There are many considerations that investors must make when looking for stocks to make the cornerstone of their portfolio. One of these considerations is whether the company leads an important and emerging industry. If it does, and it’s able to continue executing over the years, it would be very hard for investors to not make money. With that in mind, here are two TSX stocks that could carry your portfolio for years.
Relative to other growth stocks, I see this as lower risk
When I think of the biggest trends of the 2020s, I see e-commerce as one of the most obvious trends. Over the past decade, the online retail industry has been setting itself up for massive global penetration in the near future. Last year, global retail got the catalyst it was waiting for, as the COVID-19 pandemic forced businesses to shut down in-store shopping. As a result, consumers flooded to online channels, and merchants rushed to optimize their online stores.
One of the biggest winners in that situation wasn’t even a merchant. It was Shopify (TSX:SHOP)(NYSE:SHOP). The company offers a platform and all the tools necessary for merchants to operate online stores. Because of its wide range of offerings, which cater to businesses of all sizes, Shopify attracted many new customers. One of the more notable companies to turn to Shopify over the past year is Netflix. There are more than 1.1 million merchants using Shopify today. In 10 years, that number could seem miniscule.
What’s impressive about Shopify isn’t simply the fact that the company has attracted merchants. It has also done an excellent job of partnering with large enterprises, which expands its reach of the online retail market. Over the past few years, Shopify has partnered with the likes of Meta Platforms, Pinterest, Walmart, and TikTok. Last month, the company announced a new partnership with Spotify, which would allow artists to feature and sell merchandise directly from the audio platform.
Shopify is a leader within its industry, and it’s continuing to grow. In Q2 2021, Shopify stores surpassed Amazon in total quarterly traffic for the first time. Shopify has already made investors a lot of money since its IPO, but the story is far from over.
Many enterprises are becoming virtual companies
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, many enterprises were already offering employees the option of working from home for a certain number of days per week. However, the pandemic thoroughly shook the business world when governments around the world ordered widespread shutdowns. Because of this, many enterprises became fully remote.
As a result, companies needed to adapt employee training methods to suit the situation. Cue Docebo (TSX:DCBO)(NASDAQ:DCBO), a company which provides a cloud-based and AI-powered eLearning platform to enterprises. Investors noted the opportunity in front of Docebo and pushed the stock up about 650% after it hit its lowest point during the COVID-19 market crash.
Although many businesses have restarted in-person operations, some large companies have announced that they will remain fully remote, even after the pandemic is long done. Even if a business decides to return to in-person operations, it would require a lot of time and money to re-vamp employee training programs shortly after a complete overhaul. Because of this, I believe Docebo will continue to see a lot of demand moving forward.