That's because rather than trying to pick a single winning stock, ETFs allow you to buy a basket of stocks in one fell swoop.

But which ASX ETFs could be good options for Aussie investors today? Let's look at three top picks for investors in November. They are named below:

Betashares Cloud Computing ETF (ASX: CLDD)

The Betashares Cloud Computing ETF could be a top pick for Aussie investors. It provides exposure to global cloud leaders such as Shopify (NASDAQ: SHOP), Snowflake (NYSE: SNOW) and ServiceNow (NYSE: NOW).

These are enabling businesses to manage and analyse sales and data more efficiently. And with cloud services now essential for AI, remote work, and cybersecurity, this ASX ETF offers investors a front-row seat to the cloud transformation.

It was recently tipped as one to consider buying by the team at Betashares.

Betashares Crypto Innovators ETF (ASX: CRYP)

For investors with a higher tolerance for risk, the Betashares Crypto Innovators ETF could be worth considering.

It provides exposure to stocks that are building the digital asset ecosystem. While the crypto market has seen its fair share of volatility, the long-term opportunity in blockchain technology, tokenisation, and decentralised finance remains significant.

The Betashares Crypto Innovators ETF's holdings include stocks such as Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN), which is one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges, and Marathon Digital Holdings (NASDAQ: MARA), which is a key Bitcoin miner. While volatile, these businesses are positioned to benefit if digital assets continue their march into mainstream finance.

Betashares Global Robotics and Artificial Intelligence ETF (ASX: RBTZ)

A third ASX ETF that could be a buy is the Betashares Global Robotics and Artificial Intelligence ETF.

This fund is designed to capture growth from one of the defining megatrends of our time, automation and artificial intelligence (AI).

It provides easy exposure to stocks that are building robots, AI software, and technologies that are reshaping industries. Its holdings include Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ: ISRG), which is a pioneer in robotic-assisted surgery, and Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA), whose chips power much of today's AI revolution.

With adoption of AI expected to accelerate over the coming decades, the Betashares Global Robotics and Artificial Intelligence ETF gives investors an easy way to ride this structural growth wave.

The team at Betashares also recently tipped it as one to buy.

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By buying a single ETF, you can instantly access a diversified basket of stocks and industries, cutting out the need to pick individual winners.

With $2,000, you could spread your investment across a few high-potential options. Here are three ASX ETFs that could be among the best to buy next month.

Betashares Nasdaq 100 ETF (ASX: NDQ)

The first ASX ETF to consider in October is the Betashares Nasdaq 100 ETF. It gives investors access to some of the world's most influential technology stocks. This includes Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA), and Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA). These businesses have been at the forefront of innovation in areas such as artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and electric vehicles.

The Betashares Nasdaq 100 ETF has been one of the ASX's most popular ETFs for years, and for good reason. The US tech sector has delivered stellar long-term returns, and many of these stocks remain positioned for further growth as digital transformation accelerates globally. For Australian investors, it is one of the easiest ways to participate in Silicon Valley's success.

Betashares Cloud Computing ETF (ASX: CLDD)

Another ASX ETF to look at is the Betashares Cloud Computing ETF. It focuses on stocks leading the shift to cloud-based services. Holdings include names like Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), Shopify (NASDAQ: SHOP), and Snowflake (NYSE: SNOW). These are businesses allowing organisations worldwide to move their infrastructure, data, and software into the cloud.

This isn't just a passing trend. Cloud adoption continues to rise as companies seek more efficient, scalable, and secure ways to operate. With artificial intelligence and data analytics increasingly powered by cloud platforms, this fund gives investors exposure to one of the most critical foundations of the digital economy. It was recently named as one to consider buying by Betashares.

Betashares Crypto Innovators ETF (ASX: CRYP)

Finally, for those who want a more adventurous slice of their portfolio, the Betashares Crypto Innovators ETF provides exposure to stocks shaping the cryptocurrency and blockchain sectors. It includes names like Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN), Riot Platforms (NASDAQ: RIOT), and Galaxy Digital (NASDAQ: GLXY), which stand to benefit as digital assets gain broader acceptance.

While this ETF is more volatile than traditional market exposures, it offers investors a way to tap into the growth of blockchain technology without needing to buy individual cryptocurrencies directly. For those willing to stomach the ups and downs, the Betashares Crypto Innovators ETF could provide powerful long-term upside.

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For those with $5,000 to invest, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) can provide simple, diversified exposure to some of the most powerful trends shaping global markets.

Here are three ASX ETFs that could be worth considering as we move into the new month.

Betashares Crypto Innovators ETF (ASX: CRYP)

For investors with a higher risk appetite, the Betashares Crypto Innovators ETF could be worth considering. It offers exposure to the rapidly growing cryptocurrency and blockchain sector. But rather than holding digital coins directly, this ASX ETF invests in companies building and supporting the digital asset ecosystem — from crypto exchanges and miners to blockchain infrastructure firms.

While the sector remains volatile, growing institutional adoption and the development of regulated crypto markets could provide long-term tailwinds.

Its holdings currently include Coinbase Global (NASDAQ: COIN), Marathon Digital (NASDAQ: MARA), and MicroStrategy (NASDAQ: MSTR). These are businesses that are helping to build the infrastructure and applications around digital assets.

Betashares Global Quality Leaders ETF (ASX: QLTY)

The Betashares Global Quality Leaders ETF could be another ASX ETF to look at. It focuses on high quality companies with strong balance sheets, high returns on equity, and steady earnings growth. This could make it an appealing option for investors who want a degree of resilience in uncertain markets.

The ETF's holdings include companies like Visa (NYSE: V), a global payments leader benefiting from the ongoing shift toward cashless transactions, and Netflix Inc (NASDAQ: NFLX), an entertainment giant with over 300 million subscribers. These quality-driven businesses help anchor portfolios through volatility while still offering growth potential.

Betashares recently tipped this fund as one to consider buying.

Betashares Cloud Computing ETF (ASX: CLDD)

Cloud computing is one of the most important growth drivers in global technology, with businesses investing heavily in scalable, secure infrastructure. The Betashares Cloud Computing ETF provides exposure to leading names like Snowflake (NYSE: SNOW), a data warehousing and analytics specialist, and Twilio (NYSE: TWLO), which powers cloud-based communication services used by companies around the world.

As artificial intelligence becomes more integrated into enterprise operations, demand for cloud-based services is likely to accelerate, positioning the fund's holdings to benefit from this multi-year trend.

For this reason, it was no surprise to see Betashares recently tip it as one to buy.

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Experts at Statista estimate the AI industry will be worth approximately $184 billion this year, and it should grow to over $826 billion by 2030, a nearly 30% annual growth rate.

Those same experts pegged machine learning as the most significant contributor to AI's growth. Machine learning gives AI a sense of intelligence, allowing it to analyse vast amounts of data for trends and patterns.

Some prominent growth stocks have the opportunity to create significant life-changing wealth for long-term investors. Remember: AI is likely still in its early chapters, so don't assume you're too late.

Consider these two potential millionaire-making AI stocks to buy and hold for the long term:

1. CrowdStrike Holdings

Cybersecurity isn't a new industry, but cyberattacks have become increasingly sophisticated and cause millions of dollars in damages. The increased stakes have created opportunities for next-generation security from companies like CrowdStrike Holdings (NASDAQ: CRWD). The company's Falcon XDR platform operates in the cloud, using machine learning to look for potential cyberthreats.

If you're familiar with CrowdStrike, you may know it issued a faulty update over the summer that caused a global IT outage. It may take a few quarters to confirm that this embarrassing incident won't hamper the company's growth, but so far, so good. Management is guiding for just over $3.9 billion in revenue for its full fiscal year, representing 27% growth from the prior year.

