Going into 2024, the stock market has seen a year-end rally resulting from the expected easing of interest rate hikes projected for 2024, reduced inflation, and other positive economic results. In 2024, investors must choose companies expected to grow in 2024 as they did in 2023. For an investment portfolio, it’s best to have a strong foundation of reputable companies that will continue to give investors a stable rate of return.
These three companies I discuss below are from different sectors, have given investors great returns throughout 2023, and offer strong growth potential in 2024. This makes these stocks some of the best investment ideas for the near future, and investors should pay attention to the stocks below.
Best Investment Ideas: Sprouts Farmers Market (SFM)
Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM), located in Phoenix, Arizona, is a retailer of organic food products. Their product categories include dairy, seafood, meat, produce, and nonperishable foods. Sprouts Farmers Market operates over 400 stores in 23 states and has opened ten new store locations since October 2023.
On October 31, Sprouts released its third-quarter earnings, stating that total revenue grew by 8% and its net income remained practically unchanged compared to the previous year. They also mentioned share buybacks within the third quarter of 2023 of approximately $32 million or 831,000 shares.
In December, Sprouts reported that they entered into a partnership with Uber Eats; under the agreement, it enables home delivery of Sprouts Farmers Market products starting in Florida and with plans to expand nationwide.
Over the past year, Sprouts has seen its share price rise by 60%. The rally for the company results from an improved financial position, store expansion, and their recent upgrade by Goldman Sachs Group, in which its rating changed from a “Sell” to a “Buy,” sending its share price higher.
Manulife Financial (MFC)
Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) is headquartered in Toronto, Canada, and operates as an insurance company that provides its customers with products and services, including individual life insurance, different annuity products, pension plans, casualty insurance, property insurance, and also portfolio management.
Manulife Financial offers investors a decent dividend payout of 4.86% on an annual basis. Its last quarterly dividend payment was 27 cents per share, distributed on December 19.
On November 8, Manulife released its earnings for the third quarter of 2023, in which it stated that its earnings per share rose by 35% and core earnings increased by 28% compared to the third quarter of 2022. Recently, the company also announced that it entered into an agreement with StepStone Real Estate and Scannell Properties to recapitalize $1.2 billion of industrial assets in the U.S.
Manulife’s share price has risen by 21% over the past year, following their positive financial results, recent acquisition of CQS, a credit manager, and growing exposure within Asia.
Salesforce (CRM)
Salesforce (NYSE:CRM), headquartered in San Fransisco, California, is a leading customer relationship company that provides services such as data storage, relationship analytics, sales forecasting, and quote and invoicing technology. Their products include Slack, a workflow management and productivity tool; Tableau, a business analytics platform; and Mulesoft, an AI automation platform.
Over this past year, Salesforce has seen its share price surge by 84%. This is primarily due to increased investor interest in generative AI, strong financial data, and their growing dominance in customer service technology.
On November 29, Salesforce released its third-quarter earnings results for the fiscal year 2024, stating that its revenue increased by 11% compared to the previous year. For the third quarter of the company’s fiscal year 2023, Salesforce reported a net income of $210 million; for this most recent quarter (Q3 2024), it stated a net income of $1.2 billion. Salesforce also mentioned that during the third quarter, share buybacks took place, totaling $1.9 billion.
As of this writing, Noah Bolton 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.
