7 Best Stocks to Invest in for a Growing population

Offering Transportation as a Service

• Cities are expected to become more densely populated over the coming decades. By 2050, it’s anticipated that 2 billions extra inhabitants will be living in urban areas which will have some dire consequences for our transportation infrastructure. Traffic jams will worsen, parking will become limited and overall the cost of owning a car will rise dramatically.
• Uber offers a solution to increase population mobility by providing cost effective travel when users need it most. Uber provides users with the economic benefit of not having to pay vehicle ownership and maintenance costs. Wider adoption of rideshare platforms like Uber will drive down Individual vehicle ownership, which will be vital if the population were to meet current predictions, as our current vehicle ownership rates could not be supported without expensive public infrastructure changes.
• As our population grows and moves towards urban living, the utility of TaaS companies like Uber will see much greater value prospects for a vast majority of the population. Thanks to its convenience, low costs and lack of ongoing maintenance, Uber should expect an uptick in ride-share passenger volume within urban areas if the population continues to grow.

Developing innovative building materials for a growing housing need.

• The larger a population grows, the greater the need for housing. One of the current issues facing the construction industry is demand far outstripping supply. The construction industry emerged from the pandemic into a position of strength, as we saw total construction spending recover quickly to peak at US$1.57 Trillion in July 2021, eclipsing 2019 levels. The industry continues to be impacted by current economic conditions as rising materials costs and supply chain disruptions are impacting project completion. However, this opens up opportunities for local suppliers like Carlisle Companies to meet the needs of the construction industry without the logistical difficulties created by overseas suppliers.
• Carlisle Companies is primed to be a beneficiary of a growing population. The conglomerate which has exposure to construction materials, weatherproofing technologies and interconnection technologies will see their products in hot demand when new developments require building materials, weatherproof cladding and cabling. In the second quarter of 2022 alone, Carlisle Companies have been able to deliver 57% year-on-year revenue growth and 185% year-on-year adjusted EPS growth owing to high sales volumes, higher price realization which was propped up by strong demand across residential and commercial construction.
• With a particular focus on sustainability and reducing end-of-life wastage with respect to construction materials, Carlisle Companies will definitely have a strong value proposition as we look to provide housing with environmental impact on our minds.

Providing essential materials to the construction industry to support growing infrastructure.

• The point has already been made that a growing population will require more housing to be constructed to support it, but we haven’t quite considered what the metropolitan landscape will look like. High-rises will become more numerous and our concrete jungle’s footprint will expand, which means one thing. We need more concrete.
• Vulcan Materials is the largest supplier of construction aggregates in the United States. With a core focus on infrastructure construction, there’s a solid chance that some of the highways and roads you’ve driven on or public works projects you’ve interacted with have been built with Vulcan’s aggregates. It’s important to note that Vulcan’s influence doesn’t end there, with the materials not consumed in infrastructure projects being allocated to the construction of commercial residential buildings, railroad ballasts and in agricultural applications. That is to say, Vulcan has exposure to the industries that are set to benefit the most from a growing population.
• On the financial front, Vulcan has been able to tackle a tough economic climate through strengthened pricing, with forecasts of aggregates pricing to have increased by 12.5% year-on-year by the midpoint of FY2022. To the delight of shareholders, this has resulted in a 44% growth in total revenues to US$1.954 Billion and an 11% growth in adjusted EBITDA to US450 Million compared to the same period last year.
• Looking forward, positive growth in the number of project starts in highways, residential and commercial construction bode well for the short term prospects for Vulcan Materials. A look to the further future and infrastructure growth due to an expanding population should keep the momentum going in Vulcan Materials’ favor, especially once the we emerge from the difficult macroeconomic climate and expenditure on new projects ramp up.

High quality healthcare solutions with a virtual spin.

• As our population grows, access to healthcare becomes more difficult. Our population already struggles with hospital ramping times and shortages in medical staff and the issues will only become more exacerbated if the population continues to grow at its current rates. Health will always be a primary need of ours and so scalable solutions are needed to ensure the population’s medical needs are met.
• Teladoc Health is the global leader in virtual patient care, offering the technology to connect individuals with medical professionals linking more patients with breakthroughs in clinical technology, increased access to care and the ability to cater to their individual needs. Teladoc health empowers on-demand healthcare which would otherwise not be an option due to travel, time or mobility issues that’ll compound as our population grows.
• Not only does Teladoc provide fantastic solutions for the future of healthcare when it comes to a growing population, new data has shown their integrated chronic care solutions deliver improved outcomes for patients. Teladoc’s ability to manage several chronic conditions simultaneously has shown to be more effective than any diabetes, hypertension or weight control program alone.
• Should a growing population push people towards virtual healthcare solutions, companies like Teladoc Health stand to benefit from a growing customer base, driving access revenue which is the core component of the business’ revenue generating activities.

