It’s been a crazy first half of the year. Now that we’re well into June, it’s amazing to look back and see where the markets have gone. In January, most stocks and composites were hitting all-time highs. The S&P/TSX Composite alone climbed to almost $18,000 only to fall by about 38%; so, of course, did the top stocks that made up the composite.
After bottoming out back in March, the broader marketplace has since been undergoing a steady rally. Investors believe the worst could be over and have started to look to the markets again to see if they can score any deals.
While there could be further market drops in the future, it’s never a bad time to look for strong top stocks with solid potential — especially if you plan to hold long term. If that’s the case, it’s pretty difficult to go wrong with any stocks. Yet if you want to double your money fast, here are three that can do just that.
Air Canada
Air Canada (TSX:AC) has gone way up and way down during the market crash. The company was soaring to all-time highs when the coronavirus hit. Since then, Air Canada has been shut down, and so has its share price. With no clear end in sight for when Air Canada can get planes off the ground again, the markets simply haven’t grown any confidence in the stock.
But if you’re buying long term, Air Canada has plenty to look forward to. The company was in the midst of reinvesting in its infrastructure. While this has left it with quite a bit of debt, especially with planes now on the ground, there is some benefit as well. The new fleet of airplanes the company invested in are highly efficient, so the plan was already to bring costs down. On top of that, the company acquired Air Transat to take over 60% of the Canadian airline industry. If you look at the company’s 2019 revenue, it rose to $19 billion from $18 billion in 2018, with net income rising to $917 million from $738 million the year before. So, if there’s any airline that’s going to double in the future, it has to be Air Canada.
Cenovus
Another of the top stocks set to soar is Cenovus Energy (TSX:CVE)(NYSE:CVE). Sure, the company is in the struggling oil and gas industry. Its share price has come way down because of the crisis, and the market crash hasn’t done it any favours. To date, the stock is still down by about half from its 52-week high.
There’s a lot going for Cenovus, but a lot against it as well. The company has a tonne of debt after buying 50% oil sands partner in 2017 for $17.7 billion. Today, investors are wary of the stock. Since the purchase, the company has sold companies in order to cover the loan for the purchase. But this put it in a sour position ahead of the downturn and subsequent rally of 2018. While this all seems like bad news, once an oil rebound happens, this stock will shoot up readily to pre-crash prices. That’ll double your investment today.
Bottom line
These two top stocks have a solid chance for investors to double their money. If the stocks both get to pre-crash prices, you’ll be laughing. That would turn an investment of $5,000 in each stock into $11,350 for Air Canada and $9,996 for Cenovus. And all this could easily happen in the next year.
