In this article we take a look at the 5 best gig economy stocks to buy now. To see more such stocks click 11 Best Gig Economy Stocks To Invest In.
5. Airbnb Inc (NASDAQ:ABNB)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 54
Airbnb is one of the best gig economy stocks to buy because it provides a way to earn extra income to millions of people around the world. Airbnb services are also used by freelancers and digital nomads and the remote work trend is also helping the company.
Airbnb is seeing growth as more and more people rent out their spaces to earn extra income. Here’s how the company explained this trend in its latest earnings call:
“… we saw tremendous growth in our supply on Airbnb. We ended 2022 with 6.6 million active listings. Now excluding all the Mainland China listings we removed in July, we grew supply by 900,000 listings, or 16% compared to a year ago, representing an acceleration in growth in listings relative to Q3. Now why are listings accelerating in growth? We believe there’s probably 2 factors that drove this growth. First, demand to drive supply. Post or attracted the supplemental income that they can earn an Airbnb, which is often critical during tough times.”
4. Shopify Inc (NYSE:SHOP)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 66
Shopify Inc (NYSE:SHOP) makes it to our list of the best gig economy stocks because it’s one of the biggest beneficiaries of the ecommerce boom in the world. This boom aligns with the gig economy trends since more and more people are using ecommerce stores to sell stuff online to make extra money or reach a level where they are able to quit their full-time jobs. Estimates suggest there are over 4 million ecommerce stores that are made using the Shopify Inc (NYSE:SHOP) platform.
There’s also a huge demand of freelancers who are experts in Shopify technologies on platforms like Upwork and Fiverr.
As of the end of the fourth quarter of 2022, 66 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on the stock, up from 62 funds in the previous quarter.
3. PayPal Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:PYPL)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 115
PayPal is one of the most popular payment platforms used by freelancers all over the world. In this way PayPal thrives because of the gig economy boom. Freelancers on platforms like Upwork, freelancer.com and Fiverr use PayPal to receive payments. According to PayPal’s Freelancer Insights report from 2017, PayPal was the most popular platform for payments among freelancers.
2. Uber Technologies Inc (NYSE:UBER)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 135
Last year, Uber said about 5 million people are providing ride-hailing or food delivery services using Uber. In February the company posted strong Q4 results as it said active drivers hit an all-time high during the quarter. Uber achieved the milestone of hitting 2 billion trips in a single quarter for the first time.
Out of the 943 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey, 135 hedge funds had stakes in the company. The biggest hedge fund stakeholder of the company was Panayotis Takis Sparaggis’s Alkeon Capital which Management which owns a $317 million stake.
1. Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 259
Microsoft’s LinkedIn platform is becoming one of the most important resources for freelancers around the world as companies in US and Europe begin to post remote jobs on the platform. In 2021, LinkedIn announced its Services Marketplace using which freelancers could sell their services to businesses as freelancers. In October 2021, the company said a whopping 2 million providers joined its Services Marketplace. Analysts believe LinkedIn could soon become a top competitor of online jobs platforms like Upwork, playing a key role in the gig economy space.
