Got $500? These Stocks Can Make You a Boatload of Money – Motley Fool

In less than three weeks, 2021 will come to a close and Wall Street will likely have reason to break out the champagne. That's because the benchmark S&P 500 has more than doubled up its annual average total return of .......

Make Money From Home December 13, 2021 2 min read

In less than three weeks, 2021 will come to a close and Wall Street will likely have reason to break out the champagne. That’s because the benchmark S&P 500 has more than doubled up its annual average total return of 11% since 1980. Through Dec. 9, the widely followed index was higher by 24%.

But even with the broader market near an all-time high, incredible bargains can still be found.

Best of all, you don’t need a mountain of cash to make a boatload of money on Wall Street. With most online brokerages eliminating minimum deposit requirements and commission fees, any amount of money — even $500 — is the perfect amount of money to put to work on Wall Street.

If you’ve got $500 ready to invest, which won’t be needed to pay bills or cover an emergency, the following three stocks check all the necessary boxes to make you a boatload of money.

Image source: Getty Images.

Work-from-home stocks were unstoppable last year. In 2021, it’s been quite the opposite. An uptick in U.S. and global COVID-19 vaccination rates has hurt monthly active user (MAU) growth for social media platform Pinterest ( PINS -3.85% ), and Wall Street has been unrelenting in its punishment for sequentially declining MAUs.

But this very shortsighted view of Pinterest overlooks a number of key growth initiatives or metrics. For example, even though we’ve witnessed two sequential quarterly declines in the company’s MAUs, the longer-term MAU growth trajectory is still within historic norms. All that’s happened is a reversion from the temporary growth spike following the lockdowns associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.

What’s far more important is that Pinterest is raking in the cash by monetizing its MAUs. Even with year-over-year user growth of less than 1% in the September-ended quarter, Pinterest managed to boost its average revenue per user (ARPU) globally and internationally by 37% and 81%, respectively. What this demonstrates is that advertisers are willing to pay increasingly higher prices for an opportunity to get their message in front of Pinterest’s MAUs.

That brings me to the next point: Pinterest’s motivated shoppers. Since the entire premise of Pinterest is for users to share what things, places, and services interest them, it’s easy for the company to act as a middleman that connects users with merchants that can meet their interests. Arguably no social media platform gives advertisers more tools to effectively target prospective shoppers.

Pinterest is profitable and growing ARPU at a rapid rate. It’s the perfect buy-low candidate that can make patient investors a boatload of money.

Image source: Getty Images.