The Shiba Inu coin continues its sharp descent. As of this writing (Monday afternoon), it was down 4.5% for the day and still falling.
While SHIB’s 2021 run has been legendary, the meme coin is now encountering resistance. People who’d bought SHIB at the start of the year are sitting on multi-million-percentage returns. It would be unreasonable not to expect them to cash out. It appears that some of them are.
It’s an open question whether Shiba Inu Coin is a good investment. As a highly speculative crypto asset, its price moves are largely driven by social media sentiment. Personally, I wouldn’t touch it. But there are many growth assets I would buy — specifically, tech stocks. Growth stocks may not be quite as frothy as crypto right now, but they still offer the potential for decent returns. In this article, I will outline three growth stocks I would buy instead of Shiba Inu in 2021 — including one I already own.
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Shopify
Shopify (TSX:SHOP)(NYSE:SHOP) is Canada’s biggest company by market cap. With a 9% weighting, it dominates the TSX index. SHOP’s growth over the last six years has been phenomenal. Since going public in 2015, it has risen more than 5,000%. It has been a great run. And amazingly, it could continue.
SHOP’s revenue growth rate in its most recent quarter was 46%, and its earnings were positive. The company earned $9 per share in GAAP terms, and $0.81 in adjusted terms. The adjusted EPS missed badly, but GAAP greatly exceeded analyst expectations. The actual earnings result depends on which metric you look at, but there’s no doubt that SHOP continues strong revenue growth, which could pave the way for future profits.
Lightspeed Commerce
Lightspeed Commerce (TSX:LSPD)(NYSE:LSPD) is another tech stock like Shopify. Unlike SHOP, this one is NOT in the midst of a bullish trend. In fact, it is in the midst of a precipitous decline. Down 43% from its all-time high, this stock is bleeding, which is one thing that makes it interesting. With SHOP approaching all-time highs, its stock may be in for a correction. But LSPD is currently way down, despite 193% revenue growth in its most recent quarter. This may make the stock an attractive dip buy.
Granted, this company has had some bad news lately. It was recently the victim of a scathing short report, and it missed badly on earnings in Q2, with the net loss widening. These points aren’t to be ignored. Nevertheless, with its superior revenue growth and large TAM, LSPD has plenty of potential going forward.
Alibaba
Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) is one growth stock I’m very excited about. It’s a Chinese e-commerce company that has been experiencing phenomenal sales growth over the past few decades. Its revenue-growth rate for the trailing 12-month period was 40%. That’s extremely strong, yet the stock trades at only 15 times earnings and 3.6 times sales. It certainly looks like a bargain. I’m personally sold on the stock, but there are risk factors to keep in mind.
In 2021, BABA experienced a number of headwinds related to a tech crackdown by the Chinese government. The crackdown cost BABA $2.8 billion in the form of a fine and brought other miscellaneous damage, like forced media divestitures and the breakup of Ant Group. It’s a tough time for BABA, but the potential upside is well worth the risk.
