How your daily habits might already be screaming “buy this stock”.

If you’ve ever thought investing was intimidating, or that you needed Wall Street-level knowledge to start, here’s a reminder: your everyday life is basically a stock screener.

Every time you call a ride, stream music, or send a text — you might be using companies that are publicly traded, many of which have outperformed the market. Let’s take a look at five companies you probably interact with every week, without realizing they’re also investment opportunities.

5 publicly traded companies that you may use daily.

• Apple
• Uber
• Spotify
• Amazon
• Google

📱 1. Apple (AAPL)

Where you use it:

• iPhone, iPad, MacBook
• AirPods during gym sessions or walks across campus
• iMessage and FaceTime

Why it matters:
Apple doesn’t just sell tech — it owns an ecosystem. Its services revenue (Apple Music, iCloud, App Store) has exploded in recent years. While you’re texting your friends or checking TikTok, Apple is collecting a slice of every app download and subscription.

Fun fact: Apple did 394 billion revenue in 2024.

🚗 2. Uber Technologies (UBER)

Where you use it:

• Late-night rides back from downtown.
• Ordering Chipotle through Uber Eats.
• Quick trips to service you hit a morgantown pothole.

Why it matters:
Uber has become a core part of student life. They also have a very straightforward strategy of making money and producing cash flow. They take a commision of 20-30% for connecting riders to drivers. They use a similar for Uber Eats.

Fun fact: During 2024, Uber had 171 million active platform consumers every month.

🎵 3. Spotify (SPOT)

Where you use it:

• Study playlists
• Shower music
• AUX on the way downtown

Why it matters:
Spotify commands over 30% of the global streaming market and has recentlt expanded into exclusive podcasts. It’s not just a music player anymore — it could be a content empire in the making.

Think about it: You pay $5.99/month (student plan) . Multiply that by 263 million users (from Q4 2024).

📦 4. Amazon (AMZN)

Where you use it:

• Textbooks (when you’re last-minute)
• Dorm essentials, snacks, cables, chargers
• Random purchases at 2am that you probably don't need.

Why it matters:
Generally speaking Amazon has a monopoly on Web Ecommerce. What's interesting about Amazon too is that they have been increasingly diversifying there business model. Online sales for amazon only makes up 38% of there total revenue which is down from 50% in 2018. There Amazon web Services has steadily been increasing, topping over 107 billion in revenue in 2024.

🔍 5. Alphabet (GOOGL)

Where you use it:

• Google Search, Maps, Gmail, YouTube
• Google Docs for group projects
• YouTube for exam cramming or podcast listening

Why it matters:
Alphabet is the Swiss Army knife of tech. You use its products so frequently that they’ve basically become verbs: “just Google it.” YouTube, which it owns, is now the second-largest search engine on earth.

Alphabet’s ad segment generated over $264.59 billion in 2024 alone. Just from your clicks and views.