By Keith Speights
KEY POINTS
- Amazon.com has multiple growth drivers that should enable the stock to continue its winning ways.
- AbbVie offers an attractive valuation, dividend, and long-term growth prospects.
- Bank of America should benefit from increasing interest rates and its investments in technology.
All three are giants in their respective markets.
It's April Fools' Day. If Warren Buffett wanted to pull a trick for the ages, he might announce that he's adding $10 billion of several cryptocurrency meme coins toBerkshire Hathaway's portfolio.
I'm not sure that very many people would believe the joke, though. Buffett has been a steadfast opponent of cryptocurrencies in the past. Instead, he has been a firm believer in the merits of investing in businesses that produce products and services that people want to buy.
There are quite a few stocks of such businesses in Berkshire's current portfolio that have solid growth prospects. Here are three Buffett stocks to buy in April.
1. Amazon.com
Some people are hemming and hawing about whether it's better to buy Amazon.com before or after its upcomingstock split. I suspect that Buffett would say to forget about the split and instead focus on the company's underlying business.
However, the Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud hosting unit stands as an even bigger growth driver. Net sales for the unit soared nearly 40% year over year in Q4. And AWS generated more profits than all of Amazon's other businesses combined.
Buffett would likely also tell investors to look to the future. Amazon is poised to expand in artificial intelligence (AI), healthcare, self-driving vehicles, streaming, and more. This internet giant should continue generating strong cash flows -- and that should lead to a market-beating performance over the long term.
2. AbbVie
Admittedly, AbbVie doesn't rank among Buffett's favorite stocks. Berkshire's stake in the big drugmaker topped $410 million at the end of 2021. However, Buffett has reduced the position in AbbVie quite a bit.
Buffett's moves with AbbVielook like a mistake in retrospect. The stock has trounced theS&P 500so far this year with a gain of more than 20%. Its total return is well above that of Berkshire Hathaway as well.
I suspect that many investors are drawn to AbbVie's attractive valuation and dividend during a time of overall uncertainty. The big pharma company's shares trade at only 11.5 times expected earnings despite the big gain in recent months. AbbVie is also aDividend Kingwith a dividend that currently yields north of 3.4%.
Don't dismiss the company's growth prospects, either. AbbVie does face the loss of U.S. exclusivity for its top-selling drug Humira next year. However, the company has multiple other growth drivers in its lineup that should enable it to quickly return to growth.
3. Bank of America
Buffett has been a fan of bank stocks for years. While he's trimmed Berkshire's positions in several banks, there's one bank stock that he hasn't sold: Bank of America.
My view is that Bank of America is an especially good stock to own over the near term. Why? The Federal Reserve plans to increase interest rates. Bank of Americabenefits from a rising-rate environment. The company's net margin and return on equity tend to improve as interest rates increase.
Buffett almost certainly continues to view Bank of America as a solid long-term investment as well. The company is strong financially. Its reputation stands at the top of the industry. Bank of America has also improved its efficiency significantly through investing in technology.
Could Bank of America's business model be disrupted at some point? Maybe. However, the company has positioned itself well with its Zelle digital payments app and other online apps. Bank of America has demonstrated that it can survive and thrive in a changing financial and technological landscape.
Resource: Finance Yahoo
Comments