The company specialises in end-point security but has steadily expanded its platform. Management believes its total addressable market will increase to $250 billion by 2029. In other words, CrowdStrike still only owns about 1.5% of its long-term market.

And the business is already highly profitable. It has generated $1.1 billion in free cash flow over the past four quarters, which has swelled its balance sheet to about $3.5 billion in cash (net of debt). Those are the ingredients for a business that will eventually boost shareholder returns by gobbling up stock with share repurchases.

The stock isn't cheap; shares trade at a clear premium to its industry peers, as measured by enterprise value to revenue. Therefore, consider buying slowly and getting more aggressive when the broader market declines at some point. CrowdStrike is a long-term winner with a potentially decades-long growth runway that could make long-term investors very wealthy.

2. Snowflake

Data is arguably the most crucial ingredient for machine learning, highlighting Snowflake (NYSE: SNOW) as a mission-critical company in the AI industry.

Have you ever heard the expression "garbage in, garbage out"? Data must be well structured for machine learning applications. Snowflake allows companies to store, organise, and search their data through a cloud-based platform. They can also pull data from third-party sources through the company's marketplace.

Snowflake went public at a far too high valuation during a stock market bubble in late 2020. Slowing revenue growth, a CEO change, and competition from Databricks haven't helped the stock over these past four years, and it is still down nearly 60% from its peak. Given the company's rough few years, investors might be surprised at my optimism about Snowflake. The good news is that things are looking up.

The company operates a usage-based billing model, which is brilliant because data grows exponentially. More data means more usage on Snowflake and more revenue.

It essentially builds high net revenue retention (NRR) into the business. Snowflake's NRR was 127% in the third quarter, meaning existing customers spend significantly more once they start using it. Customer count grew 20% year over year in the third quarter, and the company now works with 754 of the companies in the Forbes Global 2000. With these trends, total revenue growth could hover at or above 20% for a long time.

Sure, it stinks that the stock hasn't performed, but this is about looking ahead. Snowflake's price-to-sales multiple was a mind-numbing 183 at its peak! Today, that's down to 16.

That's still not the cheapest you'll find on Wall Street, but a realistic valuation gives investors a reasonable shot at investment returns as the business grows. Snowflake's firm footing in the AI field, where data is exponentially created, could make it a massive company years from now, an outcome that could make investors a lot of money.

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We recently got a look at Berkshire Hathaway Inc's (NYSE: BRK.A)(NYSE: BRK.B) massive stock portfolio, as it stood at the end of the second quarter. And the biggest move was one we already knew about: Berkshire's quarterly report indicated that the conglomerate had sold nearly half of its 12-figure Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) investment.

In addition to Apple, Berkshire sold quite a few other stocks, such as its entire position in software company Snowflake Inc (NYSE: SNOW) and about one-fourth of its investment in Capital One Financial (NYSE: COF).

However, there was one other stock-related move Berkshire made during the quarter, and it isn't anywhere to be found in the company's closely watched portfolio.

Berkshire's buyback slowed dramatically in Q2

In the first quarter of 2024, Berkshire Hathaway spent about $2.6 billion on share repurchases, or buybacks. In the second quarter, the company spent just $0.3 billion. That's a big slowdown.

Berkshire breaks down its buyback activity month by month in its quarterly reports, so here are the details of this year's repurchases.

Data source: Berkshire Hathaway quarterly reports. The average share price is calculated as one class A share equals 1,500 class B shares.

Does Buffett think Berkshire is too expensive?

First, Berkshire's buyback plan has two main conditions that must be met before any share repurchases can take place.

• The company cannot be left with less than $30 billion in cash and short-term investments after the buybacks occur. Berkshire has $277 billion on its balance sheet, and has had a 12-figure sum for a long time, so this has yet to be an obstacle.
• Warren Buffett must believe that Berkshire trades for less than its intrinsic value, using a conservative analysis. It used to require him and vice chairman Charlie Munger, who passed away last year, to agree.

So, to be perfectly clear, if Berkshire is buying back any stock at all, it means that Buffett thinks it's still cheap. With the exception of June, when no buybacks occurred whatsoever, Buffett clearly believed Berkshire was trading for less than the true value of the company.

Interestingly, for much of June, Berkshire's stock price was lower than the average price it paid to buy back shares in May, and even in February, which was by far the most active month of the year for buybacks. But if Berkshire's other stock market moves, such as the massive Apple sale, are any indication, Buffett may be taking a more cautious approach to capital allocation for the time being.

However, as of this writing, Berkshire Hathaway trades for about $444 per share, which is significantly higher than any price Buffett and his team have paid to buy back shares throughout its history. In other words, Berkshire has never traded at a price this high, other than in the past few weeks, so we won't know if Buffett thinks the current price is a good value until we see Berkshire's buyback activity, or lack thereof, for the third quarter.

This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

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Warren Buffett led the Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A)(NYSE: BRK.B) holding company since 1965. He likes to invest in companies with steady growth, reliable profitability, strong management teams, and shareholder-friendly initiatives like dividend payments and stock buyback programs.

That strategy is working: Berkshire delivered a 4,384,748% return between 1965 and 2023. That translates to a compound annual gain of 19.8%, which is nearly double the 10.2% annual return of the benchmark S&P 500 index over the same period. In dollar terms, an investment of $1,000 in Berkshire Hathaway stock in 1965 would have grown to over $43 million, whereas the same investment in the S&P 500, with dividends reinvested, would be worth just $312,333.

Buffett isn't the type of investor who chases the latest stock market trends, so you won't find him piling into red-hot artificial intelligence (AI) stocks today. But three stocks Berkshire already owns are set to benefit tremendously from AI, and they account for more than 45% of the conglomerate's entire $398.7 billion portfolio of publicly traded securities.

1. Snowflake: 0.2% of Berkshire Hathaway's portfolio

Snowflake (NYSE: SNOW) developed its Data Cloud to help businesses aggregate their critical data onto one platform, where it can be analyzed more effectively to extract its maximum value. The service was designed for use by large, complex organizations that work with multiple cloud providers (like Microsoft Azure and Alphabet's Google Cloud), a situation that often leads to the creation of data silos.

Then last year, Snowflake launched its Cortex AI platform, which allows businesses to combine ready-made large language models (LLMs) with their own data to create generative AI applications. Cortex also comes with a suite of AI tools such as Document AI, which allows businesses to extract valuable data from unstructured sources like invoices or contracts, and Snowflake's Copilot virtual assistant, which can be prompted using natural language to provide valuable insights across the Snowflake platform.

In the company's fiscal 2025 first quarter, which ended April 30, Snowflake's product revenue came in at $789.6 million, a 34% increase from the year-ago period. That's a robust growth rate at face value, but it continued a trend of deceleration from prior quarters. Though Snowflake continues to invest heavily in growth initiatives like marketing and research and development, it is acquiring new customers at a slowing rate, and its existing customers are expanding their spending with it more slowly.

Berkshire Hathaway bought its stake in Snowflake around the time of the data cloud specialist's initial public offering in 2020, so it likely paid around $120 per share. The stock soared to as high as $392 in 2021, but it has since declined by 63% from that level and now trades at $142. Unfortunately, due to the company's slowing growth, the stock still appears to be quite expensive, so this is one Berkshire pick investors might want to avoid (for now).

2. Amazon: 0.5% of Berkshire Hathaway's portfolio

Berkshire bought Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) stock in 2019, and Buffett has often expressed regret that he didn't spot the opportunity sooner. Amazon was founded as an e-commerce company, but it expanded into cloud computing, streaming, digital advertising, and now, AI.

