There's a migration taking place, with folks flocking from metropolitan hotbeds to the nearby suburbs. The pandemic has made personal space more important than proximity to offices and other services that are no longer necessary at this stage in the new normal. I previously went over five stocks cashing in on the suburbanization trend, but I have more.
I see American Homes 4 Rent (AMH 1.50%), RingCentral (RNG 6.16%), and Wayfair (W 1.45%) as big winners in the residential shift into suburban markets. Let's take a closer look at how these three companies can thrive -- and their stocks can move higher -- in the coming months.
Image source: Getty Images.
American Homes 4 Rent
You probably know people that rent out a property or two. There are companies like American Homes 4 Rent that do this in volume. American Homes 4 Rent buys single-family homes that are primarily in the suburbs. It fixes them up, and leases them out.
American Homes 4 Rent had a portfolio of 53,000 homes at the end of June, making it the second-largest player in this niche. Real estate may seem like a risky play these days, but American Homes 4 Rent knows what it's doing. Its properties had a 96.4% occupancy rate last month based on its same-home average occupied days percentage. Despite the faltering economy, its collection rates aren't too far removed from historical levels.
Revenue and earnings growth hasn't been inspiring lately, and the 0.7% yield isn't going to attract too many income investors. However, American Homes 4 Rent is loaded up on prime real estate where consumers are headed -- and that's a sweet spot that will get rewarded.
RingCentral
One of this year's bigger winners that aren't on most investing radars is RingCentral. The stock has nearly doubled, and the more you learn about it, the easier it is to understand why it's doing so well. RingCentral has a cloud-based platform that makes a company's phone system more portable. Companies pay at least $19.99 a month per employee for a platform that takes inbound calls and automatically routes it to a recipient's IP phone, mobile device, PC, or videoconferencing setup.
Portability is everything these days, and as more people shift out of the traditional office to either a home-based hub or a hybrid solution, they're going to want their incoming company calls to follow them around. Revenue rose 29% in its latest quarter, fueled by a 32% surge in subscription revenue that now accounts for 92% of its top-line results. RingCentral has easily beaten Wall Street's profit targets in each of the past 11 quarters, but this isn't really a bottom-line story at this stage of its growth cycle. RingCentral has a hot platform that's getting even more popular with folks moving out of big-city offices, and it should continue to do well.
Wayfair
If you're living in a fancy high-rise in a major metropolitan city, you will probably get a lot more bang for your residential buck by moving out to a home or condo in the suburbs. You'll also be gaining a lot more square footage, and that's where Wayfair steps in. The fast-growing furniture e-tailer is rolling these days as folks suddenly have more rooms to play house with.
Net revenue skyrocketed 84% higher to $4.3 billion in its latest quarter. With showrooms closed and Wayfair open around the clock, it's been a major beneficiary of folks moving into larger spaces, as well as folks in the same spaces finally getting around to replacing aging furniture pieces.
American Homes 4 Rent, RingCentral, and Wayfair are increasing their revenue at different speeds these days, but they're all strong growth stocks. They're also riding high on the suburbanization trend, and that's a movement that will likely linger long after COVID-19 is a thing of the past.
