Motley Fool Stock Picks (REVEALED)
About the Motley Fool
The Motley Fool is one of the most well-known investment companies. The company was founded in 1993 by Tom and David Gardner and has since become one of the most popular sources for investment advice.
While The Motley Fool offers free investment articles on its website, the company is best known for its premium stock picking services.
Motley Fool Stock Picking Services
When Motley Fool launched in 1993, the site featured investment commentary from Tom and David Gardner. The brothers shared their “foolish” investing strategies in a way that resonated with casual retail investors. Readers loved the content but wanted more. They wanted the Gardner brothers to tell them exactly which stocks to buy and when.
The Gardner brothers obliged, and the Motley Fool Stock Advisor service was launched in 2002. The Stock Advisor service gave members access to the stock picks that the brothers were using to build their own portfolios. Since inception, these stock picks have yielded returns of over 600% (compare to ~137% for the S&P 500).
Motley Fool now offers a broad range of stock picking services, but Stock Advisor remains the most popular (followed by Rule Breakers).
If you want to learn more about these services, you can read our Stock Advisor review here and our Rule Breakers comparison here.
In this article, we are going to look at the Motley Fool’s investment methodology and share some of the companies best stock picks over the years.
Motley Fool Stock Picking Methodology
Motley Fool stock picks have beaten the market for almost two decades for one main reason: they are driven by an effective investing methodology. We could write an entire article on this methodology, but for the sake of simplicity, we will break it down to a few key principles:
- Diversify – Minimize risk and maximize profits by investing in 25+ companies at a time
- Focus on the long-term – Hold stocks for at least five years
- Buy Strong Growth Companies – Focus on strong companies in strong sectors
Motley Fool Stock Pick Categories
Motley Fool stock picks fall under three main categories, each which serves its own purpose.
Starter Stocks (Foundational Stocks)
Starter stocks (also referred to as foundational stocks) are stocks that you can use to build a strong foundation for your portfolio.
This list features 10 stocks of strong companies that are likely to be around for the foreseeable future.
If you are building your first portfolio, the starter stocks will serve as a good starting point.
Best Buys Now
The “Best Buys” list features the best buying opportunities as of today. These stocks present great opportunities to build and diversify a strong portfolio.
The list is updated regularly based on guidance from the Fool’s advisory team.
Monthly Recommendations
The monthly recommendations are the new stock picks that the company issues every month. Two new stock picks are made each month.
These stock picks offer great opportunities to continue diversifying your portfolio and to jump on new trends in the fast-moving markets.
While the “Starter Stocks” and “Best Buys Now” are crucial components of your portfolio, the monthly stock picks are the reason members stick around.
Let’s take a look at some of the specific stock picks.
Motley Fool Stock Picks
Motley Fool is famous for stock picks. So, what makes these picks so great?
We’re going to take a closer look at some of the best picks over the years so you can get an understanding of how the service performs.
Out of respect to the company and its paying subscribers, we will not showcase any stock picks made in the past year. Our goal is to show you how these stock picks have performed in the past. If you would like access to the latest picks, you can sign up for a discounted subscription here. Members have access to every single pick ever made by the company.
Here are a few things to consider when reviewing the stock picks below:
- Stock prices are split-adjusted
- Stock picks have been recommended as buying opportunities multiple times since the initial recommendation (i.e. reinforcing the buy signal)
- Not every stock pick has exceptional returns, but the picks outperform the S&P consistently
- Many of the picks seem “obvious” now, but Motley Fool was able to catch the momentum early
Let’s take a look.
Shopify (SHOP)
Date of Initial Pick | Stock Price | Return (to date) |
---|---|---|
7/15/2016 | $32.32 | 4,338.5% |
Shopify is an e-commerce platform that has seen exceptional growth as consumers shift to buying online. The stock has been recommended by the Stock Advisor team multiple times (as represented by the green dots on the chart below).
The Trade Desk (TTD)
Date of Initial Pick | Stock Price | Return (to date) |
---|---|---|
10/20/2017 | $6.36 | 995.7% |
The Trade Desk is a cloud-based technology platform for advertisers. The company has done exceptionally well as advertisers continue to spend more on digital marketing.
Tesla (TSLA)
Date of Initial Pick | Stock Price | Return (to date) |
---|---|---|
11/16/2012 | $6.37 | 11,366.3% |
Tesla is the leading manufacturer of high-end electric vehicles. The company has seen success as consumer shift to fuel-efficient and electric vehicles.
Zoom (ZM)
Date of Initial Pick | Stock Price | Return (to date) |
---|---|---|
10/3/2019 | $76.83 | 265.30% |
Zoom is a digital communications company that offers video conferencing technology. The company is a leader in the space and performed exceptionally well as people shifted to at-home work in 2020.
Twilio (TWLO)
Date of Initial Pick | Stock Price | Return (to date) |
---|---|---|
1/3/2019 | $81.25 | 315.8% |
Twilio is a technology company that offers communication services for companies (i.e. phone services, SMS messaging, etc.).
Amazon (AMZN)
Date of Initial Pick | Stock Price | Return (to date) |
---|---|---|
9/6/2002 | $15.31 | 21,818.6% |
Amazon is a leading online marketplace that sells products from its own inventory as well as the inventory of other sellers. The company has experienced exponential growth over the past few decades (making it one of the Fool’s best all-time picks).
Paycom (PAYC)
Date of Initial Pick | Stock Price | Return (to date) |
---|---|---|
6/16/2017 | $69.36 | 597.8% |
Paycom offers a suite of human resources technologies that allows companies to hire, train, and pay employees.
