On April 9, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500, and Nasdaq Composite(NASDAQINDEX: ^IXIC) all logged their largest single-session point gains in their storied histories. This was followed by the Nasdaq's fifth-largest single-day point decline on April 10. In fact, three of the Nasdaq's five largest point declines since its inception have occurred within the span of one week (April 3, April 4, and April 10).
More importantly, this whipsaw on Wall Street, which is the result of tariff/trade uncertainty and the historic priciness of stocks, has pushed the growth-oriented Nasdaq Composite into a bear market. Though the index sits 18.8% below its all-time closing high, as of this writing after the closing bell on April 10, just two days earlier the Nasdaq was 24.3% below its record close. The line-in-the-sand qualifier for bear markets is a drop of 20%.
Image source: Getty Images.
While elevator-down moves in the Nasdaq Composite can be scary, history has taught investors that they tend to be short-lived. Eventually, all bear markets are left in the dust by bull market rallies. This makes bear markets the ideal time for investors to put their money to work.
With most brokerages eliminating commission fees for trades executed on major U.S. exchanges, as well as doing away with minimum deposit requirements, any amount of money -- even $300 -- can be the perfect amount to invest.
If you have $300 ready to put to work, here are three unstoppable stocks you can confidently buy with the Nasdaq in a bear market.
Alphabet
The first market-leading businesses that investors can scoop up with $300 right now is Alphabet(NASDAQ: GOOGL)(NASDAQ: GOOG), the parent of internet search engine Google, streaming platform YouTube, and cloud infrastructure service Google Cloud, among other ventures.
The big knock against Alphabet at the moment is the worry that the U.S. economy might dip into a recession. According to an April 9 update from the Atlanta Federal Reserve's GDPNow model, U.S. first-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to contract by 2.4%. Excluding the COVID-19 pandemic quarters, which were a unique situation, a 2.4% contraction would represent the worst decline for the U.S. economy since the tail-end of the Great Recession. During recessions, it's not uncommon for businesses to spend less on advertising -- and ads comprised 75% of Alphabet's fourth-quarter sales.
The considerably more important silver lining for Alphabet is that U.S. recessions have historically been short-lived. Whereas the typical recession since the end of World War II has endured approximately 10 months, the average economic expansion has stuck around for about five years. This means its ad-based foundation is rock-solid.
To build on this point, Google has accounted for 89% to 93% of monthly global internet search share dating back more than 10 years. Being the undisputed top choice for businesses wanting to get their message(s) in front of users has provided a lift to Alphabet's ad-pricing power.
In addition to its advertising ties, Alphabet's Google Cloud is growing like a weed. It's the world's No. 3 cloud infrastructure service platform, and enterprise cloud spending is still in its relatively early innings of expansion. The incorporation of generative artificial intelligence (AI) solutions has the potential to reaccelerate what's been sustainable double-digit growth for this considerably higher-margin operating segment.
Don't overlook Alphabet's cash-rich balance sheet, either. The $95.7 billion in cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities it closed out 2024 with allows the company to invest aggressively in higher-growth initiatives, as well as buy back its own stock, which can increase its earnings per share (EPS) and make its stock more fundamentally attractive.
Alphabet stock has never been this cheap on the basis of forward earnings (15 times consensus EPS for 2026), which is what makes it a no-brainer buy.
Image source: Getty Images.
AstraZeneca
A second sensational stock that can be purchased with $300 while the Nasdaq plunges is pharmaceutical titan AstraZeneca(NASDAQ: AZN).
Aside from most stocks pushing lower in sympathy with broad-market volatility, the bigger concern for pharmaceutical stocks is the possibility of tariffs being applied to their products. Although President Trump has changed his tune on tariffs multiple times, the implementation of tariffs on pharmaceuticals would likely drag on their margins.
The good news for AstraZeneca is that the healthcare sector is highly defensive. A volatile stock market doesn't mean fewer people become ill or require prescription medicine. Since we can't control when we become ill or what ailment(s) we develop, demand for novel drugs tends to be consistent in all economic climates.
Looking beyond the macro picture, all four of AstraZeneca's core areas of focus are on fire. Oncology, which is the company's top-dollar indication, delivered constant-currency sales growth of 24% last year. Meanwhile, cardiovascular, renal, and metabolism (CVRM), respiratory and immunology (R&I), and rare disease generated respective currency-neutral sales growth of 20%, 25%, and 16% in 2024.
One of the smartest decisions made by management was acquiring ultrarare-disease drug developer Alexion Pharmaceuticals in July 2021. Rare disease therapies often have no competition, and thus face little pushback on their high list price from insurers. Best of all, Alexion had developed a next-generation version (Ultomiris) of its blockbuster drug Soliris, which ensured that its cash flow would be protected for a long time to come.
With exceptional pricing power in its corner and earlier cancer screenings improving demand for the company's oncology product portfolio as a whole, AstraZeneca stock appears cheap at less than 11 times forecast EPS in 2026.
The Trade Desk
The third unstoppable stock to purchase with $300 right now, despite the Nasdaq being mired in a bear market, is rapidly growing adtech stock The Trade Desk(NASDAQ: TTD).
The Trade Desk is contending with a lot of the same concerns as Alphabet. It's an entirely ad-driven operating model, and there's the possibility that tariff uncertainty, a wildly volatile stock market, and fears of a recession could encourage businesses to pare back their marketing budgets. Though there's no denying a recession would hurt the advertising industry, The Trade Desk's shares losing two-thirds of their value since late last year has already baked in this scenario.
To keep the comparisons alive, The Trade Desk benefits just as much as Alphabet from the disparity between economic recessions and expansions. Multiyear periods of growth ensure that ad-based businesses predominantly thrive over long periods.
But what makes The Trade Desk special is its role in the digital ad space as a demand-side platform. Sales growth for digital ad channels is rising at a considerably faster pace than traditional ad mediums, such as billboards and print. The Trade Desk is expected to be an important player in facilitating the rapid increase in ad spending for connected TV platforms.
Furthermore, most digital companies have adopted The Trade Desk's Unified ID 2.0 (UID2) technology, which replaces third-party cookie technology but still allows businesses to track and target consumers with their message(s). UID2 should play a huge role in helping businesses target consumers in the rapidly evolving streaming space.
With revenue growth expected to be around 20% on an annual basis for the foreseeable future, and The Trade Desk's stock valued at a historically low 22 times forward-year EPS, the time to pounce has arrived.
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Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Sean Williams has positions in Alphabet. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet and The Trade Desk. The Motley Fool recommends AstraZeneca Plc. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
