Every month, I look over these stocks to see which three are tempting. I call these my “Buy Now” stocks because I think they’re pretty good deals. Read the chart below to see how the whole portfolio has performed, check out my best buys, and at the end, I’ll offer up access to a special premium report on one of the 13 stocks included.
| Core | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Company | Allocation | Jan. 1st balance | Current balance | Change |
| Baidu.com, Inc. (ADR) (NASDAQ:BIDU) | 11.5% | $115.00 | $97.41 | (15.3%) |
| 11.5% | $115.00 | $133.98 | 16.5% | |
| Amazon.com | 11.5% | $115.00 | $113.39 | (1.4%) |
| Whole Foods | 11.5% | $115.00 | $113.39 | (1.4%) |
| Tier One | ||||
| Starbucks | 7.5% | $75.25 | $84.88 | 12.8% |
| Apple | 7.5% | $75.25 | $63.66 | (15.4%) |
| Intuitive Surgical | 7.5% | $75.25 | $75.55 | 0.4% |
| IPG Photonics Corporation (NASDAQ:IPGP) | 7.5% | $75.25 | $65.69 | (12.7%) |
| Tier Two | ||||
| 3D Systems | 5% | $50.00 | $54.50 | 9% |
| 5% | $50.00 | $86.25 | 72.5% | |
| Stratasys, Ltd. (NASDAQ:SSYS) | 5% | $50.00 | $50.60 | 1.2% |
| Westport Innovations | 5% | $50.00 | $56.65 | 13.3% |
| Lululemon Athletica | 5% | $50.00 | $49.80 | (0.4%) |
| Year-to-date | $1,000.00 | $1,045.75 | 4.6% | |
Source: YCharts. Comparison to S&P 500 does not include dividends returned, as that is usually not an key aspect of a growth portfolio.
IPG Photonics Corporation (NASDAQ:IPGP)
IPG Photonics Corporation (NASDAQ:IPGP) is a leading company in the design and manufacture of fiber-optic lasers. These lasers are stronger, more reliable, and cheaper than their carbon-based counterparts. The company released earnings this week that disappointed the street, and sunk the stock. For the first quarter, the company increased revenue by 15%, but because of margin contraction, earnings per share only jumped 10%. But I think now presents a buying opportunity for long-term investors.
The company’s main source of revenue is materials processing, which is where the lasers are used to cut and weld large pieces of metal for heavy industrial companies. That business grew 29% year over year, which is a very healthy clip.
One might wonder, then, why revenue growth wasn’t also around 29%. That’s largely because the company offered lower price points to manufacturers — but that was not based on pricing pressures, and was, instead, an effort to drive adoption of fiber-optic lasers. This is good for two reasons: first, it lets manufacturers see, first hand, the value of the lasers; and second, it makes it more difficult for competition to compete on price. Long term, I think it’s a winning strategy.
Baidu.com, Inc. (ADR) (NASDAQ:BIDU)
This stock is a great test of an investor’s patience. After showing years of earnings growth north of 30%, things came to a screeching halt during the first quarter. Though revenue increased by 40%, earnings per share were up only 15%.
What gives?
The company, much like Google started having to do a few years back, is investing heavily in its mobile strategy. An ad displayed on a smart phone or tablet brings in less revenue than one pulled up from a desktop computer. Baidu.com, Inc. (ADR) (NASDAQ:BIDU) ramped up R&D spending by 83% in an effort to optimize its mobile strategy.
