Motley Fool Stock Advisor Review: Ranked #1 by Crixeo for Stock Research Websites

With more than 25 years of experience helping people learn about investing and making financial decisions, Motley Fool Stock Advisor is the company’s flagship premium stock-picking service.

There are two recommendations each month that track high-growth stocks from Motley Fool co-founders David and Tom Gardner. Each offer is detailed in a detailed email newsletter that makes a case and outlines the potential risks involved.

In the S&P 500 index during that period, Stock Advisor picks returned 128%, dwarfing the return of 397% on Stock Advisor picks since 2002.

Similarly, a $10,000 investment in Stock Advisor picks at the service’s inception would have been worth around $150,000 by July 2022, while $10,000 invested in the S&P 500 would have been under $50,000.

An Overview Of The Motley Fool Stock Advisor

There are a number of popular premium resources for serious DIY investors, but Motley Fool Stock Advisor is far from the only one. 

Check out Seeking Alpha Premium for a comparison of similar recommendation engines.

Motley Fool Stock Advisor: What Is It?

Developed by Fool.com’s stock market experts, the Motley Fool Stock Advisor program offers a variety of features and recommendations, including:

• A rotating selection of top monthly stock picks culled from more than 300 candidates, Best Buys Now (Best Stocks to Buy)
• For novice investors, Starter Stocks is a group of blue-chip and growth stocks
• Members only have access to premium reports and articles
• Forums where members can exchange investment tips and strategies

More information on these and other Stock Advisor features can be found in the “Key Features” section below.

Applicability of Stock Advisor

Motley Fool Stock Advisor is not for everyone. It advises its members to build diversified portfolios for at least three to five years, each consisting of a dozen recommended stocks.

No representations are made by the Motley Fool that their Stock Advisor will lead to quick riches or that any recommendation will result in a return on investment.

Furthermore, only short-term investors should use Motley Fool Stock Advisor if they wish to match, not outperform, broader market indexes.

The above is not to suggest that Stock Advisor isn’t worth its price tag, but prospective subscribers should consider whether picking individual stocks – specifically, Stock Advisor’s recommendations – is appropriate for their investing strategy, objectives, and risk tolerance before signing up.

Investing in Motley Fool Stock Advisor can be tough, so here’s what you need to know.

Price of Motley Fool Stock Advisor

We offer Motley Fool Stock Advisor subscriptions every month and yearly basis. Here are the prices:

• The annual subscription costs $199 per month in the total price. Subscriptions that begin on June 10 each year renew on June 10.
• This is a limited-time introductory offer for new members. The annual subscription costs $89 for the first year.
• A monthly subscription costs $39 per month. The subscription renews based on the numerical date of initiation; for example, if your subscription began on June 10, it will renew on or about June 10 every month thereafter.

As part of the renewal process, all subscriptions are billed at the then-current price. For example, if the full-price annual membership increases from $199 to $219 while your subscription remains active, you will be charged the new fee of $219 at the time of your next renewal.

There is no refund or proration for canceled subscriptions, except for members who cancel their annual memberships within 30 days of the date of cancellation. Members can apply any remaining balances on canceled subscriptions to other premium subscriptions offered by Motley Fool.

Feature Highlights of Motley Fool Stock Advisor

Among the benefits of a Motley Fool Stock Advisor subscription are the following:

New Recommendations

As part of Motley Fool subscriptions, subscribers receive two “new recommendations” each month, one from each of Fool’s co-founders.

Dedicated email newsletters outline each recommendation:

• Company’s activities
• Market capitalization and price data as of the date of the recommendation for the company and its stock.
• Clients and customers of the company
• The people in charge (key executives and board members)
• Buying stocks is a good investment for Stock Advisor members
• Potential “sell” triggers for the recommendation

All Stock Advisor recommendations are visible simultaneously to subscribers – or almost so.

Stocks To Buy

This 12-stock dashboard updates every Thursday and is completely refreshed every month when you log in to your Stock Advisor account.

The list includes:

• David Gardner’s five “timely” picks
• Tom Gardner’s five “timely” picks
• The most recent recommendation from David Gardner
• The latest recommendation from Tom Gardner

David Gardner had picked Amazon more than 30 times since September 2002, when he first picked it on the Best Stocks to Buy list.

A detailed dossier accompanying newsletter recommendations is updated for each pick based on recent changes in the industry or company. For example, Amazon’s 2017 acquisition of Whole Foods improved David Gardner’s opinion of that company.

Stocks For Beginners

Among the Gardners’ past recommendations is this group of elite stocks.

Motley Fool recommends Starter Stocks for novice investors who want to build strong stock portfolios from scratch. Stock Advisor recommends adding them to portfolios consisting of at least 15 different stocks. These stocks are updated at least once a year.

Subscription to Stock Advisor’s e-mail newsletter

The Stock Advisor email newsletter is automatically enrolled when you register with it. Expect to receive 4-8 emails per month, including some or all of these:

• An update on recommendations
• The team may advise you to sell part or all of your stake in a stock when the team “closes” or cancels its recommendation).
• A stock, industry, or economic condition is analyzed and commented upon by an expert
• Gardner’s Best Buy recommendations updated
• Content in multiple formats

Unless you cancel your subscription, you cannot unsubscribe from the newsletter.

Watchlist of stocks

Watchlists aren’t revolutionary – they’re familiar to anyone who’s used Yahoo! Finance or a brokerage platform’s back end – but they’re useful nonetheless.

The Stock Advisor allows you to narrow down your search by selecting stocks that matter most to you and setting up a real-time feed of their news and analysis.

Favorites Feature

You can also monitor stocks you own or are watching by checking out the Favorites feature in Stock Advisor.

