Five eCommerce Stocks to Buy Now

Let’s start with Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), which has been the most popular eCommerce stock among hedge funds tracked by us in the last two years and one of the favorite tech stocks among billionaire investors. At the end of 2017, there were 136 funds long Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), down by three over the quarter, but up from 123 funds that held shares a year earlier. Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)’s stock surged by over 50% in 2017, as the eCommerce behemoth saw its sales grow by 31% to $177.9 billion. The company is seeing strong subscription growth for Prime, with more people having joined Prime in 2017 than any previous year. Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) has been expanding geographically. It recently has entered Australia and last year it launched Prime in Singapore and has been expanding its presence in other markets, such as India and Brazil. In addition, the company’s cloud division, Amazon Web Services, is showing robust growth with expanding infrastructure and new services. With growth on all fronts and leading R&D spending, it’s not surprising that Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) is a popular pick among hedge funds. Many analysts believe that Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) is on path to hit a market cap of $1.0 trillion within the next 12 months.

Even though the number of funds long Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA) declined by 18 during the fourth quarter, it surged by 29 to 115 funds during 2017. Moreover, at the end of 2015, there were just 77 funds in our database long Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA). The company’s stock almost doubled last year amid the company maintaining its revenue growth trajectory. In each of the last five reported quarters, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA)’s revenue surged by over 50% on the year and topped the consensus estimates, while EPS was better-than-expected in three of these five quarters. Moreover, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA) has been diversifying its business by expanding its presence in the brick-and-mortar space and investing into new tech startups.

In Booking Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:BKNG), the number of funds from our database with long positions inched down by four over the quarter, but appreciated by three funds to 79 during 2017. Booking Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:BKNG) is the company that had been known as Priceline Group until February 21, when it changed its name in order to show the shift of focus to its hotel and home rental unit. As one of the largest online travel companies, Booking Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:BKNG) is showing robust growth. In 2017, aside from registering better-than-expected profits and revenue, the company also showed a 19% growth in gross travel bookings to $81.2 billion. In 2018, the company expects gross travel bookings growth between 14.5% to 18.5% and revenue growth is expected between 17.5% to 21.5%, compared to last year’s revenue appreciation of 18% to $12.68 billion.

Next in line is  Mercadolibre Inc (NASDAQ:MELI), which operates a number of sites, including mercadolibre.com, the most popular eCommerce site in Latin America. There were 30 funds long Mercadolibre Inc (NASDAQ:MELI) at the end of 2017, compared to 28 funds a quarter earlier and 25 funds at the end of 2016. Moreover, since the end of 2015, the number of investors bullish on Mercadolibre Inc (NASDAQ:MELI) doubled. The company has a lot of growth potential, given that the Latin American eCommerce market has more room to grow, but the company is also facing stiffer competition from Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), which is reportedly looking at leasing a big warehouse in Brazil. In addition, Mercadolibre Inc (NASDAQ:MELI) has been facing some issues with the Brazilian post office regarding shipping rates. In March, the Federal Justice court issued an injuction preventing shipping rate increases, but the decision could be appealed by the post office. The cost of shipping for Mercadolibre Inc (NASDAQ:MELI) is an important issue for the company as it focuses on growth through market and promotions like free shipping.

Last but not least, Etsy Inc (NASDAQ:ETSY) saw 29 funds tracked by Insider Monkey holding shares of the company heading into 2018, unchanged over the quarter, but up by seven funds on the year. Two years earlier, there were just 13 funds holding shares of Etsy Inc (NASDAQ:ETSY). Since the beginning of the year, Etsy Inc (NASDAQ:ETSY)’s stock has surged by almost 45% amid the company reporting a strong fourth quarter. Etsy Inc (NASDAQ:ETSY) posted EPS of $0.15, which topped the estimates by $0.07, while revenue of $136.27 million increased by 24% on the year and was $3.72 million better than expected. The company also disclosed a solid outlook for the 2018, which includes revenue growth between 21% and 23%.

Disclosure: none