Its Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud division designed its own data center chips which can be up to 50% cheaper for AI developers to use compared to its other infrastructure powered by Nvidia's chips. Plus, the Amazon Bedrock platform offers developers a library of ready-made LLMs from some of the industry's leading start-ups, in addition to a family of LLMs called Titan that Amazon built in-house.

In essence, AWS wants to become the go-to destination for developers looking to create their own AI applications. Various Wall Street forecasts suggest AI will add anywhere from $7 trillion to $200 trillion to the global economy in the coming decade, potentially making it Amazon's largest opportunity ever.

Berkshire Hathaway owns a $2 billion stake in Amazon, representing just 0.5% of the conglomerate's stock portfolio. AI could drive substantial growth for the company over the long term, so if Buffett wished that position was larger before, he might be kicking himself for not adding to it sooner after this next chapter unfolds.

3. Apple: 44.5% of Berkshire Hathaway's portfolio

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) is Berkshire Hathaway's largest position by far. The conglomerate has spent around $38 billion accumulating shares starting in 2016, and its position is now worth $177.6 billion -- even after it sold 13% of its stake (for tax reasons) earlier this year. Apple makes some of the world's most popular devices including the iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, AirPods, and the Mac line of computers.

The company is entering the world of AI with its new Apple Intelligence software, which will be released alongside the iOS 18 operating system in September. It was developed in partnership with OpenAI, and it's set to transform the user experience for Apple's devices. Its Siri voice assistant will lean on the capabilities of ChatGPT, as will its writing tools like Notes, Mail, and iMessage, to help users rapidly craft content.

There are more than 2.2 billion active Apple devices worldwide, meaning this company could soon become the largest distributor of AI to consumers. The upcoming iPhone 16 could drive a significant upgrade cycle, because it is expected to come with a powerful new chip capable of processing AI workloads on-device.

Apple ticks all of Buffett's boxes for a stock pick. It has grown steadily since Berkshire first invested in 2016, it's consistently profitable, it has a resolute leader in CEO Tim Cook, and it returns truckloads of money to shareholders through dividends and stock buybacks. In fact, Apple just announced a new buyback program worth $110 billion -- the largest in the history of corporate America.

This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

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The stock market hasn't been an ideal place for investors to park their money in 2022 as major indices such as the S&P 500, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, and the Nasdaq Composite are all in the red this year thanks to factors including a hawkish Federal Reserve, high inflation, and macroeconomic headwinds. But investors shouldn't forget that the stock market gives investors one of the best avenues to increase their wealth in the long run.

The average stock market return has been solid over the years and now may be a good time for investors to pick up some top stocks that have witnessed a brutal sell-off in 2022. If you have $500 to spare right now -- you don't need the money in the next few years, your high-interest debt is paid off, and you've got your emergency fund set -- then it could make sense to buy shares of Shopify (NYSE: SHOP), Snowflake (NYSE: SNOW), and Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA).

1. Shopify

Shares of e-commerce platform provider Shopify have dropped 73% so far in 2022, but investors have seen some respite of late thanks to impressive third-quarter results that were released last month.

Shopify's quarterly revenue jumped 22% year over year to $1.4 billion, driven by healthy demand for the company's merchant solutions. The merchant solutions business brought in $990 million in revenue last quarter, a 26% year-over-year jump and nearly 71% of total revenue. It's clear that online merchants are turning to Shopify's payments and shipping solutions to build their e-commerce businesses.

Shopify is looking to bolster its merchant solutions segment with the $2.1 billion acquisition earlier this year of Deliverr, which will help Shopify enhance its fulfillment network and allow merchants to manage inventories across multiple e-commerce platforms. Shopify also aims to offer two-day and next-day delivery options to its merchants in the U.S. following the Deliverr acquisition.

Shopify has reportedly gained access to 80 Deliverr partner-operated warehouses, and that number is expected to double by 2024. The company's move into e-commerce fulfillment could turn out to be a smart move in the long run. That's because the e-commerce fulfillment market is expected to clock nearly $200 billion in annual revenue by the end of the decade.

The pursuit of such lucrative markets helps explain why analysts are expecting Shopify's top line to increase substantially.

SHOP Revenue Estimates for Current Fiscal Year data by YCharts

With Shopify trading at 7.5 times sales right now, as compared to its 2021 price-to-sales multiple of 41, investors are getting a good deal on this e-commerce stock following its brutal sell-off.

2. Snowflake

Snowflake is another fast-growing company that has dropped big time in 2022, losing nearly 58% of its value so far this year. That's not surprising as richly valued growth stocks have fallen out of favor among investors.

Snowflake stock was trading at a whopping 97 times sales last year. Its sharp drop this year has brought the stock's price-to-sales ratio down to 27. While that's still rich, investors shouldn't forget that Snowflake is growing at a terrific pace to justify its rich valuation.

In the second quarter of fiscal 2023, which ended on July 31, 2022, Snowflake's revenue shot up 83% year over year to $497 million. The company also reported an extremely impressive net revenue retention rate of 171%, which indicates that Snowflake customers have increased their spending on the company's platform.

Another metric that points toward healthy demand for Snowflake's offerings is the massive growth in the company's remaining performance obligations (RPO), a metric that measures "the amount of contracted future revenue that has not yet been recognized." Snowflake's RPO shot up 78% year over year to $2.7 billion last quarter, which points toward a robust revenue pipeline.

It is not surprising that Snowflake's business is enjoying such solid growth. Snowflake's solutions allow customers to store data in a scalable manner across multiple cloud providers, keep the data secure, and generate actionable insights with the help of machine learning and artificial intelligence.

The company points out that its total addressable market could hit $248 billion by 2026, driven by growing demand for data warehousing, data science, and other applications. So, Snowflake is scratching the surface of a massive market, which explains why analysts are expecting its earnings to increase at an annual rate of nearly 296% over the next five years.

All this makes Snowflake look like an ideal bet for growth investors looking to buy a beaten-down company.

3. Nvidia

Graphics specialist Nvidia has fallen out of favor, down 46% over the past year. The chipmaker's decline isn't surprising given that it has fallen upon difficult times amid slowing personal computer (PC) demand.

Still, analysts are upbeat about Nvidia's prospects. The company's top and bottom lines are expected to start accelerating from the next fiscal year and it is expected to clock 23%-plus annual earnings growth for the next five years. A closer look at the markets that Nvidia serves will tell us why the chipmaker is expected to regain its mojo.

The first big opportunity for Nvidia lies in the data center accelerator market. Data centers require multiple accelerators such as graphics cards, server processors, and data processing units to operate in a fast and efficient manner. Nvidia is a key player in data center accelerators with its graphics cards powering the cloud offerings of top service providers.

The company has set its sights on the server processor market as well; its first data center central processing unit (CPU) is set to hit the market in 2023. Meanwhile, Nvidia is also finding traction in emerging applications such as the automotive market and "digital twins."

Investors shouldn't forget that the demand for graphics cards used in gaming PCs is expected to rebound in the long run, with Mordor Intelligence forecasting 14% annual growth in this space through 2026. So, savvy investors can consider capitalizing on Nvidia's drop to buy the stock before it flies higher.

Shares of the chipmaker have been in rally mode in recent days, sending the stock's earnings multiple up to 51, but that's still lower than its five-year average of 58. A strong set of results when it reports on Nov. 16 could give this semiconductor stock a shot in the arm.  

This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

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Warren Buffett held over $327 billion in equity securities through Berkshire Hathaway at the end of the second quarter, and more than half of that sum was invested in just three companies: Apple, Bank of America, and Coca-Cola, all of which have been huge winners for Buffett. But certain Wall Street analysts see a lot of upside for some of Berkshire's smaller holdings.

