3 Top E-Commerce Stocks To Watch Right Now
For investors considering what stocks to buy today, some would argue that e-commerce stocks make for viable plays now. Overall, the stock market today appears to be holding strong as earnings continue to impress. Among said earnings are from the big banks last week. Now, with banks being among the key indicators of how the economy is doing, things could be looking up for the e-commerce industry. This would especially be the case given the recent dips in the sector as investors focused on reopening names.
However, another key factor to consider now would be the fast-approaching year-end shopping season. Regardless of whether or not people celebrate Christmas among other holidays, shopping and gift-giving is a common occurrence at that time of the year. As such, e-commerce firms could, in theory, be looking towards strong quarters ahead. Accordingly, it would then make sense for investors to be eyeing the top e-commerce stocks in the stock market now.
Even with the current strain on supply chains and inflation fears, digital retailers continue to cater to consumers. The likes of which are already spending well above pre-pandemic levels according to data from Bank of America (NYSE: BAC). In fact, some of the biggest retailers continue to ramp up their e-commerce offerings now. On one hand, Walmart (NYSE: WMT) is offering its Walmart+ subscribers a four hours head start on Black Friday shopping deals. On the other hand, Target (NYSE: TGT) plans to match its prices on the fly with competitors to provide buyers with top-quality deals. By and large, it seems that things are heating up in the e-commerce space now. Would that make one of these stocks top picks in the market now?
3 Top E-Commerce Stocks To Buy [Or Sell] Ahead Of November 2021
- Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN)
- Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (NYSE: BABA)
- Shopify Inc. (NYSE: SHOP)
Amazon.com
For starters, we have the biggest name in the e-commerce business now, Amazon. Overall, most would be familiar with the company’s vast array of tech-related offerings. This ranges from its industry-leading e-commerce platform to its work in the cloud computing and digital streaming spaces. While all that is great, we will be focusing on e-commerce today. Given the massive scale and reach of its online shopping division, AMZN stock could be a go-to for investors now.
Sure, the company’s shares do not come at the most affordable of price points. However, Amazon appears to be kicking into high gear on the operational front, anticipating surges in demand for its services. As of this week, the company is planning to hire an additional 150,000 seasonal staff ahead of the holiday season. Additionally, it is also offering a $3,000 sign-on bonus and an extra $3 an hour for select shifts at certain locations. This would be a timely push as labor shortages persist throughout the U.S. now. Not to mention, it also marks a significant one as Amazon is bringing on 50% more seasonal employees year-over-year.
Furthermore, the company is seeing a solid uptick in seller activity on its third-party marketplace already. Since launching over 20 years ago, the platform now houses millions of sellers which make up for almost 60% of Amazon’s retail sales. According to the company’s estimates, U.S-based small and medium-sized businesses have sold over 3.8 billion products in the past year. With Amazon seemingly firing on all cylinders now, could AMZN stock be worth investing in for you?
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Alibaba
Following that is Alibaba. Similar to our previous entry, the company is a tech juggernaut that primarily offers e-commerce services among other tech-related ventures. As one of the largest tech players in the Chinese market, BABA stock could be worth keeping an eye on. Notably, Alibaba’s cloud division is the top cloud service provider in China now.
To highlight, the company recently kicked off its 13th annual 11.11 Global Shopping Festival. By Alibaba’s estimates, this year’s iteration of the festival is its largest yet with a record 290,000 brands participating. Throughout these brands, Alibaba is offering over 14 million deals to roughly 900 million consumers in the Chinese market. In detail, the festival will occur across two sales windows, the first starting from November 1 to 3. On top of all that is plans for live streaming and social shopping experiences in-app to further incentivize shoppers. Safe to say, Alibaba has big plans for the upcoming quarter.
Moreover, the company also appears to be hard at work growing its other divisions as well. Just this week, Alibaba has made two notable moves to bolster its cloud computing arm. To begin with, the company launched a new processing chip for its cloud computing servers on Tuesday. Ideally, the chip upgrade will see its cloud capabilities rival that of industry leaders. Subsequently, Alibaba is also looking to establish pioneering cloud data centers in South Korea and Thailand next year. All things considered, will you be adding BABA stock to your portfolio soon?
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Shopify
Another name to know in the e-commerce industry now would be Shopify. For the uninitiated, the Canadian firm facilitates millions of merchants via its e-commerce platform of the same name. Through this platform, merchants have access to highly customizable digital storefronts, a retail point-of-sale system, and massive exposure to consumers. Even with gains of over 35% year-to-date, I could see SHOP stock being in focus in the stock market now.
Despite fears of a potential slowdown in its overall business due to the economy reopening, Shopify remains hard at work. Throughout the past year, the company has and continues to actively expand its partnership network. This involves the likes of Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX), Facebook (NASDAQ: FB), and Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL) subsidiary Google among others. In practice, all of this serves to further increase the exposure of Shopify’s merchants and the company’s market reach as well.
Now, the company is once again making waves thanks to its latest collaboration with Spotify (NYSE: SPOT). With this team-up, the top artists on Spotify’s music streaming platform can connect their Shopify stores. In turn, this allows them to directly market their merchandise to fans via the Spotify app. For the most part, the current move serves to provide artists and Shopify with another stream of revenue and traffic. With all this in mind, would you consider SHOP stock a buy?
