Some stocks are extremely recession-resistant, like Waste Management (NYSE: WM). Some consumer discretionary stocks are also likely to hold up better than most, and beaten-down stocks Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS) and Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) definitely fit into this category.

*Stock prices used were the morning prices of April 22, 2025. The video was published on April 23, 2025.

Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Continue »

Should you invest $1,000 in Waste Management right now?

Before you buy stock in Waste Management, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Waste Management wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $566,035!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $629,519!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 829% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 155% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.

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*Stock Advisor returns as of April 21, 2025

Matt Frankel has positions in Starbucks and Walt Disney. Tyler Crowe has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Starbucks and Walt Disney. The Motley Fool recommends Waste Management. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Matthew Frankel is an affiliate of The Motley Fool and may be compensated for promoting its services. If you choose to subscribe through their link, they will earn some extra money that supports their channel. Their opinions remain their own and are unaffected by The Motley Fool.

With the return of market volatility, anxiety levels are rising for retirement savers, but if you're not going to be tapping into your savings for many years, there's no reason to worry. Stock market dips are historically the best time to invest, because lower share prices allow you to gain more of a company's earnings, which leads to great returns when the markets recover.

To help you in your search for undervalued growth stocks, here are two excellent candidates.

Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Learn More »

1. Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) is coming off a year of strong growth as it continued to invest in artificial intelligence (AI) to bring more personalization to its social media platforms. The company is set for strong growth yet trades at a reasonable 24 times earnings.

Meta Platforms spends billions on technology every year to support the growth of its apps, and importantly, AI. More than 700 million monthly active users have tried its Meta AI assistant, and management expects that number to grow to 1 billion in 2025.

Meta AI is quickly scaling into one of the most used AI assistants. The growing adoption highlights the advantage the company has with more than 3.3 billion people using its services every day across Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, and Threads.

This large user base drives substantial advertising revenues. Last year, Meta Platforms earned $62 billion of net income on $164 billion of revenue, with the top line growing 22%. Other than Meta AI, the company also offers professional AI tools that improve ad targeting across its family of apps, which is benefiting the business. Over the long term, Meta could discover new revenue streams from offering premium AI services that pads the company's bottom line.

Analysts expect Meta to deliver 16% annualized earnings growth in the coming years. While no one has a crystal ball for the stock in the near term, investors that buy shares today should see returns that roughly follow the underlying growth of the business from here.

2. The Trade Desk

The Trade Desk (NASDAQ: TTD) is a leading digital ad-buying platform that is benefiting from the growth in digital advertising -- a market valued at $800 billion and growing.

A small revenue miss compared to expectations last quarter sent the stock plummeting, but nothing has changed the company's competitive position or long-term opportunity, which means investors have a great opportunity to buy shares on the cheap.

Ad agencies and brands love The Trade Desk because it offers a wide range of ad inventory, and it offers the technology to make profitable ad-buying decisions. For example, its Kokai AI platform can quickly sort through millions of ad impressions every second to help advertisers find the right deal. Better pricing, targeting, and ad performance is helping The Trade Desk gain more clients.

The Trade Desk generates revenue by charging a fee of the total amount its customers spend on ads and other services. Revenue grew 26% to $2.4 billion in 2024, and the business earned a healthy profit margin of 16%.

Connected TV continues to be one of biggest opportunities, where The Trade Desk has valuable partnerships with Roku and Disney. The connected TV ad market is estimated to reach $46 billion by 2026, according to Statista, providing tremendous upside for the company.

Revenue is expected to grow 18% this year, yet the stock is trading at its lowest valuation in years. Analysts expect earnings to reach $3.89 by 2028, which makes the current share price of around $50 look like a bargain. Investors that take advantage of the sell-off are likely looking at handsome gains down the road.

Should you invest $1,000 in Meta Platforms right now?

Before you buy stock in Meta Platforms, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Meta Platforms wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $495,226!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $679,900!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 796% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 155% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.

See the 10 stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of April 10, 2025

Randi Zuckerberg, a former director of market development and spokeswoman for Facebook and sister to Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. John Ballard has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Meta Platforms, Roku, The Trade Desk, and Walt Disney. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Ever since President Donald Trump announced his tariff plan, there's been no shortage of stocks that are trading for a big discount to their previous highs. This includes some of the most rock-solid brands in the world.