Water technology to ensure water security for future population and industries.

• If we get down to the basics, water Is the key to sustaining life. Without it, we would perish. On the less extreme end, water is vital to supporting many industries. You might not realize it, but without adequate access to water, industries like construction, food & beverage, oil & gas, agriculture and healthcare would grind to a stop.
• A growing population means more water consumption and so our ability to ensure we have adequate supply will be critical. Xylem is a water technology company committed to developing water solutions to meet future water, wastewater and energy needs, ensuring we have the access to water that’ll be essential to support a growing population.
• Xylem’s services can be broken down into three segments, Applied Water, Water Infrastructure and Measurement & Control Solutions. Applied Water refers to the portfolio of residential, commercial and industrial customers of Xylem’s water services. Water infrastructure refers to the wastewater pump stations, treatment plants and pipelines that Xylem operates. Measurement & Control solutions refers to the series of products and digital ecosystem that Xylem provides to aid in the monitoring of metering of water.
• In the future, the need to replace aging water infrastructure, increased demand for sustainable water solutions and a growing customer base will all be strong organic growth drivers for Xylem. Additionally, new water challenges may give rise to an inflection point where digital systems monitoring systems will need to become more robust to keep up with the growing complexity of infrastructure, an opportunity for Xylem’s digital ecosystem, Xylem Vue, to make a case for itself in the market.

Powering farmers to provide the growing number of mouths to feed.

• A rising population at its core means more mouths to feed. The onus of providing the food for our population falls upon farmers. Given arable farmland is shrinking due to climate change, it’s important that farmers can sustainably and efficiently boost crop yields to ensure food supply doesn’t run short.
• Tractors and combine harvesters have become synonymous with farmers and have been one of the largest contributors to growing crop yields over the past 100 years. Equipment such as these have become a necessity for the modern farmer and so sales volumes are highly correlated with the need for food production. AGCO is a manufacturer of such farming equipment and solutions. Within AGCO’s product umbrella, farmers will find tractors, harvesters, seeding & tillage equipment, grain storage solutions and protein production systems to meet a broad spectrum of needs.
• AGCO is helping drive agriculture towards innovation by developing Fuse; AGCO’s open platform solution for modern farming products. Fuse is a robust monitoring solution that works across different equipment brands and software platforms. Farmers are able to track and monitor their performance in real-time with a high degree of precision, empowering farmers to make informed business decisions thereby maximizing yields and profitability.
• In a future where we have more mouths to feed and declining arable land, efficiency in agriculture will be of utmost importance. AGCO will be extremely well positioned as their AgTech and diverse equipment offerings will provide a complete end-to-end solution to ensure farmers are able to maximize yield and farming economics. If AGCO is able to maintain market leadership in these areas, they could expect strong organic growth as capital flowing into agriculture will find its way to their income statement.

New and efficient approach to farming in an urban environment.

• Traditional arable farming provides almost all of the world’s food supply. However, it is also responsible for a significant portion of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions and is a relatively inefficient use of land. When the question arises over how we are going to feed 9 billion people, perhaps the best approach is to see how we can change farming from the ground up.
• AppHarvest is one of the companies looking to provide a solution to questions over what the future of farming looks like. AppHarvest’s process presents some significant benefits compared to traditional methods, requiring up to 90% less water while producing yields up to 30 times that of traditional agriculture on the same amount of land without agricultural run-off. Furthermore, in a time where climate change is worsening, AppHarvest’s indoor approach means greater climate resilience, where crops are able to be planted and grown year round and are less susceptible to extreme weather events.
• As the population filters into metropolitan areas and the urban environment sprawls further across the landscape, the workable land shifts further away from population centers. Where AppHarvest becomes important in the future is that it means that we can bring agriculture back to the population hubs, giving people greater access to fresh food, minimizing logistics costs and improving land-use.
• Difficult economic conditions have greatly impacted AppHarvest as reflected by a souring share price, which has fallen by over 70% from the highs of November 2021 and by over 95% from the highs of February 2021. Continuing operations well into the future may not be guaranteed, but despite the recent performance, the company remains committed to their approach with a recent US$50 million loan being secured to help quadruple their current farm network.