Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust is popular at the moment. Last week, the tech-focused global equity trust was the most bought stock on the Hargreaves Lansdown platform.
While I see SMT as a good long-term investment, I wouldn’t put a ton of money into it right now, as a lot of US tech stocks look a bit overheated. That said, there are plenty of individual stocks in Scottish Mortgage I’d buy today. Here’s a look at two of them.
Scottish Mortgage holds this UK growth stock
One I like the look of right now is Ocado (LSE: OCDO). This is one of the few UK-based companies the trust has invested in.
I think Ocado is worth investing in for two reasons. Firstly, its online grocery segment is growing rapidly. In a trading statement last week, the company reported revenue growth of 35% for the 13 weeks to 29 November. It also raised its annual EBITDA forecast for the second time in two months. Of course, sales here have been boosted by coronavirus lockdowns. However, I expect online sales to remain strong in a post-Covid-19 world.
Secondly, Ocado’s technology offering, the Ocado Smart Platform (OSP), appears to have a lot of potential. This is an end-to-end solution that helps other supermarkets transform themselves digitally. Already, Ocado has signed a number of key deals with major supermarkets such as Kroger in the US and Groupe Casino in France. As more supermarkets look to go digital, Ocado should benefit.
Ocado isn’t profitable at the moment. While revenue is forecast to increase about 17% next year to £2.8bn, a net loss of £170m is expected. So I do see it as a higher risk stock. All things considered however, I think it’s worth a small investment, particularly while the share price is well below its 52-weeks highs.
This SMT stock just keeps winning
Another Scottish Mortgage stock I’d buy today is Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN). At the end of October, it was the second-largest position in the investment trust. Amazon is expensive, sure. The forward-looking P/E ratio is currently about 70. Yet this company is incredibly dominant, so I don’t think that valuation is actually excessive.
Amazon has several things going for it. Firstly, it’s the undisputed leader in the online shopping space. This industry – which is still realistically in its early days – is only going to get bigger.
Secondly, it’s the leader in the cloud computing industry. This industry is set to grow at around 15-20% per year in the next five years. This means Amazon is well-placed for long-term growth.
Amazon shares are currently more than 10% below their all-time highs. I see this share price dip as a buying opportunity. Given its dominance in a number of high-growth industries, I think everyone should consider this Scottish Mortgage stock for their investment portfolios.
