The Unsung Heroes of E-Commerce: 3 Pivotal Stocks Powering the Online Shopping Surge
Of course, TV shows and movies employ many workers behind-the-scenes to operate cameras, direct actors, conduct marketing activities and handle all of the financial details. Similarly, many e-commerce stocks rely on other companies to provide equipment, warehouses, technology and transportation services.
With global e-commerce sales expected to expand at a rather brisk CAGR of 9% between 2023 and 2027, many of these behind-the-scenes players should deliver impressive returns for investors over the long-term. Moreover, if global economic growth accelerates more than expected in the coming years, e-commerce could easily return to its pre-pandemic growth rates of 12%-14%. Here are three behind-the-scenes e-commerce stocks that can produce home runs over the long term.
Symbotic (SYM)
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Symbotic’s (NASDAQ:SYM) AI-powered robotic systems automate warehouse operations. With e-commerce companies and large retailers utilizing a high number of warehouses, SYM should benefit from the rapid growth of e-commerce in the coming years.
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Moreover, Symbotic’s autonomous, mobile robots should be very appealing to e-commerce firms and large retailers because the robots are undoubtedly much cheaper and more efficient than human employees.
And validating SYM’s products and technology, industry giants Walmart (NYSE:WMT), FedEx (NYSE:FDX) and Target (NYSE:TGT) have all used its products.
Last quarter, Symbotic’s revenue jumped 79% versus the same period a year earlier to $78.6 million while its EBITDA, excluding certain items, came in at $14 million compared with an adjusted BITDA loss of $16 million during the same period of 2022.
Prologis (PLD)
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Prologis (NYSE:PLD) is the world’s biggest warehouse developer, according to CoStar.
And since ProLogis’ rents are now significantly lower than the U.S. mean, the firm will be able to boost its rents considerably this year, potentially setting the stage for its top and bottom lines to surge. Further, CFO Tim Arndt reported on the company’s Q4 earnings call that it expects annual market rent growth to average between 4% and 6% over the next three years.
Also noteworthy is that PLD is investing in many other high-growth areas, including solar energy, zero-emission electric truck charging stations, autonomous mobile robots and artificial intelligence-guided warehouse management tools. Those investments should bear considerable fruit for the company.
Given all of PLD’s strong, positive catalysts, it’s definitely one of the best e-commerce stocks to buy.
GigaCloud Technology (GCT)
Source: Shutterstock
GigaCloud (NASDAQ:GCT) brokers deals between e-commerce retailers and suppliers, while also handling logistics and warehousing for its clients. GCT stock more than doubled in the first two months of the year, showing that the Street is becoming enamored with the name.
GCT targets business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce, which is generally expected to grow meaningfully faster than consumer e-commerce. Specifically, B2B e-commerce is expected to jump at a compound annual growth rate of nearly 20% between 2023 and 2030, according to one estimate.
Only two Wall Street analysts have issued ratings on the name in the last 90 days, but one has a “buy “rating on it and the other has a “strong buy” rating. The two analysts’ average prediction calls for GCT’s earnings per share to surge to $2.05 in 2024 from 56 cents in 2023.
On the date of publication, Larry Ramer did not hold (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
Larry Ramer has conducted research and written articles on U.S. stocks for 15 years. He has been employed by The Fly and Israel’s largest business newspaper, Globes. Larry began writing columns for InvestorPlace in 2015. Among his highly successful, contrarian picks have been SMCI, INTC, and MGM. You can reach him on Stocktwits at @larryramer.
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