For instance, John Blackledge of Cowen Group has a price target of $215 per share on Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), which implies 91% upside from its current price. Similarly, Keith Weiss of Morgan Stanley has a price target of $274 per share on Snowflake (NYSE: SNOW), which implies 80% upside from its current price.

Of course, investors should never put too much weight on Wall Street's near-term price targets, but both of these Warren Buffett stocks are still worth buying today. Here's why.

Amazon: Retail, cloud computing, and digital advertising

High inflation has hit many retailers hard in the past year, and Amazon is no exception. The rising cost of fuel and labor, compounded by continued investments in fulfillment infrastructure, have weighed heavily on its financial performance. In fact, Amazon has now posted a GAAP loss for two consecutive quarters. But its struggles are the result of temporary macroeconomic headwinds, not a broken investment thesis. The future still looks very bright for Amazon.

Global retail e-commerce sales are expected to increase at 10% per year to reach $7.4 trillion by 2025, according to eMarketer, and Amazon is the most popular online marketplace in the world as measured by monthly visitors. That significant scale is the foundation of a powerful network effect. Specifically, sellers naturally gravitate to the most popular marketplace, and that tends to bring more buyers to the platform, creating a virtuous cycle. That should keep Amazon on the leading edge of the e-commerce industry for years to come.

Additionally, cloud computing spending is expected to grow faster than 15% per year to surpass $1.5 trillion by 2030, according to Grand View Research, and Amazon Web Services (AWS) led the cloud infrastructure space with 34% market share in the second quarter. Better yet, research company Gartner says AWS has consistently positioned itself as the innovation leader, and that attribute should keep it ahead of the competition for years to come.

Finally, global digital ad spend is expected to climb at 10% per year to reach $876 billion by 2026, according to eMarketer, and Amazon has quietly become an advertising powerhouse. In fact, it is the fourth-largest digital advertiser in the world, behind Alphabet, Meta Platforms, and Alibaba. That success stems primarily from the popularity of its online marketplace, though its streaming platform (Amazon Fire TV) has also played a role. In both cases, investors have good reason to believe Amazon will retain its strong market position, meaning the company is well-positioned to gain ground in digital advertising.

Shares currently trade at 2.4 times sales, a bargain compared to the three-year average of 3.8 times sales. Investors should jump on this opportunity and buy a few shares of this Warren Buffet stock. That said, 91% upside in the near term may be a bit optimistic, especially in the current macroeconomic environment. 

Snowflake: Big data analytics

Snowflake helps businesses harness the power of big data. Its platform supports a range of workloads that would otherwise require multiple point solutions, including data ingestion, transformation, storage, and analytics. The Snowflake Data Cloud also enables customers to share data across their organizations, and it includes developer tools that simplify the building of data-intensive applications. That broad utility gives Snowflake an edge over other vendors.

Additionally, Snowflake offers industry-specific versions of its Data Cloud. For example, its Financial Services Data Cloud includes data sets and solutions tailored to financial service providers, and it has seen adoption by companies like Block and Mastercard. That portion of Snowflake's go-to-market strategy reduces friction for customers and accelerates time to value, and it has helped drive demand.

Snowflake increased its customer count 36% to 6,808 over the past year, and the average customer upped their spending by 71% during that time. In turn, revenue soared 92% to $1.6 billion, and the company generated positive free cash flow of $293 million, up from a loss of $43 million in the prior year.

Going forward, Snowflake puts its market opportunity at $248 billion by 2026, and given its strong financial track record investors have good reason to be bullish. Shares currently trade at 29.2 times sales -- not a cheap valuation by any means, but still a discount to the average of 86.6 times sales since Snowflake went public in 2020. That creates a buying opportunity for risk-tolerant investors, though I would keep your position small (no more than 2% of a portfolio) at the present time, and I certainly wouldn't count on 57% in the near term.  

This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

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Warren Buffett is well-known for his value-oriented approach to investing, but Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A)(NYSE: BRK.B) also holds some intriguing growth stocks in its portfolio. With the growth-heavy Nasdaq Composite index now down roughly 31.6% across 2022's trading, this could be the right time to heed one of Buffett's most-quoted bits of investing wisdom: "Be greedy when others are fearful." 

Two growth stocks in the Berkshire portfolio that look like strong candidates to apply that strategy to now are Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Snowflake (NYSE: SNOW).

1. Amazon

Amazon has been one of the most innovative and influential companies of the last quarter century. It spearheaded the growth of the e-commerce market and used its strength in online retail as a springboard into the cloud infrastructure space. Today, the company maintains leadership positions in both e-commerce and cloud services, and both segments look poised to benefit further from secular growth trends.

The online retail business is capital intensive, relatively low margin, and has been a drag on overall profitability lately, but the situation should improve over the long term as automation improves margins and the share of retail spending going to e-commerce continues to grow. While online retail accounts for the large majority of Amazon's overall revenue, it's actually the cloud business that is its crown jewel when it comes to profitability.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) leads the cloud infrastructure market and provides technologies that are the backbone for much of the modern internet and application services ecosystem. New websites and apps are coming online every day, existing ones are expanding their operations, and these trends have Amazon in a position to facilitate and benefit from the growth of the overall cloud software market. Even better, AWS is posting operating income margins north of 30%, and its sales growth of 29% in the company's last quarter shows that demand is strong.

In addition to its core e-commerce and cloud services businesses, Amazon has also been making waves in digital advertising. It now trails only Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL) and Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) in terms of market share in the US, and its leadership in e-commerce and cloud and data analysis resources could help it continue gaining share in the category. 

With the stock price down nearly 33% year to date and 38.6% from its high, Amazon stock is a worthwhile buy for long-term investors.

2. Snowflake

By some metrics, Snowflake is the most growth-dependent stock in the Berkshire Hathaway portfolio. It trades at roughly 33 times this year's expected sales and has a market capitalization of roughly $56 billion, though its stock has fallen by roughly 48% across 2022's trading. With that kind of valuation, the stock could see outsized sell-offs if pessimism continues to shake the broader market. But though it's a somewhat uncharacteristic pick for Berkshire Hathaway's portfolio, there are good reasons why Buffett was comfortable with the risks associated with it.

Snowflake has been posting impressive growth -- revenue was up roughly 83.5% in the first half -- and it appears to be building the foundations for a durable moat. Its Data Cloud platform allows businesses and organizations to combine and analyze data from Amazon, Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), and Alphabet's otherwise-siloed cloud infrastructure systems. This makes it possible to generate superior analytics insights and faster software responses, and this characteristic is helping Snowflake gain favor as a platform for developing and running cloud-native applications.

Snowflake also uses a consumption-based billing model -- customers pay for services as they use them. This helps it attract new clients, and it also helps the company generate more revenue from customers as their usage scales. Last quarter, existing customers increased their spending by 71% on average compared to the prior-year period, pushing overall revenue up 81% year over year. With Snowflake still adding new customers at an encouraging clip and the company's platform gaining favor as a foundation for software development, there seems to be a strong growth engine here.

This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

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Investors are always searching for the next game-changing company that could generate strong long-term returns. That hasn't been easy this year because the technology sector is mired in a bear market, and sentiment toward innovative companies is broadly pessimistic, which tends to overshadow their potential.

A looming economic slowdown is the reason for the negativity, as rising inflation is pushing interest rates higher and squeezing consumers' wallets. But some companies have been less impacted by this -- particularly those that sell their products and services to other businesses. 

Snowflake (NYSE: SNOW) is one of them. Its stock is down 53% in 2022 so far, but its revenue continues to soar, which suggests this might be a great opportunity to buy. After all, Snowflake stock is owned by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRKB), and he's widely regarded as one of the best long-term investors in the world.

