When an opportunity presents itself, investors are often told to pounce on it. There have been many truly amazing opportunities on the market over the years, and some of these opportunities persist even today.
Here are two opportunities for investors to capitalize on which have significant long-term growth and income prospects.
Barrick Gold Corp.: a long-term growth pick for precious metals bulls
I’m starting off with a gold company, and for good reason. Barrick Gold Corp. (TSX:ABX)(NYSE:ABX) has one important advantage over its peers and two other potential long-term advantages.
Barrick has an obsession with eliminating debt. Gold producers typically carry large debt loads, and in the years following the 2011 price collapse, Barrick and other producers suffered greatly. Approximately two years ago, Barrick’s debt load was over US$13 billion, and the company was teetering on ruin. Fast forward to today, and the company has shaved off over US$5 billion in debt and has stated on more than one occasion that the company could be entirely debt free within the decade.
When you factor in a steady increase in the price of gold over the same period and an optimistic outlook for gold prices well into next year, you can begin to see the opportunity unfolding. Demand for gold has been steadily increasing in both China and India, which are the largest markets for the precious metal, and some pundits say this may push gold prices north of US$1,300 per ounce this year and higher next year.
With Barrick’s decreasing debt load, that price increase translates into pure profit.
Shopify Inc. is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity
The transition from a physical retail model to a digital storefront can be a confusing and complicated manner for many businesses that do not understand how the digital sales model differs from the physical one. Even when businesses strive to adopt a digital storefront, setting up that store is difficult and time-consuming.
This is the sweet spot that Shopify Inc. (TSX:SHOP)(NYSE:SHOP) caters to. The company prides itself on being able to quickly set up and integrate a digital storefront in a fraction of the time and cost of traditional methods. The software is also incredibly scalable, so additional modules, such as social media integration or a chatbot, can be bolted on when needed.
That model has proven so successful that Shopify boasts over 400,000 businesses as clients that are responsible for over $34 billion in sales.
In terms of results, the stock has soared over 100% year to date and over 200% in the past 12-month period. Fiscal 2016 saw Shopify’s revenue surge 90%, and the company is on target to achieve over 60% revenue growth this year. Looking at next year, the company is leaning towards 40% revenue growth.
Growth is slowing, but the opportunity is still huge. The market segment that Shopify serves is in its infancy and is slated to continue growing, which makes this a great long-term investment.
