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Ever think of investing in classic US stocks like Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, well it is going to become easier. With BSE and NSE, both launching platforms to enable Indian investors to buy US stocks, the process is likely to get uncomplicated in the near future.
However, some of these stocks have astronomical share prices to around $3000 per share. This could cost you over ₹2 lakh to buy a single stock of such firms. However, through the new platform, you can buy a fraction of these shares at lower costs, thus making it more affordable for smaller retail investors.
With this soon becoming a possibility, let's look at some must-have stocks you do not want to miss:
Apple: Founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne, Apple went public in December 1980. It became the first US firm to hit a market capitalization of $1 trillion. The company's current market cap stands at $2.4 trillion and has a stock price of around $147 per share.
The company has split its stock 5 times since it got public, mainly to keep its stock price in check and maintain liquidity of shares among investors. It has surged nearly over 560 percent since its listing in 1980. In 2020 alone, it has gained over 80 percent despite most companies getting impacted by the COVID pandemic.
The firm is popular for iPhone, iPad, other Mac products, wearable devices, among others. As of 2020, iPhone controls around 40 percent market share for smartphones in the US and iPad around 30 percent market share.
The company has high brand loyalty and is one of the most valuable brands in the world. This makes Apple a very good choice for long-term investment.
Amazon: Founded in 1997 by Jeff Bezos as an online retailer of books, 27 years later, the company has become the most successful e-commerce company, selling almost everything online. Along with a massive e-commerce business, it also has a very commanding position in the cloud computing services as well as the video streaming industry through Amazon Web Services and Amazon Prime Video.
It was the second company to cross the market capitalization of $1 trillion. It currently trades over $3,300 per share and has a market cap of $1.6 trillion. It is considered one of the top 5 most valuable firms in the US.
The firm has undergone a stock split three times in the 1990s but nothing after 1999. Since listing in 1997, it has jumped over 18,200 percent since then. It is the second-largest retailer after Walmart with a revenue of over $200 billion as of 2020.
The sheer volume of its business and well the brand value makes it a good investment opportunity.
Microsoft: Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, Microsoft is a technology firm that produces software as well as electronic products like personal computers, gaming consoles, etc. It is mainly known for its Windows operating system, Microsoft Office products, Internet Explorer and Xbox video game consoles.
It was the third company to hit the market capitalization of $1 trillion in 2019. It currently trades around $300 per share and has a market cap of $2.2 trillion.
Since listing at around $21 in 1987, the stock has rallied over 1300 percent till now. It has undergone a stock split 9 times since 1987 with the latest being in 2003.
With products ranging for both business as well as consumer, Microsoft has a very diversified portfolio which makes it a timeless buy for investors. Due to this wide range of products, its competitors also include large companies like Apple, Amazon, IBM, etc.
Alphabet: Founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, as a search engine company Google, it has become the world's go-to search engine company with 87 percent market share. Alphabet, however, was created in 2015 as a holding firm for Google. It has since then launched and bought a number of diversified firms making it one of the largest technology firms in the world. It owns products like Chrome, Youtube, Google Cloud, Google Play as well as the operating system for Android phones.
It is also one of the few firms that have crossed the market capitalization of $1 trillion in 2020. The firm currently trades around $2,800 per share and has a market capitalization of $1.8 trillion.
Listed in 2004, the firm has since surged 2,700 percent till date. It has never gone for a stock split as well.
It is one of the most diversified and valuable firms with great growth potential in technological advancements and innovations. This makes it a timeless investment for any investor.
Visa: Founded in 1958 by Dee Hock, Visa is a multinational financial services company. It facilitates electronic money transfers across the world mainly through credit cards and debit cards. It is the world's largest credit card firm with over 3.6 billion cards in usage. The company does not issue the cards on its own but partners with other financial institutions like banks. It is the world's second-largest card payment firm with a50 percent market share in card payments.
The firm currently trades around $230 per share and has a market capitalisation of $453 billion. Listed in 2008, Visa has rallied over 550 percent to date. It has undergone a stock split just once in 2015.
Visa makes money whenever people swipe their debit or credit card or make any transactions using those by taking a small amount of fee. And since that is not going to stop anytime soon, this makes Visa an exceptional investment opportunity for investors. The firm processes over 200 billion transactions a year making it very valuable.
While these 5 are some timeless stock options available to investors, many other stocks like Netflix, Facebook, Mastercard, Coca-Cola, Johnson and Johnson, etc also provide good options for investors to buy. However, one must carefully decide the weight of such stocks in their portfolio since they are more expensive than the Indian options.