Enter the Data Cloud

Snowflake is taking advantage of the digital revolution in the corporate sector. Companies are shifting their operations online at a rapid pace using cloud technology, and they're generating mountains of data that might seem messy and disorganized at face value, but that actually contains valuable underlying insights when it's analyzed effectively. 

Large organizations sometimes use multiple providers of cloud services to facilitate their digital transformations, including Amazon.com, Inc.(NASDAQ: AMZN) Web Services, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) Azure, and Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL)'s Google Cloud. But that often means their data is fragmented because it's siloed across several platforms. Snowflake has created the Data Cloud, which is designed to unify all of it for maximum visibility. 

The three aforementioned cloud providers are now all tightly integrated with Snowflake because their customers benefit from the platform. In circumstances where they need to share important data with a business partner that operates on a different cloud provider than their own, for example, Snowflake is a game changer. 

Plus, the company has built an innovative data marketplace where Snowflake customers can buy, sell, and exchange data with one another, adding a new dimension to the benefits of being inside its ecosystem.

Snowflake's growth is soaring

In the second quarter of fiscal 2023 (ended July 31), Snowflake had 6,808 total customers. But the subset of those customers spending at least $1 million with the company more than doubled to 246 compared to the year-ago period. It highlights the rapidly growing need for Snowflake's platform.

Snowflake's revenue soared 83% year over year during the quarter, reaching $497 million. The strong result prompted the company to slightly increase its full-year guidance for fiscal 2023, and it now expects to generate a total of $1.915 billion in sales. 

Zooming out, the big picture shows that if it delivers on that estimate, it will have grown its revenue at a compound annual rate of 93% since fiscal 2020. 

Therefore, even in the face of an economic slowdown, Snowflake's business continues to rapidly expand. This is further supported by the fact it has hired nearly 1,000 additional staff during the current fiscal year, while many other companies in the technology sector have been slashing their head counts.

Snowflake isn't making money, but it doesn't matter (yet)

Snowflake is an unprofitable company. In fact, it has lost over $388 million in the first six months of fiscal 2023. But there are three important reasons why this isn't a problem just yet.

First, Snowflake had a very high gross profit margin of 75% in the second quarter, which affords it plenty of flexibility when it comes to fine-tuning its expenses. Once the company achieves an appropriate level of scale, it can simply trim its operating costs and potentially become profitable on the bottom line. It's improving already -- its net loss was equal to 42% of its revenue during the first six months of fiscal 2023, compared to 78% during the same period last year.

Second, Snowflake has nearly $4 billion in cash, equivalents, and short-term investments on its balance sheet, which means it has a long runway before it hits funding issues. Therefore, it's a good move to continue spending aggressively as long as the company is growing as quickly as it is right now. 

That introduces the third point. Snowflake most recently had a ridiculously high net revenue retention rate of 171%, which means its existing customers spent 71% more with the company during the second quarter of fiscal 2023 than they did during Q2 of last year. As a result, theoretically speaking, each new customer Snowflake acquires could become 71% more valuable with each passing year, so it's wise to spend money hand over fist to get them in the door.

It's little wonder Snowflake has attracted an investment from Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway. It might not be the type of stock the conglomerate typically buys, but that simply reinforces the quality of Snowflake's business.

This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

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When investors think of stocks Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A) (NYSE: BRK.B) owns, they probably think of value-focused investing. For the most part, they'd be right. Berkshire's top holdings are Apple (39%, a value play in 2016 when he first bought the stock), Bank of America (11%), Chevron (8%), and American Express (7%). However, there's at least one stock in the Berkshire that doesn't fall under this umbrella and it excites me the most.

Snowflake (NYSE: SNOW) is a fast-growing tech company that Berkshire Hathaway purchased as pre-IPO shares. Even though the investment only makes up 0.2% of Berkshire's portfolio, Berkshire still has a nearly 2% stake in the company. Why would Buffett take a position in Snowflake when it doesn't fit his investing style? Just like me, Buffett sees vast potential in Snowflake.

Snowflake's product is beloved by its customers

Snowflake is a data cloud company that allows its customers to harness the power of the data that businesses generate. It offers solutions to store the data, process it, and utilize the information to drive modeling and other applications.

Because Snowflake is platform agnostic, customers can utilize any major cloud computing providers (Amazon's AWS, Alphabet's Google Cloud, Microsoft's Azure, and others), allowing them to spread data over multiple platforms. This diversification prevents clients from being locked into unreasonable contracts and allows customers to utilize each cloud platform's strong points.

Another attractive feature of Snowflake is its pay-as-you-go pricing. Customers can turn off Snowflake's computational power at will and pay for the exact amount of data storage they need. Of course, this model has its risks, as an economic downturn may cause clients to reduce their spending. However, with how engrained Snowflake's platform is in harvesting and processing data, many users are locked into using Snowflake in good times and bad.

Furthermore, customers love Snowflake. It reported a 100% Dresner customer satisfaction score for the fifth-straight year and sported a net promoter score (NPS) of 68 (for reference, Apple's is 54). The NPS measures how much a company is promoted by its customers by surveying 100 customers on a 0 to 10 scale. On the scale are three categories of people: promoters (score 9-10, +1 to NPS), passives (score 7-8, 0 to NPS), and detractors (score 0-6, -1 NPS). The scores are added to find the final NPS. Anything over 50 is excellent, and 80 is world-class.

With Snowflake's score of 68, it's clear its customers are active promoters. But while the company provides a fantastic and necessary product, how are the financials?

Strong growth but weak profitability

Snowflake's growth is nothing short of impressive. For the first quarter of the fiscal year 2023 (ended April 30, 2022), quarterly revenue was up 84% year over year to $394 million with a gross margin of 72%. Because of its usage-based model, Snowflake's retention rate was an incredible 174%, which means customers spent $1.74 for every $1 spent in last year's quarter.  

Another exciting development for Snowflake is its large customers (those that spend more than $1 million annually with Snowflake). These rose 98% year over year to 206. Snowflake's total customers also grew 40% year over year to 6,322. However, it still has a large market to penetrate, as only 506 of the Forbes Global 2000 are Snowflake customers.

Snowflake has one thorn in its side: unprofitability. Snowflake's operating margin was an abysmal negative 45%. If stock-based compensation is backed out, Snowflake is barely profitable.

Investors shouldn't overlook Snowflake's heavy stock-based compensation bill because the share count rose nearly 8% year over year. This rise dilutes shareholders in a similar manner that inflation affects consumers. However, stock-based compensation is a non-cash expense, meaning the business is free cash flow (FCF) positive.

Sporting an impressive 41% FCF margin means Snowflake turned 41% of revenue into cash on the balance sheet during the quarter. This transformation is vital when heading into a potential recession, as Snowflake can survive without external funding.

Like other tech stocks, Snowflake's stock valuation has come tumbling down over the past few months. Once north of 100 times sales (it's hard to justify a valuation that high for any company), it now trades for around 27 times sales. While this isn't cheap, it's not a terrible price for a rapidly growing FCF-positive company.

Despite the stock's near 70% price tumble from its all-time high, Buffett is still invested in this revolutionary tech company. While he hasn't added to his position, it wouldn't surprise me if Berkshire makes a small addition sometime soon. If Snowflake can control its stock-based compensation and work toward profitability, this stock could provide outstanding performance in a portfolio over the next decade.

This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

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The future is in the data

The perfect Buffett stock to buy in a market crash (and to buy now)

AXP Total Return Level data by YCharts

Don't make the same mistake Buffett made

This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

The post 3 Warren Buffett stocks to buy if the market crashes appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

At the time of writing, the Airtasker share price is currently sitting at $1.05, up 0.48%. 