Chipotle (CMG)
Date of Initial Pick | Stock Price | Return (to date) |
---|---|---|
2/15/2013 | $314.19 | 499.7% |
Chipotle Mexican Grill is a fast-food Mexican restaurant focused on delivering high-quality meals with high-quality ingredients. The restaurant has a cult-like following and has experienced impressive growth over the past decade.
Mastercard (MA)
Date of Initial Pick | Stock Price | Return (to date) |
---|---|---|
4/19/2013 | $49.64 | 584.4% |
Mastercard is a credit card company that operates one of the largest credit card payment networks in the world.
Facebook (FB)
Date of Initial Pick | Stock Price | Return (to date) |
---|---|---|
2/20/2015 | $79.89 | 345.2% |
Facebook is the largest social networking site in the world. The company generates profits through advertising and has grown its userbase exponentially since its inception.
Analysis of Motley Fool’s Stock Picks
Now that we’ve covered a few of the stock picks the company has made over the past two decades, it’s worth reviewing a few additional points.
What Makes These Stock Picks So Good?
For the past two decades, the Motley Fool team has done a great job of “predicting” the companies of the future. In hindsight, these picks almost seem obvious. We are all familiar with companies like Amazon, Facebook, and Chipotle. If these picks were made today, they would be less impressive. That said, these picks were made years before the stocks experienced exceptional returns.
The Motley Fool team continues to make successful recommendations because they rely on a strong investing methodology. The driving principles are simple and effective.
- 2 Fresh Stock Picks Monthly
- 20-Year Track Record of Beating the Market
- Instant Access to Top Starter Stocks
Why Does Motley Fool Repeat Stock Picks?
Great stocks present more than one buying opportunity. As you can see on the charts above, many of these companies have been increasing in price for 5-10+ years. Motley Fool reiterates recommendations when a buying opportunity presents itself. The goal of the stock picks is to offer members great stocks to buy today. This ensures that new members can take advantage of the momentum from previous picks (and existing members can increase positions if they choose).
Rest assured, the company continues to release brand new stock picks every year so that members get their money’s worth.
Are the Stock Picks Above Representative?
For the sake of this article, we tried to focus on a broad range of different stock picks, including stocks with different returns and stocks in different industries.
Since 2012, the company has made hundreds of alerts, with many alerts achieving returns of 100%+ and dozens generating returns of over 1,000%.
Of course, every stock pick doesn’t generate life-changing returns, which is why the company encourages members to diversify with 25+ stocks. That said, the performance of the picks is impressive, and the portfolio has beaten the S&P 500 for almost two decades.
Does Motley Fool Have Losing Stock Picks?
Of course. Every investor has losing stock picks.
Motley Fool’s winning stock picks far outnumber the losing stock picks, but there are a few picks that don’t work out. In most of these cases, Motley Fool will issue a sell alert if the company’s initial thesis was disproven.
Will Today’s Stock Picks Be as Good as Previous Stock Picks?
Stock picks like Amazon, Netflix, Tesla, and Nvidia could be considered “unicorns.” They were excellent stock picks made at the right times. These picks allowed investors to profit from a surge in technology like we have never seen before.
Will Motley Fool be able to pick the next Amazon?
The short (and fair) answer is, “we don’t know.”
It would be disingenuous to say that Motley Fool’s current stock picks represent the Amazon’s and Netflix’s of tomorrow. That said, the company has a strong track record of discovering companies before they experience explosive growth.
Since 2020, the company has already made a few stock picks that have returned over 100%, with one as high as 740%.
Needless to say, the company has a strong track record of issuing stock picks that generate exceptional returns.
What Types of Stocks is Motley Fool Recommending Today?
We can’t reveal any of the specific stock picks out of respect to the company and its paying members, but here are some of the industries of companies that have been recommended in the past year:
- eSports
- Semiconductors
- Apparel
- Loans/Lending
- Financial Technology
- Work-from-home
- Insurance
- And more
Motley Fool Stock Picks (FAQ)
How much does it cost to get Motley Fool Stock Picks?
New members can get access to Motley Fool Stock Advisor for $99/year (discounted from $199/year).
Is the membership worth the money?
At only $99 for the first year, the service comes down to $1.90/week, making it a great value. If you are investing with a portfolio of $1,000 or more, you will definitely get a lot of value out of the service.
Which Motley Fool service is best?
We have reviewed many of Motley Fool’s services, and Stock Advisor is by far the best service (Rule Breakers is a close second).
Stock Advisor is the service that started it all and has the best long-term track record to date.
At only $99 for the first year, it’s hard to beat the Stock Advisor offering.
Does Motley Fool tell you when to sell?
Most of Motley Fool’s stock picks are “buy and hold” recommendations. The company recommends holding the stocks for at least five years, but members are likely to hold for longer and sell when they need the capital.
That said, the company will issue sell alerts if a stock is not worth holding for the long-term.
Does Motley Fool recommend ETFs?
The Motley Fool specializes in stock pick recommendations, but they offer a few starter ETF recommendations for investors who would like to diversify their portfolios. The ETF recommendations are basic Vanguard ETF’s.
Can you get a free trial of Motley Fool?
Motley Fool does not offer a free trial but they do offer a 30-day money-back guarantee. If you are unhappy with the service, you can contact customer service for a full refund within 30 days.
Does Motley Fool Invest in the Stock For You?
No, Motley Fool simply issues buy and sell alerts. You will be responsible for buying and selling the stocks in your own brokerage account.