3 No-Brainer Stocks to Buy With $100 Right Now | The Motley Fool (2024)

In case you haven't noticed, the bulls are in full control on Wall Street. Excitement surrounding the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), coupled with a stronger-than-expected U.S. economy and the return of stock-split euphoria, has helped lift the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500, and Nasdaq Composite to multiple record-closing highs in 2024.

While some investors might naturally be skittish about putting their money to work with the major stock indexes at or near all-time highs, history has shown that patience pays off handsomely on Wall Street. With every stock market correction and bear market eventually getting put into the back seat by a bull market rally, it means any time can be the ideal moment to invest.

To make things even better, most online brokers have eliminated the barriers that had previously kept retail investors from participating on Wall Street. In recent years, brokerages have done away with minimum deposit requirements and commission fees on common stock trades. This means any amount of money -- even $100 -- can be the perfect amount to put to work.

If you have $100 ready to invest, and you're certain this isn't cash you'll need to pay bills or handle emergency expenses, the following three stocks stand out as no-brainer buys right now.

Enterprise Products Partners

The first amazing company that investors can confidently add to their portfolios with $100 right now is energy juggernaut Enterprise Products Partners (EPD -1.06%). Enterprise sports an ultra-high 7% yield, and has increased its base annual payout in each of the last 25 years.

Admittedly, oil and gas stocks aren't every investor's cup of tea. Aside from oil and gas companies being considered "sin stocks," the memory of energy commodities falling off a cliff during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 is still fresh in the minds of investors.

But while historic spot-price volatility whipsawed oil and gas drillers, Enterprise Products Partners was, operationally speaking, mostly unaffected. That's because it's one of America's most important energy middlemen.

Enterprise operates more than 50,000 miles of transmission pipeline, as well as 26 fractionation facilities. Additionally, it can store 14 billion cubic feet of natural gas and north of 300 million barrels of liquids.

What makes midstream operators so appealing is the transparency of their operating cash flow. Enterprise typically signs long-term contracts with upstream drilling companies that are fixed-fee in nature. A fixed-fee contract removes the effects of inflation and spot-price volatility from the equation, which is what allows Enterprise's management team to accurately forecast cash flow a year or more in advance.

Cash flow transparency is extremely important for midstream energy companies. It's what's given Enterprise Products Partners' board the confidence to raise the company's base annual distribution for 25 years. It's also the catalyst that's fueled approximately $6.9 billion in funding for major projects, many of which are earnings accretive and focused on expanding the company's role in natural gas liquids.

Valued at a little over 7 times expected cash flow in 2025, Enterprise Products Partners looks like a bargain.

PubMatic

A second no-brainer stock that makes for a genius buy with $100 right now is fast-growing adtech company PubMatic (PUBM 0.69%).

If there's a fault to be found with advertising companies, it's that they're inherently cyclical. If businesses believe the U.S. or global economy isn't healthy or might contract, it's not uncommon for ad spending to taper. At the moment, a couple of predictive indicators, including an aggregate decline of 3.49% in U.S. M2 money supply since April 2022, suggest a downturn awaits.

Thankfully for PubMatic and the entire ad industry, the economic cycle isn't linear. Though recessions can be temporarily unnerving for workers and investors, they're generally short-lived. Only three of 12 U.S. recessions since the end of World War II lasted for 12 months. In comparison, most periods of economic growth hit the multiyear mark, with two expansions reaching a decade in length. The ad industry undeniably benefits from these long-winded periods of growth.

What makes PubMatic so special is its area of focus: Digital advertising. It's a sell-side provider whose cloud-based programmatic ad platform helps publishing companies sell their digital display space. The bulk of its growth comes from video, mobile, and connected TV. All three of these channels sport sustained double-digit growth potential in digital advertising.

In addition to being at the center of the fastest-growing niche within the ad industry, PubMatic's management team made the (in hindsight) smart decision to develop its own cloud-based programmatic ad platform. Although relying on a third-party provider would have initially been faster and cheaper, the end result of building its cloud-based infrastructure in-house is that it gets to keep more of its revenue as it scales. In other words, PubMatic's long-term operating margin and cash flow will benefit from this decision.

PubMatic is also a cash-flow machine. It's working on its 10th consecutive year of positive operating cash flow, and it closed out the March quarter with $174.1 million in cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities, with no debt. This treasure chest gives it ample financial flexibility to navigate a short-lived recession. Plus, it's helped the company repurchase more than 5 million shares of its common stock since the start of 2023 (through April 30, 2024).

With Wall Street's consensus calling for PubMatic's earnings per share (EPS) to grow by an annual average of 67% through 2028, now looks like the perfect time for opportunistic investors to pounce.

Pfizer

The third no-brainer stock that makes for a fantastic buy with $100 right now is none other than leading pharmaceutical company Pfizer (PFE -1.17%). Similar to Enterprise Products Partners, Pfizer sports an ultra-high yield of about 6%!

Earlier this year, Pfizer's stock hit its lowest level in more than a decade. Its flaw is that it's a victim of its own success.

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Pfizer was one of a select group of drug companies that successfully developed a COVID-19 vaccine. (Its vaccine is known as Comirnaty.) It also engineered an oral treatment, Paxlovid, to lessen the severity of symptoms for patients with COVID-19. On a combined basis, these two therapies generated more than $56 billion for Pfizer in 2022. Just two years later, these two drugs are on pace to combine for around $8 billion in total sales.

While a $48 billion sales reversal is nothing to sweep under the rug, take a step back and understand where Pfizer came from. In 2020, the company generated $41.9 billion in sales. Based on the midpoint of its 2024 guidance, which includes $8 billion from its COVID-19 blockbuster duo, Pfizer is pacing $60 billion in net sales. This is a company's that's improving, despite what its share price movement indicates.

During the first quarter, Pfizer's non-COVID therapies enjoyed 11% operational sales growth, which excludes the effect of currency movement. Blood-thinning drug Eliquis led the way with over $2 billion in global net sales during the March-ended quarter, while the Specialty Care segment collectively chipped in with 7% operational sales growth.

Another exciting development for Pfizer is its $43 billion acquisition of cancer-drug developer Seagen, which closed in mid-December. On top of adding more than $3 billion in annual sales to Pfizer's Oncology segment, Seagen's innovation meaningfully expands Pfizer's pipeline and offers cost-saving in 2025 and beyond. In short, Seagen should be a net-positive for Pfizer's earnings per share beginning next year.

The final piece of the puzzle is that Pfizer's valuation is enticing. Long-term investors can pick up shares for about 10 times forward-year earnings, which looks like a deal for a company that's forecast to grow its EPS by an annual average of 14% through 2028.