Airtasker share price rockets

However, it wasn't all smooth sailing for investors looking to get into this IPO after trading commences (which is almost all retail ASX investors).  Airtasker's share price then went as high as $1.16 a share. This was prior to falling as low as 88 cents soon after market open. This company had a more volatile start to life than a giraffe!

At the time of writing, Airtasker shares are back to $1.02 a share, almost where they started the day.

IPOs can be ART-fully dangerous for new investors

Of course, Airtasker's listing is nothing the ASX hasn't seen before. Last year saw a smorgasbord of new companies hitting the ASX boards. These included Doctor Care Anywhere Group (ASX: DOC), Booktopia Group Ltd (AS:X BKG), Plenti Group Ltd (ASX: PLT), Nuix Ltd (ASX: NXL), Payright Ltd (ASX: PYR) and Laybuy Holding Ltd (ASX: LBY).

With the exception of Doctor Care, all of these companies are today trading below the price they IPOed at. And even Doctor Care was down 17% at one point from its IPO price before recovering. Laybuy has been a clanger, currently more than 47% below its IPO price.

We have seen a similar trend play out in the United States. Companies like Uber Technologies Inc (NYSE: UBER), Lyft Inc (NASDAQ: LYFT), and Snowflake Inc (NYSE: SNOW) have all IPOed in the last couple of years, and have been highly volatile in the months and/or years since.

IPOs can be dangerous things for retail investors to get involved in at the starting gate, despite all of the hype and buzz they generate. Remember, its often the motivation of those pushing the IPO to offload their shares for the highest price possible. So for any investor thinking about jumping on the Airtasker train, it might be prudent to keep all of this in mind!

The post Airtasker (ASX:ART) share price cools after explosive IPO appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

The Nuix Ltd (ASX: NXL) share price and the Cashrewards Ord Shs (ASX: CRW) share price are among examples of the latest initial public offerings (IPOs) that are trading well above their issue price.

Other examples include the Booktopia Group Ltd (ASX: BKG) share price and the Maas Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: MGH) share price.

Strong ASX IPO market a danger sign for bulls

Who cares that the doomsayers ringing the warning bells as the S&P/ASX 200 Index (Index:^AXJO) kicked off the week with strong gains? The buoyant IPO market gives confidence to the bulls that the party will last long past New Year's Day.

But it might be a case of be careful for what you wish for. The level of IPOs and capital raisings could be the proverbial canary in the coalmine for equities, reported Bloomberg.

The report found a strong correlation between share market performance and the demand and supply of shares.

Demand and supply of ASX shares

IPOs and capital raisings increase the supply of shares as companies sell equity to shareholders. Inversely, ASX stocks that undertake share buybacks and those that are acquired remove the supply of shares on market.

The IPO party isn't confined to Australia. The number of new floats in the US is also high with the likes of Snowflake Inc (NYSE: SNOW) and Warner Music Group Corp (NASDAQ: WMG).

While listed US companies typically back-back more shares than they sell, Bloomberg found that 2020 is different.

Capital raisings add to supply glut

The supply of shares isn't only coming from IPOs. Companies most battered by COVID‐19, such as travel stocks and airlines, have been frantically selling shares to beef up their balance sheets.

US-listed companies have announced plans to raise about US$510 billion through initial and secondary share offerings this year. That's 50% higher than a year ago, according to data from EPFR that's reported by Bloomberg.

"For the first time since the 2009 crisis year, that matches the amount that companies announced they'd remove via buybacks and takeovers," noted Bloomberg.

"For context, an average of $3 was bought back for every $1 raised over the past decade."

Impact of excess ASX shares on issue

Why should investors care? Over the past 20 years to 2015, listed companies boosted net equity demand in 15 different years. Twelve of those 15 years saw the S&P 500 rise, a study by EPFR showed.

On the flipside, in the five years when supply of shares increased, the equity benchmark fell 60% of the time.

If the demand and supply doesn't balance out better in 2021, the market bulls could be in for a rude shock.

The study may have been undertaken in the US, but I won't be surprised if the ASX follows a similar pattern. After all, our market has always walked in the shadow of its US counterparts.

The post Watch out! ASX IPO boom may sink the ASX bull market in 2021 appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Berkshire, the company that he almost single-handedly built into a US$526 billion behemoth, is one of the largest companies in the world. It owns (or owns massive stakes in) a wide variety of businesses, including Duracell, Fruit of the Loom, Geico, Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL), Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN), Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE: WFC) and (more recently) Snowflake Inc (NYSE: SNOW).

So needless to say, when Buffett has something to say, most investors pay attention.

Over in the United States, large companies like Berkshire have to tell the markets what shares they own, and in what quantities, every 3 months in a filing known as the 13F. Berkshire's latest filing (covering the quarter ending September 30, 2020) isn't due for a few days yet. But reporting in BusinessInsider gives us a sneak preview.

What has Warren Buffett been doing?

According to reporting from BusinessInsider, Buffett likely spent the quarter trimming positions in some of his more well-known positions.

The report quotes David Hass, a finance professor at the University of Maryland in the US. Professor Kass "closely follows" Buffett and Berkshire, and reckons he has a few insights into Buffett's more recent moves.

"I am expecting that Buffett further reduced his holdings in several banks including Wells Fargo", the report quotes Hass as stating. He also predicted that Berkshire "cashed out about US$4 billion in Apple stock last quarter". Hass makes these predictions based on Berkshire's recent earnings.

Hass also highlights Berkshire's recent ~US$750 million investment in cloud company Snowflake, which has a highly-publicised IPO back in September. He estimates Berkshire will show a US$1.5 billion position in Snowflake when we eventually get to see the filing.

However, Kass expects Buffett to put this cash to use, telling BusinessInsider that he expects the legendary investor to continue to shift his focus from "weathering the pandemic" to "deploying the company's vast cash reserves". Kass believes Buffett began this shift between the quarter ending March 31 (when Buffett net sold US$12.8 billion in stocks) and the quarter ending June 30 (when Buffett net bought $4.8 billion).

In fact, Kass says that Buffett "may be feeling even more bullish now" considering the prospect of an effective COVID-19 vaccine in "a matter of months", together with the rollout of other promising treatments for the coronavirus.

This "should remove Buffett's main cause of concern" Kass stated.

He says that "some new holdings may be revealed as well", predicting we could see some larger tech positions, despite Buffett's historical nonchalance toward the sector.

The post What has Warren Buffett been up to lately? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

The index most symbolic of the digital world, the Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQ: .IXIC), has still gained 17% this year and 56% since the COVID-19 crash in March.

And private tech companies have taken notice, announcing plans to float while the sentiment is positive.

Snowflake Inc (NYSE: SNOW), for example, went public last week then doubled its price on the first day. And plenty of Australian investors bought in.

On Friday Australian time, it's still 89% up on its initial public offer (IPO) price of US$120.

The Motley Fool spoke to Stake founder and chief executive, Matt Leibowitz, about five more US tech companies that are about to undergo an IPO.

Airbnb

This is the brand most familiar to Australians, and no doubt many would already be customers.

Speculation has been rife for a couple of years about Airbnb going public. It's an iconic internet startup that contributed to the creation of the term "unicorn".

The accommodation platform reportedly planned to float in March. But then COVID-19 struck and killed off the entire travel sector.

Now there are reports that it had confidentially filed IPO paperwork with the US corporate regulator in August.

While it's dawdled, the company's valuation has gone from US$31 billion in 2017 to US$18 billion when it raised private funds in April.

Leibowitz isn't so sure that the IPO will happen this year.

"It may get pushed back," he told The Motley Fool.

"A lot of these businesses are loss-making, so it's really just about biding their time until they list."

The still COVID-depressed travel sector meant that, despite its famous name, the company has some work to do before going public.

