Beaten down e-commerce stocks such as Shopify and Etsy offer investors an opportunity to derive double-digit gains in the next 12-months.
Feb. 4, 2022
The equity markets remain largely volatile in the near term. Hence, experts advise shareholders to invest in the stock market with a long-term view. So, you need to identify companies that are part of an expanding addressable market, allowing them to grow top-line and profit margins at a consistent rate.
The ongoing pandemic accelerated the shift towards online shopping, and a report from Statista forecasts global retail e-commerce sales to touch $7.38 trillion in 2025, up from $4.21 trillion in 2020. Here, we shortlist three e-commerce stocks investors should buy right now.
Shopify
A Canada-based company, Shopify (NYSE: SHOP), is valued at a market cap of $101 billion. It has successfully built a global e-commerce operating system and provides a suite of tools and capabilities that enable merchants to establish a digital presence. While Shopify stock is down 52% from all-time highs, it has returned 3,000% to investors since its IPO in mid-2015.
Shopify has onboarded close to two million merchants on its platform, allowing it to grow sales from $1.07 billion in 2018 to $2.92 billion in 2020. Now, analysts expect revenue to grow to $5.8 billion in 2021 and $7.7 billion in 2022.
The company continues to expand its portfolio of products and launched Shopify Markets in Q3, where merchants can enter international markets quickly and manage cross-border commerce using a centralized commerce platform. It also rolled out Shopify Balance, a money management product, and introduced TikTok Shopping to merchants.
Etsy
Shares of Etsy (NASDAQ: ETSY) are down 57% from all-time highs, valuing the company at a market cap of $16 billion. Etsy is a marketplace where you can purchase handcrafted goods from sellers worldwide.
Its gross merchandise sales rose by almost 18% year over year to $3.1 billion in Q3 of 2021. Further, the GMS per active buyer rose 20% in the last 12-months. The company's sales in Q3 of 2021 increased by 18% year over year to $532.4 million and is forecast to touch $2.3 billion in 2021 and $2.77 billion in 2022, valuing the stock at a reasonable price to sales multiple of 5.78x.
While Etsy's growth rate is decelerating, its unique platform, focused growth strategy, and strong brand awareness make it a top bet is given the ongoing pullback.
Sea Limited
The final e-commerce stock on my list is Sea Limited (NYSE: SE) which is down 60% from record highs and valued at a market cap of $81 billion. Sea Limited is on track to double its revenue to $9.52 billion in 2021 and increase sales by another 47.8% to $14 billion in 2022.
Sea Limited is one of the largest e-commerce companies in Asia. It also operates in other high-growth verticals such as fintech and gaming. In Q3 of 2021, Sea Limited increased digital entertainment sales by 93.2% to $1.1 billion due to an increase in its active user base and higher-paid user penetration. Comparatively, its e-commerce growth was attributed to the scale of its marketplace and an uptick in value-added services revenue.
The company went public in late 2017 and has returned close to 700% to investors in less than five years. Analysts expect Sea Limited stock to gain 131% in the next 12-months.
