I’m searching for the best penny shares to buy and hold onto for the rest of the decade. Here are two on my watchlist right now.
dotDigital Group
Artificial intelligence (AI) is tipped to be the tech growth market that investors pile into. The widescale publicity that OpenAI’s ChatGBT chatbot has recently attracted underlines just how strongly machine learning is grabbing people’s imagination.
Businesses are enthusiastically embracing AI and its potential to boost productivity and bring down costs. In fact, a YouGov survey indicates that 44% of top executives believe machines could perform tasks to a similar or better standard than humans. That’s quite the vote of confidence.
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UK share investors have only a limited number of ways to exploit any AI boom. Penny share dotDigital Group (LSE:DOTD) is one London Stock Exchange share that’s attracting my attention today.
dotDigital’s platform improves the way companies do their marketing and engage with their customers. It makes product recommendations to online shoppers based on prior purchases. The tech also creates marketing campaigns and helps firms keep in touch with consumers via e-mail, chatboxes, and other communication methods.
Revenues are rising at a robust rate and increased 9% during the six months to December. As the company invests in product innovation and expands its overseas operations, I think sales could increase strongly over the next decade.
Okay, sales may suffer in the near term as the global economy struggles. Spending on marketing operations is usually one of the first things to go on the chopping block in tough times. But as someone who invests with a long-term view, I think dotDigital shares are highly attractive.
Everyman Media Group
The cost-of-living crisis poses a huge threat to countless UK shares. With food inflation at 45-year highs, people have much less cash to spend on other things. In fact, food prices are rising three times faster than average wage growth in Britain.
Yet there are still some retail and leisure stocks I’d be happy to buy despite these pressures. Cinema chain Everyman Media Group (LSE:EMAN) is one of these.
You see, the amount people are spending on going out remains strong despite mounting strain on consumers’ wallets. ‘Revenge spending’ on leisure activities following Covid-19 lockdowns is high and showing no signs of cooling.
Latest financials from Everyman illustrate this perfectly. Ticket sales soared to 3.4m in 2022 from 2m during the lockdown-affected previous year. And the penny share expects admissions to rise again this year, it said last week.
Everyman has a big advantage over mainstream operators like Cineworld. It offers a wider range of films than the competition and often hosts special events.
The company’s venues also contain bars and restaurants, and they allow watchers to order refreshments straight to their seats. So for those looking for a great experience outside the house it ticks a lot of boxes.
As Everyman boosts its estate I think earnings could rise sharply over the coming decade. It plans to open six new venues in 2023 alone.
