Got $1,000? 3 Stocks to Buy While They're on Sale.

There's never a bad time to buy a good stock. But there are certainly better times than others. If you can get in while its share price is temporarily below its long-term growth track, you'll reap at least a little more net return.

With that as the backdrop, here's a look at three fantastic prospects to consider adding to your portfolio while each one is on sale.

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1. MercadoLibre

It's been a tough past few months for MercadoLibre (NASDAQ: MELI) shareholders. Although the Latin American e-commerce stock has logged gains in just the past few days, it's still well below its July peak.

Most of that loss reflects a couple of quarterly earnings shortfalls resulting from an effective but expensive free-shipping promotion meant to attract new customers. For perspective, while the company's third-quarter revenue, reported in November, grew nearly 40% year over year to $7.4 billion, per-share profits only improved from $7.83 to $8.32.

There's a method to the madness, however. The added cost of free delivery is taking a temporary toll on the bottom line, but it's adding customers that are apt to remain customers even when free shipping is no longer available.

A strategy like this certainly worked for Amazon, anyway. And MercadoLibre is often referred to as the Amazon of Latin America in that it has copied much of what Amazon has done, and it has thus far grown the same way as a result.

And now, there's a simpler and more urgent reason to step into this stock: the economic changes that could follow the recent events in Venezuela. While MercadoLibre is the Amazon of Latin America, most of its revenue comes from only Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina.

2. Chewy

Speaking of Amazon, it remains the dominant name in North American online shopping, selling practically anything and everything to roughly 200 million regular customers in the U.S. alone.

Amazon's hold on domestic consumer spending isn't ironclad, though; it can be beat at its own game. The key is cost-effectively addressing one very important aspect of people's lives in a way that Amazon just can't, due to its sheer size.

Enter Chewy (NYSE: CHWY). If you live in one of America's 94 million households that are home to at least one pet (according to data from the American Pet Products Association), then you probably already know Chewy is an online pet supply store, selling a range of products from food to treats to toys to prescription medications.

Americans are crazy about their pets, spending more than $150 billion on them in 2024 alone. But this doesn't complete the bullish case for buying this stock while it's down more than 30% from its June high. Neither does the company's recent growth pace; last quarter's top-line increase of 8% is in line with long-term norms and projections.

What makes this name such a compelling prospect, rather, is the nature of the company's revenue. Of last quarter's total top line of $3.1 billion, more than $2.6 billion of it (84%) came from consumers who have subscribed to recurring automatic deliveries of its products.

Once customer relationships are this solid, it takes a lot to break them. Chewy simply needs to continue bringing more subscribers into the fold -- which it is. Customer headcount grew by nearly 1 million year over year during the three-month stretch ending in early November, bringing it to a total of more than 21.1 million.

It will require patience to stick with this slow mover, but it should be worth the wait. The fact that it's already consistently profitable makes it much easier to own in the meantime.

3. DraftKings

Last but not least, add DraftKings (NASDAQ: DKNG) to your list of stocks to buy while they're on sale. This one is down more than 30% from its February high, and about 50% below its pandemic-prompted peak in 2021.

DraftKings is a sports-wagering platform whose roots are in the fantasy sports business. But ever since the U.S. Supreme Court lifted the federal ban on sports betting in 2018, the company has grown in step with state-based legalization of this form of entertainment.

In the meantime, it has added casino-style wagering like poker and blackjack that's app-based. DraftKings expects to report revenue of about $6 billion for fiscal 2025, up 25% from last year's top line of just under $4.8 billion, with analysts predicting $7.3 billion this year. Not bad.

It's also just the beginning. An outlook from the researcher Market.us suggests that the global online sports-betting market is poised to grow at an average annual pace of 12.6% through 2034, with the U.S. featuring prominently in that growth.

So why the recent weakness from this stock? Some of it can be attributed to the fact that the company was forced to dial back its revenue guidance during 2025, reflecting stiffer competition and sports-wagering interest that wasn't as strong as expected.

Also, shareholders may have been rattled by the recent expansion of betting platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket from wagering on events (like election outcomes, Oscar winners, and the like) into the sports-based gambling market.

But in the bigger picture, although DraftKings has new competitors in Polymarket and Kalshi, they don't have the sports-centric name recognition and following that DraftKings enjoys. So, there's a reason that professional sports teams as well as sports media like Disney's ESPN and Comcast's NBCUniversal specifically want to partner with this company.

To the extent that event-based wagering platforms like Polymarket and Kalshi have potential reach, DraftKings is taking the fight directly to them. Just last month, it launched its own events-based betting app.

James Brumley has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon, Chewy, MercadoLibre, and Walt Disney. The Motley Fool recommends Comcast. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.