Some of the most successful tech disrupters aren't cutting-edge developers, but visionaries who use existing technology to transform aging industries.
Today you can grab one of those disrupters and bank an easy 300%...
There's no shortage of success stories among these innovative companies. Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) and eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) used the Internet to revolutionize the way people shop for goods. Since their IPOs, eBay stock has shot up 1,630%, while Amazon has gained an astounding 183,776%.
Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) used the Internet to make it easier to rent movies, and it's risen 50,986% since its IPO.
And Priceline, now under the parent company Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: BKNG), made it possible to book travel at bargain prices without an expensive agent. The dot-com bubble burst and the 9/11 attacks devastated the stock price just a couple years after its IPO. But it has rebounded by 34,752% since 2002.
Our pick today is a tech disrupter in the same vein as these big names. And it's had a successful run in its own right: Its market value is up 8,895% in the 19 years since its IPO.
But this stock's run is far from finished.
In fact, according to one metric, the share price is on its way to nearly quadruple in value.
That value attracted the attention of our Money Morning Stock VQScore™ system, which gave this stock a top score.
This company has streamlined and simplified some of the most stressful transactions any of us will ever face.
That's a big reason why this disrupter's success story - and yours if you jump on board now - has only just begun.
This is simply one of the best tech stocks to buy now...
After Serving 100 Million Customers, This Tech Stock Could Soar 300%
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LendingTree Inc. (NASDAQ: TREE) got its start in 1996 as a mortgage broker. Rather than offer loans directly, the service lets customers search among a host of lenders for the mortgage, home equity loan, or refinancing deal that's right for them.
LendingTree has now served over 100 million customers, totaling more than $50 billion in loans. And that's not just for mortgages anymore, but for auto loans, student loans, personal and small business loans, credit cards, debt consolidation, and banking products like savings accounts and CDs.
LendingTree also offers free credit scores as well as educational features to help users improve their credit and make strong financial decisions.
Don't make the mistake of confusing this company with LendingClub Corp. (NYSE: LC), one of several more recent fintech ventures whose star has faded considerably in the last several years.
LendingTree, by contrast, has quietly managed to maintain its success while so many others in the industry are flailing.
In fact, a TechCrunch article from last September called LendingTree "the secret success story of fintech." As the article noted, spending on digital ads in the financial services industry is currently estimated to be growing at a 20% compound annual growth rate. At that rate, LendingTree's ad market would double in less than four years.
On top of that, a 2015 report by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau concluded that less than 50% of home loan borrowers shop for a loan. They just take the first loan offered instead.
That leaves LendingTree plenty of room for growth. Because the simple fact is that the service works. It saves customers about $14,000 for the average mortgage, or 570 basis points for personal loans.
LendingTree's share price was falling for much of 2018. But massive earnings growth in the first three quarters (fourth quarter results will be reported later this month) have started to push the stock back up over the last few months.
Don't worry, though. You still have time to catch this stock's rise - as much as 300% if you get in now.
I Can't Believe TREE Stock Is This Cheap Still
While a lot of stocks have seen their fortunes turn from sweet to sour over the last several months, TREE has been the opposite. It's up over 60% since late October - but that's after losing 45% of its value in 2018 up to that point.
In fact, the stock price is still 15% below where it was a year ago.
As dramatic as the turnaround is, it doesn't compare to the string of earnings beats LendingTree has put together in the first three quarters of FY2018.
In the first quarter, TREE delivered earnings per share (EPS) of $2.12, compared to just $0.64 expected.
In the second quarter, it was $3.01, compared to $0.75 expected.
And in the third, it was $1.86, compared to $1.27 expected.
If LendingTree just meets (let alone beats) expectations in the fourth quarter, it will post EPS growth of 358% for the fiscal year.
Investors might have shied away from the stock after profits slipped over the last couple years. But LendingTree's net income for the 12 months ending last September was more than five times what it was in 2017.
The company was spending those years making strategic acquisitions and restructuring itself to focus on its most profitable segments. It's a strategy that is now paying off in a big way.
So it's not surprising that investors have started to warm up to this stock more recently. And a majority of analysts tracked by FactSet consider TREE a "Buy" or "Overweight."
To top it off, its price/earnings-to-growth ratio for the last 12 months comes in at a 73% discount to fair value. That suggests this stock is worth nearly quadruple what it trades at now.
And that's before you consider the company's expanding market and the large section of that market it still has left to capture. Going online to shop for loans is not yet as ubiquitous as it is for tech gadgets, movies, or travel booking. But it's easy to see that we're headed in that direction - as we are in virtually every other category of commerce.
And the online service that is already saving its customers thousands of dollars per transaction is in a great position to dominate that growing market.
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About the Author
Stephen Mack has been writing about economics and finance since 2011. He contributed material for the best-selling books Aftershock and The Aftershock Investor. He lives in Baltimore, Maryland.