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• The total addressable market of Autodesk is estimated to be $95 billion. Management remains confident that their strong suite of products can deliver 10% to 15% revenue growth for many years.
• The company has recently delivered product enhancements and believes it will continue to produce a free cash flow margin of around 30%.
• A mature company like Autodesk with 10% to 15% sales growth and 30% free cash flow margin is quite impressive. 
• In fact, we believe the market doesn’t appreciate that performance right now, which is why the stock really hasn’t done very much over the past 12 months.
• A recent change to its billing process has caused management to forecast lower-than-normal free cash flow, which has soured investors’ sentiment for the stock. But we believe the accounting change does not impact the fundamentals of the business.

The post Just released: the 3 best growth-focused stocks to buy in August [PREMIUM PICKS] appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.

The metaverse

The metaverse is a virtual reality world in which interactions and experiences take place as they would in the real world. I believe the infiniteness of the metaverse, allowing companies from every sector to adapt and participate in this digital space, makes it a great investing opportunity. That’s why I am adding the following three hot stocks to my portfolio right now: Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:FB), Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) and Autodesk (NASDAQ:ADSK).

Meta Platforms

In a signal to show its commitment to the development of the metaverse, Meta Platforms changed its name back in October from Facebook, and is now leading this trend in investing.

The appeal of this stock is the head start Meta Platforms has over its competitors and its ability to leverage its highly successful and all-encompassing social media platforms to engage users in these new virtual reality worlds.

Hopefully the company’s rebrand and shifted focus will help distance it from the flurry of recent negative press it received following damning testimonies from whistle-blower Francis Haugen. Further similar bad press could spook investors in the short term and result in sharp price drops, something that I will have to keep in mind.

Nvidia

The second stock I’m acquiring is Nvidia, the well-established manufacturer of graphic processing units (GPUs) used in the gaming industry. I think this stock will be vital to the growth of the metaverse as it provides the necessary processing power that the metaverse will need to run successfully.

However, Nvidia’s success hasn’t gone unnoticed and the stock has gained strong momentum over the past year, up 83% YTD. This is in addition to its extremely high P/E ratio of a whopping 84, far higher than its peers. Even though I think the company has room for further growth as the metaverse booms, this high valuation is something I will be watching closely.  

Autodesk

The final metaverse-orientated stock that I’ll be adding to my portfolio is cloud software company, Autodesk.

Unlike Meta Platforms and Nvidia, which have clearly positioned themselves in the metaverse, Autodesk is yet to be so vocal on its developments. Therefore, for some investors it could be worth waiting to hear about the company’s expansion plans before investing.

However, with expertise in 3D design and software — which will be instrumental to building a virtual reality world — I think it’s a no-brainer for me to buy the stock now. The company is also well backed by the analysts who have given the company an average price target of $340, representing a 32% increase from its latest share price of $257.

Takeaway

Although equity markets in 2022 have gotten off to a shaky start with tech stock suffering, I believe that the metaverse is a trend that’s here to stay for the long term and these stocks will form a key part of my portfolio going forward.

The post Three metaverse stocks I’m buying right now appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.