to reduce their discretionary spending. Traditionally, this is a key ingredient for an economic downturn.

Based on research from Bank of America, roughly two-thirds of the S&P 500’s peak-to-trough downturns occur after, not prior to, a recession being declared.

But while history foreshadows trouble for Wall Street in the quarters to come, time continues to be an undeniable ally of investors willing to take a step back and look to the horizon.

As much as workers and investors might dislike economic downturns, they are — just like stock market corrections and bear markets — an inevitable part of the economic cycle. Yet what’s important to recognize is that upswings and downturns within the economic cycle aren’t mirror images of each other.

Since the end of World War II in September 1945, the U.S. economy has navigated its way through a dozen recessions. Out of these 12 recessions, nine resolved in less than a year, and the remaining three wrapped up in 18 months or less.

On the other end of the spectrum, the overwhelming majority of economic expansions stuck around for multiple years, including two periods of growth that surpassed the 10-year mark. Investors counting on the U.S. economy to expand over the long run have been handsomely rewarded — and the same can be said for those who are wagering on the stock market to head higher over time.

In June 2023, shortly after the S&P 500 was confirmed to be in a bull market following its 2022 bear market low, the researchers at Bespoke Investment Group released the post you see above on X. Bespoke calculated the calendar-day length of every bear and bull market in the S&P 500 dating back to the start of the Great Depression in September 1929.

Bespoke’s data set found the average S&P 500 bear market lasts just 286 calendar days, or roughly 9.5 months. Comparatively, the typical S&P 500 bull market over 94 years endured for 1,011 calendar days, or approximately 3.5 times longer than the average bear market.

To boot, 14 of the 27 bull markets — including the current one — have lasted longer than the lengthiest S&P 500 bear market on record.

Regardless of the sophisticated software you use or the historic data points you rely on, you’ll never be able to concretely determine which direction the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq Composite will head over the short term.

But history is quite clear that Wall Street’s major indexes, and the stock market’s most-influential businesses, will increase in value over time. Allowing time to work its magic makes even the most frightening of historic data points appear benign.

Ever feel like you missed the boat in buying the most successful stocks? Then you’ll want to hear this.

On rare occasions, our expert team of analysts issues a “Double Down” stock recommendation for companies that they think are about to pop. If you’re worried you’ve already missed your chance to invest, now is the best time to buy before it’s too late. And the numbers speak for themselves:

• Amazon: if you invested $1,000 when we doubled down in 2010, you’d have $22,292!*

• Apple: if you invested $1,000 when we doubled down in 2008, you’d have $42,169!*

• Netflix: if you invested $1,000 when we doubled down in 2004, you’d have $407,758!*

Right now, we’re issuing “Double Down” alerts for three incredible companies, and there may not be another chance like this anytime soon.

See 3 “Double Down” stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of October 28, 2024

Bank of America is an advertising partner of The Ascent, a Motley Fool company. Sean Williams has positions in Bank of America. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bank of America. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

U.S. Money Supply Recently Did Something That Hasn’t Occurred Since the Great Depression — and It May Foreshadow Trouble for Wall Street was originally published by The Motley Fool

The average yield on PennantPark’s debt investments was a very healthy 12.1% at the end of June. The Federal Reserve started lowering interest rates in September. This will lower the yield the BDC receives, but its cost of capital will likely shrink, too when it reports results from the quarter that ended Sept. 30, 2024, on Nov. 25, 2024.

Shares of PennantPark Floating Rate offer investors a huge 11% dividend yield at recent prices, plus extra convenient monthly payments. With a brief exception in 2018, it has raised or maintained its payout since 2015.

PennantPark doesn’t have Ares Capital’s size, but its underwriting team is highly capable of finding borrowers that generate enough cash to repay their debts. At the end of June, just three companies representing 1.5% of the total portfolio at cost were on non-accrual status.

Rithm Capital is a real estate investment trust (REIT) that doesn’t mess around with physical properties. Instead, it deals in mortgage origination and servicing, mortgage-backed securities, and single-family rentals.

Maintaining a diverse portfolio of mortgage-related assets has been a winning strategy for Rithm Capital and its long-term shareholders. The company lowered its dividend payout once in early 2020 and has since raised it twice.

At recent prices, Rithm Capital offers a big 9.5% yield that it could raise further. Earnings available for distribution rose to $0.54 per share in the third quarter from $0.47 per share in the second quarter. This is more than enough to meet a dividend commitment currently set at $0.25 per share.

Rithm estimated its book value at $6.4 billion at the end of September. At recent prices, though, you could buy every outstanding share for just $5.5 billion. That’s a bargain most income-seeking investors won’t want to pass up.

Ever feel like you missed the boat in buying the most successful stocks? Then you’ll want to hear this.

On rare occasions, our expert team of analysts issues a “Double Down” stock recommendation for companies that they think are about to pop. If you’re worried you’ve already missed your chance to invest, now is the best time to buy before it’s too late. And the numbers speak for themselves:

• Amazon: if you invested $1,000 when we doubled down in 2010, you’d have $22,292!*

• Apple: if you invested $1,000 when we doubled down in 2008, you’d have $42,169!*

• Netflix: if you invested $1,000 when we doubled down in 2004, you’d have $407,758!*

Right now, we’re issuing “Double Down” alerts for three incredible companies, and there may not be another chance like this anytime soon.

See 3 “Double Down” stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of October 28, 2024

Cory Renauer has positions in Ares Capital. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

3 Ultra-High-Yield Dividend Stocks to Buy in November and Hold Forever was originally published by The Motley Fool