I've been gradually taking advantage of opportunities to add to my favorite long-term investments during this turbulent time. Although it's entirely possible for the stock market to remain volatile for a while, it looks like an excellent time to add shares of industry-leading companies like Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS) and Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX), and that's exactly what I did recently.

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An incredible brand that isn't going anywhere

Walt Disney struggled in the post-pandemic years to bring its streaming business to profitability and also may have priced its theme parks and related add-ons a bit too aggressively, without investing nearly enough in improving the customer experience. However, returning CEO Bob Iger has done a great job of setting Disney on the right path, focusing on efficiency and prioritizing investment in the cash-machine theme parks.

In the most recent quarter, Disney's revenue climbed by 5% against a tough comparable with the previous holiday season. Operating income and adjusted earnings per share grew by 31% and 44%, respectively, due to management's focus on efficiency, and the streaming business is now nicely profitable.

After the recent market declines, Disney is trading for its lowest price-to-sales multiple (P/S) since the financial crisis and is nearly 30% below its recent high. While it isn't immune to the tariff concerns (more on that in a bit), this could be a great entry point in this amazing business for long-term investors.

For the current fiscal year, management foresees about $15 billion in operating cash flow and $3 billion in buybacks. If the company's plan to invest $60 billion in its parks over a decade pays off, there could be significant growth in the years to come.

A second chance to get "Back to Starbucks"

Starbucks rallied sharply in August 2024 when Brian Niccol was announced as the coffee brand's new CEO. However, the stock has now fallen by 30% in just over a month and trades for its lowest share price since before Niccol's hiring.

Niccol has made some big moves to set Starbucks on the path to turning around its sluggish growth, a plan he has called "Back to Starbucks." Just to name a few, the company has simplified its menu, focused on dramatically cutting wait times, and taken steps to improve the in-café experience. So far, the results have been promising.

The company's latest earnings surpassed analyst expectations, although comparable sales fell slightly year over year. However -- and this is a very important point -- virtually all key customer-related metrics improved on a sequential (quarter-over-quarter) basis.

In the near term, margins have been pressured by some of the investments Niccol and his team have been making. But there's also a lot the company has done that isn't reflected in the results just yet, and this is still the relatively early stages of the turnaround.

SBUX PS Ratio data by YCharts.

After the recent decline, Starbucks trades for a historically low price-to-sales ratio. If the company's turnaround efforts reinvigorate growth (and margins improve), the current price could be a bargain for long-term investors.

Not immune to tariff risks

To be perfectly clear, both of these stocks are down for good reasons. Both have significant exposure to China, and if the trade war due to the tariffs escalates between the U.S. and China, it could certainly weigh on their results. This is especially true with Starbucks, which has nearly 7,600 stores in China -- about 19% of the company's total.

They are also both cyclical businesses, for the most part, and depend on the ability and willingness of consumers to spend money. If the tariffs trigger inflation and/or a recession, both companies could see consumers pull back on discretionary purchases.

As a long-term investor, I think both of these companies are looking very attractive. I plan to hold both stocks for years (maybe decades). During that period, recessions will come and go. But both are excellent businesses that should be able to steadily grow over the years, and investors who buy at the current depressed prices could do quite well.

Don’t miss this second chance at a potentially lucrative opportunity

Ever feel like you missed the boat in buying the most successful stocks? Then you’ll want to hear this.

On rare occasions, our expert team of analysts issues a “Double Down” stock recommendation for companies that they think are about to pop. If you’re worried you’ve already missed your chance to invest, now is the best time to buy before it’s too late. And the numbers speak for themselves:

• Nvidia: if you invested $1,000 when we doubled down in 2009, you’d have $244,570!*
• Apple: if you invested $1,000 when we doubled down in 2008, you’d have $35,715!*
• Netflix: if you invested $1,000 when we doubled down in 2004, you’d have $461,558!*

Right now, we’re issuing “Double Down” alerts for three incredible companies, and there may not be another chance like this anytime soon.

Continue »

*Stock Advisor returns as of April 5, 2025

Matt Frankel has positions in Starbucks and Walt Disney. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Starbucks and Walt Disney. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.