"Where they are right now as a business, they're going to have to redo a bit of trust in terms of making it look more exciting."

DoorDash

This is another brand that Australians would recognise. DoorDash started to deliver food in the country late last year after running for six years in North America.

There have been reports the company plans to float in the final quarter of this year.

Leibowitz said it's hard to judge DoorDash's merit as it hadn't yet publicly revealed its finances.

"We've seen them grow pretty quickly in Australia," he said.

"These guys are moving ahead quicker than Airbnb are… Home delivery of food is massive."

With companies like DoorDash that are in very competitive markets, Leibowitz said the moat isn't always clear.

"You saw with Uber Technologies Inc (NYSE: UBER) and Lyft Inc (NASDAQ: LYFT). You saw what Uber's price did post-IPO — it took a bit of a dive."

Palantir

Entrepreneur, Peter Thiel, has become infamous in recent years as a Donald Trump supporter. But in the late 1990s, he co-founded Paypal Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: PYPL) along with Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) boss Elon Musk.

Palantir is a big data analytics company Thiel co-founded in 2003. Its debut on the market is scheduled for Wednesday night (30 September) Australian time.

Because its clientele is defence and intelligence agencies, there is a certain amount of mystery behind its products and how they work.

"The CIA was one of the earliest investors in Palantir… The CIA has made an absolute fortune," said Leibowitz.

"This is going to be a very, very interesting IPO."

As a direct listing, there is no fixed share price to start with and the market demand will determine it.

The Wall Street Journal's sources have reported an estimate of around US$10 a share, which would give it a market valuation of almost US$22 billion.

Wish

Wish is a discount e-commerce site, which Australians might pejoratively call a "$2 shop".

The online store doesn't operate in Australia. But the name might be most familiar to local basketball fans as the jersey sponsor of the Los Angeles Lakers.

The company filed IPO papers at the end of August.

"Shopping company with aggressive marketing, very popular in the US… They're looking at a valuation between US$6 to US$8 billion," Leibowitz said.

"I think their valuation is actually higher than what they're listing at."

Asana

Asana produces software that helps corporate teams manage their work.

Like Palantir, it has a good pedigree — Facebook, Inc (NASDAQ: FB) co-founder Dustin Moskovitz co-founded Asana in 2008. 

And also like Palantir, it will first appear on the market Wednesday night (30 September) Australian time.

"It sort of competes with Australia's Atlassian Corporation PLC (NASDAQ: TEAM)," said Leibowitz.

"You'd know about it if you worked in tech-based businesses where they need project management."

The Motley Fool US reports Asana counts 30% of the Fortune 500 as clients, and that for the quarter ending June, it posted a 57% year-on-year revenue increase.

"I'm impressed with all that this company has going for it and will be starting a position once shares become available to the public," reported The Motley Fool US' Brian Withers.

The post Airbnb, DoorDash and 3 more new tech shares for Aussies to consider appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Most traded international shares on the ASX

The five most traded international shares last week were the following:

1. Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) — representing 11.3% of total trades with an 83%/17% buy-to-sell ratio.
2. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) — representing 7.6% of total trades with an 89%/11% buy-to-sell ratio.
3. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) — representing 2.7% of total trades with an 81%/19% buy-to-sell ratio.
4. Amazon.com, Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN) — representing 2.7% of total trades with an 86%/14% buy-to-sell ratio.
5. NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA) — representing 2% of total trades with an 83%/17% buy-to-sell ratio.

The next five most traded shares were these:

      6.  Snowflake Inc (NYSE: SNOW)

      7. Nio Inc (NYSE: NIO)

      8. Nikola Corporation (NASDAQ: NKLA)

      9. Facebook, Inc. (NASDAQ: FB)

      10. Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL)

What can we learn from these trades?

As with prior weeks, a collection of big tech names, together with a basket of what I would describe as 'speculative stocks' make up the lion's share of the most traded international shares for Aussie investors last week.

The FAANG stocks, Tesla and Microsoft maintain their positions at the forefront of ASX investors' attention (as usual), alongside the high-flying tech company NVIDIA, shares in which are up more than 100% in 2020 so far.

However, it's Tesla that continues to dominate the list, with trading volumes almost twice as high as the next company (Apple in this case). Aussie investors still can't seem to get enough of Elon Musk's pride and joy, even though the extraordinary rally in Tesla shares we saw earlier in the year appears to have come off the boil.

Meanwhile, Snowflake had a much talked about initial public offering (IPO) last week, which saw the shares more than double the IPO price of US$120. Thus, it's no real surprise to see it pop up on this list.

It's also interesting to see would-be Tesla rivals Nio and Nikola make the list as well. Notably, Nikola was the only stock that even got close to having an even buy/sell spread, with buys coming in at 52% and sells at 48%. This is understandable, as Nikola shares are down more than 26% over the past month on the back of the company's chair, Trevor Milton, leaving the business in a less-than-glorious fashion.

The post ASX investors were buying Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) and Snowflake (NYSE:SNOW) shares last week appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

I have to admit, I haven't read Security Analysis in full, although I have devoured a few of the seminal chapters.

A quote for the ages

But there is one of Benjamin Graham's quotes that I think stands out above the rest. It's a quote that I think all investors who want to build wealth through the share market should know, and even more importantly, understand. It goes like this:

The market is not a weighing machine, on which the value of each issue is recorded by an exact and impersonal mechanism, in accordance with its specific qualities. Rather should we say that the market is a voting machine, whereon countless individuals register choices which are the product partly of reason and partly of emotion. Hence the prices of common stocks are not carefully thought out computations, but the resultants of a welter of human reactions.

So perceptive was this quote, Buffett himself used a version of it in his 1993 letter to the shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway Inc (NYSE:BRK.A)(NYSE: BRK.B):

As Ben Graham said: 'In the short-run, the market is a voting machine — reflecting a voter-registration test that requires only money, not intelligence or emotional stability — but in the long run, the market is a weighing machine.'

Ballots and scales

So what is it about this quote that makes it so helpful for ordinary investors like you or me? Well, I think the answer is perspective. It tells us what is happening on the markets on any given day — voting. It's voting that has pushed up the Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) share price by 150% in 2020 so far. It's voting that has condemned AMP Limited (ASX: AMP) to lose a third of its market capitalisation this year. And it's voting that caused the American initial public offering (IPO) of Snowflake Inc (NYSE: SNOW) to spectacularly double last week. Over time, these moves will be 'weighed' by the market, and if they were based on fundamentals, the market will hold them true.

This quote helps us understand that it's ok to ignore this 'voting' or noise and let the market do what it does best — weighing. As long as you buy good quality companies, and hang around long enough, the market will reward you for your patience. There might be some bumps, drops, corrections and crashes along the way. But if you make sound investing decisions and hold your nerve, Graham's wisdom tells us things will normally work out in our favour. 

The post Understand this quote, and you'll understand the ASX share market appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

How's Warren Buffett doing these days? Quite well. The legendary investor recently celebrated his 90th birthday, and he appears to be as active as ever.

On the other hand, Buffett's investments haven't performed so well this year. Most of the billionaire's personal fortune is in Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK.A) (NYSE: BRK.B) stock, which is down slightly year to date. Quite a few of Berkshire's equity holdings have also declined this year.

Not all of them, though. Buffett and Berkshire definitely have some winners. That's true even if we only include stocks held since the beginning of the year, which would leave the post-IPO skyrocketing Snowflake Inc (NYSE: SNOW) off the list. Here are Buffett's three best-performing stocks so far in 2020 and whether or not they're still good picks to buy now.

