Even if you have a modest amount to invest, building a small position in great companies can get you started.
While some growth stocks are getting more love from investors than others, great businesses can persist through all market cycles. As summer is in full swing, you might be considering what stocks you want to add to your portfolio in the near future.
Even with a more modest amount of investment capital, like $500, you can adhere to investment strategies like dollar-cost averaging to compound your holdings with time. If you have cash to put into stocks right now, money that you won’t soon need for bills or other key areas of financial outlay, here are two companies to consider adding to your buy basket sooner rather than later.
1. Intuitive Surgical
Intuitive Surgical (ISRG 1.04%) is known for its robotic surgical systems that help support a wide range of minimally invasive surgeries. With the various generations of its flagship da Vinci surgical system, along with other products in its portfolio like its minimally invasive lung biopsy robot the Ion, estimates place its global share of the surgical robotics market in the ballpark of 75%.
In the second quarter of 2024, Intuitive Surgical saw procedure volume rise 17% compared to the same three-month period in 2023. The company saw procedure volume fall after the pandemic forced delays of non-urgent surgeries, but this is a trend that has been steadily righting itself in its recent quarterly reports.
At the close of the quarter, Intuitive Surgical had 9,203 da Vinci systems installed globally. That was an enviable 14% year-over-year bump. However, compared to the same quarter in 2019, that’s a growth rate of 75% in that five-year time frame.
Intuitive Surgical remains consistently profitable. Its net income in the three-month period totaled $527 million, a 25% year-over-year increase, while revenue rose 14% to $2.01 billion. Most of Intuitive Surgical’s top line is derived from recurring revenue, not systems sales. These forms of recurring revenue include the cost of replacement instruments and accessories for the robotic systems, services, and operating leases.
In 2023, 83% of Intuitive Surgical’s revenue was recurring revenue. That is a trend that has gone steadily upward with the passage of time. For example, in 2019, recurring revenue accounted for 72% of overall revenue.
Demand for Intuitive Surgical’s products and services is only growing as the adoption of surgical robotics remains strong but still has a long way to go. For example, it’s estimated that only around 17% of general surgeries incorporate robotics, and there are use cases for these tools in both minimally invasive surgery and traditional open surgery.
Shares are trading up by around 40% from one year ago as Intuitive Surgical’s recurring revenue model is underscoring its resilience and driving consistent profitability. Long-term investors adding to a well-diversified portfolio might want to take a second look at the healthcare stock.
2. Chewy
Chewy (CHWY -0.99%) is trading down from one year ago but is up around 10% from the start of 2024. The online pet retailer has gone from strength to strength as it continues to improve profitability, grow sales steadily, and expand its offerings to pet owners. While many people might think of Chewy as more of a pet food and toys platform, that’s just one slice of the overall business.
Chewy sells products geared toward not only smaller domestic animals but also larger farm animals. Beyond supplies like food, toys, and bedding, Chewy operates its own pet telehealth service, sells various pet health insurance plans, and has a full-service online pharmacy where pet owners can access regular prescription drugs as well as compounded medications.
This pet retailer sells thousands of brands, including some of its own private brands, such as its wellness soft chew vitamin brand Vibeful. With its own supply chain network that spans over a dozen fulfillment centers, including automated fulfillment centers that cut down on shipping costs and other operational overhead, Chewy can get its products to about 80% of the U.S. population overnight.
Chewy recently launched into the Canadian pet market, its first international expansion. It is also in the process of opening up its own brick-and-mortar veterinary clinics. Chewy has even been piloting a sponsored ads business as a new stream of revenue, enabling pet brands to advertise to shoppers on its platform. In the first quarter of 2024, that sponsored ads initiative, while still in its nascent stages, was a core driver of its nearly 30% gross margin for the three-month period.
With a wide selection of brands and services that are designed to cover the entire journey of the average pet owner, these newer ventures bear close watching but do seem to align with management’s long-term growth strategy. Most of Chewy’s revenue is recurring rather than from single sales of products. As of the recent quarter, its Autoship program accounted for customer sales of $2.2 billion and comprised 77.6% of overall sales.
Total net sales for the three-month period came to $2.9 billion, a 3% increase from one year ago. The company also reported solid earnings of about $67 million, along with about $82 million in net cash provided by operating activities. While discretionary spending is still in flux, pets are an essential area of spending for most consumers.
Investors shouldn’t expect pandemic-era levels of growth when people were spending on their pets in droves, but Chewy is still demonstrating that consumer demand for its business remains robust. It’s also working to be consistently profitable, and diversify its streams of income. If you like its recurring revenue model and the growth story of this business, now looks like it could be a good time to scoop up at least a few shares.