5 Unstoppable Trends Where You Should Invest $1,000 in 2024

Over the past 30 years, Wall Street has had no shortage of noteworthy next investment trends. Some of these have been game changers, such as the advent of the Internet in the 1990s, while others have never lived up to high expectations (e.g. consumer-grade 3D printers).

No matter what happens to the U.S. economy and stock market in 2024, there are bound to be investment trends that attract the attention of both professional and general investors.

But the hottest trends today may not carry over into next year. I recently discussed why artificial intelligence (AI) and electric vehicles (EV) are two hot trends that will take off next year. Fortunately, other investment trends are ready to take their place.

Here are five unstoppable trends you can invest $1,000 in in 2024.

Image source: Getty Images.

1. Cybersecurity

Perhaps the most obvious trend that investors can count on to continue in the coming years is cybersecurity. Regardless of the performance of the U.S. economy and stock market, hackers and robots will not stop trying to steal sensitive business or customer information. Online or cloud-based businesses need protection, which is increasingly falling into the hands of third-party providers.

The keys to cybersecurity are: CrowdStrike Holdings (CRWD 0.19%). CrowdStrike’s cloud-based security platform, known as Falcon, uses AI and machine learning (ML) solutions to become more effective at identifying and responding to potential end-user threats over time. Falcon oversees trillions of events every week.

Despite being a more expensive cloud-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution than many of its peers, CrowdStrike’s overall retention rate is superior. Additionally, 63% of our continually growing client base has purchased at least five cloud module subscriptions.

don’t overlook octa (octa 1.77%), which one. Despite negative press related to recent security breaches, identity verification company Okta continues to improve the effectiveness of its cybersecurity solutions by leveraging AI and ML.

In particular, the Auth0 acquisition not only opens new doors to Okta’s international markets, but also provides a firmer foundation on which to build the customer identity segment, a $30 billion market according to the company.

2. Gene editing

The second potentially standout trend you should consider investing $1,000 in in 2024 is gene editing.

Typically, investors don’t have to dig too deep to find interesting and promising new research in the field of drug development. Gene editing is one of the more innovative approaches.

As the name suggests, gene editing involves “editing” the targeted DNA. A small piece of guide ribonucleic acid (RNA) is attached to an enzyme (such as the Cas9 enzyme) and introduced into the target cell. The enzyme then “cuts” the DNA at the target site. The scientific community believes that gene editing could be a successful approach to treating single gene diseases, including cystic fibrosis.

What highlighted gene editing as a hot investment trend in 2024 was the approval of Casgevy (formerly exa-cel) in the UK, that is, the first approval. somewhere For gene editing drugs. November 16th, Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX -0.20%) and CRISPR therapeutics (CRSP 0.77%) Announced landmark approval of Casgevy, a Cas9 gene editing therapy for the treatment of sickle cell disease and transfusion-dependent beta thalassemia. With label expansion opportunities and approvals pending in the U.S. and other regions, this gene-editing therapy developed by Vertex and CRISPR has the potential to exceed $1 billion in annual sales.

It is worth noting that gene editing may have the potential to go beyond single gene diseases. CRISPR Therapeutics is examining it as a treatment for a variety of cancer types.

Image source: Getty Images.

3. Financial technology (fintech)

The third unstoppable trend you can confidently invest $1,000 in 2024 is financial technology, perhaps better known as “fintech.” Fintech involves using software or technology to facilitate banking and lending services.

Global fintech revenues are expected to increase more than 500% to $1.5 trillion by 2030, according to a Boston Consulting Group report published in May. Considering many of the world’s emerging markets, this type of growth is not hard to believe. There is still a lack of banking services, including in Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Mobile-based payment and lending solutions could be the answer to the lack of access to basic financial services.

paypal holdings (PYPL 2.78%) We are currently in the driver’s seat of the fintech sector. Despite above-average inflation rates squeezing the purchasing power of low-income workers, PayPal has seen total payment value (TPV) double on a currency-neutral basis.

Additionally, PayPal’s active users are more engaged than ever. This is an especially important point considering that PayPal’s top platforms (PayPal and Venmo) are driven by transaction fees. In other words, the more transactions, the higher the company’s total profit. In less than three years, PayPal’s active customers have seen the average number of transactions completed in the past 12 months increase from 40.9 to 56.6.

Even in difficult economic times, fintech stocks are expected to maintain TPV growth.

4. Data center economy

The fourth seemingly invincible trend to invest $1,000 in next year is the data center economy. This refers to almost everything that is directly or indirectly related to the growing demand for data centers.

As the world becomes more digital and data moves to the cloud at a rapid pace, demand for everything from the physical facilities that house data center server towers to the hosts of solutions that support this expansion will drive the data center economy.

Perhaps the safest way to do this expansion is through a real estate investment trust (REIT). american tower (AMT 0.17%). Just days before the end of 2021, American Tower completed the acquisition of CoreSite Realty, which owned 25 data centers at the time. Purchasing real estate and leasing it for long periods of time generally provides predictable operating cash flow and market-leading yields for REITs.

There are pieces of the puzzle in place to help storage stocks bounce back nicely in 2024. western digital (WDC 0.11%) We are well positioned to take advantage of the growing storage requirements resulting from data center expansion. Hard disk drives have been a data center staple since time immemorial, but Western Digital’s NAND flash memory solutions have the potential to become the new standard for enterprise data centers.

For investors with a high tolerance for risk, Amazon (AMZN -1.61%) and alphabet (google -0.74%) (GOOG -0.72%) A smart way to take advantage of the booming data center economy. Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google Cloud accounted for 31% and 10%, respectively, of global cloud infrastructure services spending in the third quarter, and enterprise cloud spending is still in its infancy.

5. Small investment

As of this time last month, large-cap technology stocks were outpacing small-cap stocks by the largest margins ever. yesThis number is much higher than during the dot-com bubble in the early 2000s. In some ways, this speaks to the characteristics of a time-tested brand company, but it also suggests that a generational buying opportunity awaits small investors.

Based on the closing price on December 5, the benchmark is S&P 500, which holds primarily large-cap and mega-cap components, had a forward price-to-earnings ratio (P/E) of 18.7. This is roughly the midpoint where broad-based indices have traded on a forward earnings basis over the past 25 years.

Meanwhile, S&P 600Composed of small-cap stocks, its forward P/E ratio is 13.2, not far from its 25-year low. In my opinion, this makes small-cap stocks cheap, and 2024 could be the year that value investors come to this realization.

A perfect example of a small company with many expansion possibilities is a furniture retailer. love sock (love 12.32%). While traditional furniture retailers offer little in the way of true product differentiation and rely heavily on foot traffic to physical stores, Lovesac has addressed this headwind.

Lovesac’s sactionals (modular sofas) are unique in that they can be rearranged to fit most living spaces, have over 200 different upholstery choices, come with a variety of upgrade options, and can use recycled plastic water bottles as yarn. Functionality, selectivity, and eco-friendliness are all rolled into one.

Additionally, Lovesac’s omnichannel sales platform features a rapidly growing online presence, pop-up showrooms, and several brand partnerships. With lower overhead costs and less reliance on brick-and-mortar stores, Lovesac has outperformed its competitors. This must continue beyond 2024.