1. RH

Berkshire Hathaway doesn't have a huge position in RH (NYSE: RH), formerly known as Restoration Hardware. But it's a quintessential Buffett stock. RH is also the billionaire investor's biggest winner in 2020 thus far. The stock has soared 77%, recently hitting an all-time high.

Home improvement is hot these days. The COVID-19 pandemic has fueled the flames with more people staying at home. RH has been a prime beneficiary of this trend as a leading luxury home furnishings retailer.

You can credit RH's sizzling Q2 performance for its position as the top performer in Berkshire's portfolio. The company generated 54% year-over-year earnings growth, with gross margins rising to 46.9% from 41.7% in the prior-year period. Free cash flow doubled year over year to $218 million.

2. Amazon

Amazon.com, Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN) ranks as Buffett's second-best-performing stock this year, with a gain of 60%. Were it not for the recent big tech stock sell-off, the e-commerce giant would have taken the No. 1 spot.

Still, it isn't surprising that Amazon has been a big winner. The lockdowns caused by the coronavirus pandemic sparked a surge in online shopping. This obviously helped Amazon as the world's leading online retailer. It also worked to the company's advantage in other ways. For example, Amazon's cloud hosting business received a boost as organizations moved their apps and data to the cloud.

Technically, Berkshire's decision to invest in Amazon was made by one of the company's top investment managers rather than Buffett himself. However, Berkshire doesn't put hundreds of millions of dollars in a stock without the Oracle of Omaha giving his blessing. Buffett has acknowledged, though, that he has "been a fan" of Amazon and "an idiot for not buying it" in the past.

3. Apple

What's Warren Buffett's favorite stock (other than Berkshire Hathaway itself)? Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL). It's Berkshire's largest holding by far. Apple is also one of Buffett's top stocks so far in 2020, with a gain of 46%.

The main reason for Apple's tremendous performance this year is the company's continued booming business. Apple reported record results in Q3. Revenue jumped 11% year over year to $59.7 billion. Earnings per share soared 18%. The company generated operating cash flow of $16.3 billion. 

Apple also benefited from investors' excitement over its 4-for-1 stock split announced in July. Sure, this stock split didn't change anything fundamentally about the company or its prospects. Several trading platforms also allow buying partial shares of stocks, making stock splits less meaningful than they've been in the past. However, Apple's stock split came at the right time to create buzz for the stock.

Although Apple has been subject to a September sell-off, the drop may not linger -- especially after certain upcoming developments. 

Are they buys?

Yes, yes, and yes. My view is that all three of these Buffett stocks are great picks right now for other investors.

I think that the real estate and home improvement markets will continue to boom. Low interest rates will certainly help. An ongoing trend of families moving to larger suburban homes could also accelerate with increased adoption of working from home even after the COVID-19 pandemic ends. These factors should all be great growth drivers for RH.

As for Amazon, my view is that it won't slow down anytime soon. E-commerce and the cloud will become even bigger. I look for Amazon's expansion into new areas (especially healthcare) to pay off nicely in the future as well.

Apple should profit tremendously from the adoption of high-speed 5G networks. The company will soon launch its first 5G-enabled iPhones. I think this will spur a huge wave of customer upgrades. I'm also optimistic about Apple's opportunities with its services businesses and in new technologies, such as augmented reality. My hunch is that Apple will remain one of Buffett's favorites -- and top performers -- for years to come.

This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

The post Warren Buffett's 3 best-performing stocks so far this year: Are they buys now? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

In a week deplete of major, market-moving news, it was macroeconomic developments and fiscal policy that were in the spotlight. We found out on Wednesday that unemployment in Australia is far less dire than what economists believed. The national unemployment rate was 6.8% in August, down from the 7.5% we saw in July. Even though this is good news for the Australian economy (and by extension, ASX shares), it was received with little more than a blink from markets.

It was a good week for tech shares, which have been through the wringer in recent weeks when markets all of a sudden decided the tech sector was overbought. The Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) share price was up 2.61% for the week, which helped the S&P/ASX All Technology Index (ASX: XTX) rise 1.8% for the week.

Much of this positive sentiment was a likely byproduct of a blockbuster initial public offering (IPO) over in the United States last week, which caused quite a stir here on the ASX. The Warren Buffett-backed Snowflake Inc (NYSE: SNOW) hit the boards on Wednesday (US time) and quickly more than doubled from its IPO price of US$120 per share, rising as high as US$319 before settling back at US$240 at market close on Friday. My Fool colleague Tony Yoo discussed how Aussie investors couldn't seem to get enough of this new cloud company after IPO here.

How did the markets end the week?

Even though the ASX 200 only recorded a 0.1% rise for the week, it was still a topsy turvy week of trading. The ASX 200 started off on the right foot with a 0.7% rise on Monday. Tuesday then brought a flat day, which was backed up on Wednesday with another 1% rise (likely assisted by the better-than-expected national unemployment numbers).

But then Thursday came and brought with it a 1.2% drop, which was backed up on Friday with another 0.32% slide. All in all, the ASX 200 started off at 5,859.4 points and finished up at 5,864.5 points for a week-to-week gain of 0.1%.

Meanwhile, the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) had a slightly better week after rising from 6,038.9 points on Monday to 6,057.6 points by Friday – a week-to-week gain of 0.5%.

Which ASX 200 shares were the biggest winners and losers?

Time now for our most salacious section, so put the kettle on for our winners and losers of the week. As always, we'll start with the losers:

Taking out last week's wooden spoon was waste management company Cleanaway Waste. Cleanaway Waste makes a rare appearance, as it's a company that has generally been more prone to reward shareholders than disappoint in recent times. However, it wasn't the case last week, when investors marked Cleanaway down for workplace misconduct allegations over its CEO Vik Bansal. Cleanaway's board of directors has advised that Mr Bansal is on his final warning, but that didn't stop the markets from sending Cleanaway shares down 13.5% last week.

Next up we have struggling REIT Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, the owner of the Westfield brand outside Australia and New Zealand. Unibail released a 'reset plan' last week, which outlined a 3.5 billion euro capital raising to help the company reduce its debt load. Investors weren't impressed.

Embattled wealth manager AMP again made the losers list last week, but this was mostly due to the company trading ex-dividend on Friday (perhaps the best reason for a share price to drop there is). Shareholders will be receiving 10 cents per share on 1 October.

Now with the losers out of the way, let's check out last week's winners:

Leading the winners last week was gold miner Perseus. Perseus Mining seemed to be benefitting from a broker note out of Credit Suisse. All gold miners last week were on form after the precious metal climbed in price through the week.

Next up we had mining services company Perenti, which announced an estimated $140 million contract extension at a North Queensland mine. Investors were clearly very excited about this development with Perenti's 11% gain for the week.

Following up, we had car dealer Eagers. Investors have been rising this one up ever since the company told the market that it intends to purchase 8 new car yards with $105 million last week. After last week's gains, Eagers is less than 6% off where the share price started the year.

Finally, we had vitamin hawker Blackmores, whose shares rose close to 10% despite there being no major news out of the company.

What does this week look like for the ASX 200?

It looks like another week on the ASX where it's even harder than usual to predict what may come our way. I'm still watching the tech space (both here and over in the US) for some major market moving events, so it will interesting to see how ASX tech shares like Afterpay perform this week.

In other news, we do have some latecomers for the August reporting season this week, mainly blood brothers Brickworks Limited (ASX: BKW) and Washington H. Soul Pattinson & Co Ltd (ASX: SOL). Investors will be very interested to take a look at these companies' books, which will likely include some interesting numbers from the TPG Telecom Ltd (ASX: TPG) restructuring.

Before you go, here's a look at how the major ASX 200 blue chips are looking before we get the week underway:

The post ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: ASX 200 snaps 4 week losing streak… just appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.