Investing is always a good idea but doing it blindly can be compared to setting yourself up for failure and disappointment. Whether you are a new investor or a seasoned one, you want to pick stocks that are going to give you high returns. Needless to say, this depends on the vision of the companies you select as well as their potential to grow.
You need a keen eye for that so how about partnering with someone who has vast experience in the financial market to help you pick the right stocks? Well, that person might just be David Gardner. Keep reading, if you want to know what he has to offer.
Who is David Gardner?
The first thing you want to know is that David Gardner is one of two brothers who founded the Motley Fool stock picking service. If you have been trying to venture into the financial market, you have probably heard of the same a few times.
Now, Tom and David Gardner have been helping people navigate the stock market for more than ten years with their "foolish" investing strategy but today, we want to focus on David alone.
David vs. Tom
As we have just mentioned, Tom and David founded the Motley Fool. They each submit different stock picks to the stock-picking newsletter every month. Both brothers are good at what they do, but we feel like David has been the better stock picker over the years, and here's why.
You see, David Gardner's stock picks tend to outperform his brother's by a significant margin. For instance, he was the one who picked stocks like Netflix, Amazon, and Shop. These are high-performing stocks and have shot up over 1,000% in the duration after he picked them.
Usually, David picks a single stock with an outstanding performance each year so if you go for it as soon as he recommends it; you are likely to gain a lot.
The Motley Fool runs a service known as Rule Breakers, which is exclusively for David’s picks, and we have to tell you that since its launch, the stock picks therein have beat the market six times over. Imagine that!
What David Gardner Stock Picks Service Entails
Motley Fool's Rule Breakers is run by David Gardner with the help of his team. What they do is offer stock picking services. But, isn't that what his brother Tom does as well? Yes, it is but with Rule Breakers, the focus is solely on disruptive innovation companies.
There is a similar service known as Stock Advisor and you need to know that it is also run by an independent team of Motley Fool analysts. You are probably wondering whether both services arrive at the same stock pick and the answer is yes. This has happened more than 28 times over the years.
Top Five Stock Picks From David Gardner
Now that, you have an idea of who David Gardner is and what role he plays, why don't we get right into some of his best picks?
This will let you know exactly what you are looking at and who you are dealing with.
1. Carter's (CRI)
Carter's is a kids' clothing company with different stores. It stocks different clothing brands that have been in operation for some time. You probably wore clothes from the store as a kid and understandably so because it is a well-established brand. Chances are that you are buying clothes for your kids now from the store and that they will buy for their kids from the same company.
The thing is that David saw the company's potential when it was not as big as it is now. The company has been in operation for some time and David figured it would be for a long time.
Anyway, the company has many stores and engages in global business not to mention that it has an online presence. It has been quite truthful about the future of retail and the eCommerce space. In response to this, Carter's has been concentrating on driving more traffic online and closing its underperforming stores.
How is Carter's Doing Now?
Carter's was worth $110.38 per share as of January 2020. This means that the stock rose beautifully by more than the market stock average. You may also want to know that the company has succeeded in closing its under-performing stores and the future looks promising.
2. IPG Photonics (IPGP)
NASDAQ is the parent company of IPG Photonics which was founded by a Russian immigrant who currently lives in the US. It may also interest you to know that the same founder has a great track record when it comes to building companies that perform.
Essentially, he owns a better version of lasers bought by people. David was interested in this company because its stocks had lost half their value as of the summer of 2018. This made the company stocks a bargain in early 2019 when you could have bought a share at $128.
How is IPG Photonics Doing Now?
This is another one of David's solid picks. If you had bought stocks when he recommended them at $128, you would now be looking at $144.85 for the same. David says that the stock may even go up and it looks like a good long-term investment.
3. Planet Fitness (PLNT)
At some point, David recommended buying Planet Fitness shares. This was when each share was trading $58. He was influenced to make this stock pick because the fitness and wellness space continues to grow and thrive.
Although there has been a rise in hipster wellness and boutique fitness, David predicted that Planet Fitness would be able to weather the storm and rise through the trends. Turns out he was right.
How is Planet Fitness Doing Now?
When David recommended PLNT, a share was going for $58. That value has now risen to $78.90 a share. If you heeded his advice, you would have enjoyed decent returns.
4. Mercadolibre (MELI)
Perhaps you have never heard of MercadoLibre, but that shouldn't be blamed on limited stock market knowledge. Rather, it should be blamed on geography.
MercadoLibre is a big deal and not just in the United States. The company is situated in Argentina, and it is the biggest payment processer and the largest e-commerce platform in Latin America presently. That tells you that it is likely to tap into one of the world's rapidly growing global economic blocs, extending from Mexico in the north to Argentina and Chile in the south.
The company's rapid expansion made it one of the top growth stocks of 2010 and is one of David's best stock picks so far. He figured that Latin America's middle class was going to grow with Mercadolibre and he was right.
How is Mercadolibre Doing Now?
If you had a chance to listen to David's podcast, you may have thought that investing in MELI was a good idea seeing as it represents Amazon in Latin America.
If you have put your money in the company when David recommended it and when a single stock was going for $349, you would now be selling it as $658.46. That means that you would have almost doubled your investment.
There is no way that you can deny that it would have been a great stock pick. Wouldn't you agree?
5. Ellie Mae (ELLI)
As of 2019, a single share from Ellie Mae (ELLI) was trading at $69. The enterprise runs the Encompass Mortgage platform. Essentially, it is used by top mortgage lenders to access loans at reduced costs. What you probably don't know is that the Encompass platform is a huge one.
Its stocks were dwindling in the months prior to David noticing and picking it. Although it was underperforming at the time, David saw its potential and was sure that it would bounce back and as it turns out, he was right.
Several weeks before David's podcast, Ellie Mae announces its move to the Amazon Web Services platform.
David supported that move and specified that the company's stocks had great potential.
How is Ellie Mae Doing Now?
We'll be honest here and say that this is a tricky question right now because presently, ELLI stocks are not worth any money and that is because they no longer exist. However, this is not because the company went bankrupt or crashed.
It is simply because the company was acquired.
At some point, David had recommended that anyone with stocks in the company sell them and if you had done that before the acquisition, each share would have brought you $98.99. This is a more or less 50% increase in the initial stock price.
We can say that this was a win for David, but we also have to admit that it may stir a bit of concern on it because the growth potential is limited to the acquisition time.
How Much does Motley Fool's Rule Breaker Cost?
You would have to subscribe to the Rule Breaker service to access David Gardner's stock picks.
The subscription will cost you $299 annually although, for new subscribers, there is a special sales page. There, you will get frequent promotions where you get to spend significantly lower for a Rule Breakers subscription.
As if that is not enough, you get a 30-day trial period so you can claim a refund if you are not impressed.
Conclusion
At this point, it is clear that David Gardner is not just one-half of the duo that founded the Motley Fool. He is an expert when it comes to the ins and outs of financial markets and he has a keen eye as far as picking stocks with potential.
With his years of experience and his record of accomplishment for picking great stocks, we would certainly recommend paying for his Rule Breaker service. We believe it will bring in high returns.
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