You can link your brokerage account to your Motley Fool account to bulk-import your holdings and watchlist stocks. Once imported, you’ll receive automatic “buy” and “sell” recommendations.

Scorecard

During trading hours, Scorecard updates every minute with data-rich tickers from the stocks you hold.

• The symbol for the stock market
• Price at the moment
• Price of the purchase
• Date of purchase
• Change of day
• Return since purchase
• Comparative return to the S&P 500

Scorecard stocks can be traded with minimal friction through your brokerage account.

Optional Email Subscriptions

These optional email newsletters are available to Stock Advisor members:

• Updates for your Watchlist or Scorecard: Daily or weekly updates about the tickers you’ve added.
• From Motley Fool partners, money-saving offers with no obligation.
• Motley Fool’s recent free content is the best, including articles, social media posts, multimedia, news, and podcasts.

This might be of some value to you if you don’t mind inbox clutter. If not, you’re not obligated to join.

Tables and charts of performance

Among the most data-rich sections in your Stock Advisor account, the Performance section displays recommendations in a table.

• Symbols and names of companies
• Date of recommendation
• Those recommending the project (David or Tom)
• The most recent market closing price and market capitalization
• (Based on S&P 500 index) Returns since recommendation
• The score of risk (from 1 to 25)

Some of these data points can be drilled down into.

Each linked ticker symbol leads to a stock information page with details about the stock’s fundamentals, price history, recent news, an interactive performance chart, and a dividend calculator.

Premium Research Reports

The Motley Fool’s Stock Advisor members have access to premium research reports.

Report titles such as “Inside the Car of Tomorrow,” “The Ultimate Virtual Reality Investing Playbook,” and “AI Disruption Playbook” typically cover industry and macro trends likely to affect Stock Advisor’s new and existing recommendations.

Some reports summarize recent Stock Advisor picks. Another highlights a legal cannabis investment opportunity that Motley Fool believes has incredible potential.

Featured Articles

There are also premium articles available only to Stock Advisor members. These articles tend to be shorter and newsier than premium reports, but length, format, and topics vary.

Check out your Watchlist to see premium articles.

Stock Screener

Despite being a decidedly non-revolutionary tool, it is nonetheless convenient for market watchers. You can use it to search for:

• The sector of the market (e.g., energy or consumer)
• The volatility of stock prices
• Classification of assets
• Conviction strength of advisor recommendations (e.g., “high” or “neutral”)
• Yield of dividends

Premium Discussion Boards

A multitude of members-only discussion boards can be found on Motley Fool Stock Advisor, including:

• Basics of Investing
• Strategies for Investing
• Personal Finance
• Stock Advisor’s Best

The process of posting to these boards begins by signing up for a Stock Advisor account. There is no obligation to participate. Many Stock Advisor members passively absorb other members’ insights without contributing their own.

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor: Benefits And Drawbacks

Benefits

The biggest selling points of Motley Fool Stock Advisor include the basic buy-and-hold approach, no obligation beyond the subscription term, and visibility into all active and closed recommendations.

• It is not necessary to trade aggressively or time the market. Although Motley Fool Stock Advisor isn’t meant for index investors seeking to match the performance of broader equity markets or those primarily or wholly seeking passive income, it’s also not intended for overly aggressive investors and certainly not for day traders whose strategies revolve around exploiting short-term market movements.
• Despite subscriptions and auto-renewing by default, Motley Fool Stock Advisor members don’t have to pay any further fees after their subscription ends.
• Stock Advisor’s Active Recommendations Have Been Made Known Since Inception. All Stock Advisor subscribers have access to all active recommendations dating back to 2002 – more than 15 years of stock-picking history. A diversified portfolio of stocks should be built in no time at all.
• The Gardners have withdrawn closed recommendations for a variety of reasons since the start of Stock Advisor. Your subscription includes access to these picks as well. Stock picks are only as good as the fundamentals supporting them, which makes this invaluable.
• Investing with Stock Advisor offers many opportunities for less experienced members to learn from veteran investors. It’s a great place to start if you’re not ready to buy stocks or if you’re trying to hone your own investing strategy – and it’s far less noisy than social media platforms and public message boards.
• There is tons of premium content at Motley Fool Stock Advisor. The premium reports and articles alone – like the proprietary report on a top cannabis investment opportunity – can justify the subscription price. Stock Advisor is another resource for serious investors who want to cut through the noise and look around the curve at the same time.

Drawbacks

When weighing the benefits and drawbacks of Motley Fool Stock Advisor, keep these disadvantages in mind. Motley Fool subscribers don’t need a subscription for all premium content, and you can’t opt out of the Stock Advisor newsletter. If you cancel your subscription, there is no prorated refund.

• In fact, Motley Fool Stock Advisor is just one of a number of premium subscription services offered by Motley Fool. While Stock Advisor is the flagship, it isn’t the only one. Rule Your Retirement, a $149-per-year subscription tailored to those looking to invest for (and in) retirement, is the best place to get recommendations about investing.
• A subscription isn’t necessary for all premium content. Motley Fool offers some premium content outside its paywalls in an effort to undercut its extensive lineup of subscription services. As an example, the Rule Breakers podcast – part of the $299-per-year Rule Breakers service – is available at multiple podcast providers for free.
• If you don’t want to receive four to eight emails per month, think twice before subscribing to Stock Advisor’s email newsletter. Members can’t opt out of the Stock Advisor email newsletter.
• It is not guaranteed that the discounted annual membership rate of $89 per year will remain in effect, but it is a great deal for first-time Stock Advisor members. Please be aware that your subscription may auto-renew at a higher rate if you do take advantage of it.
• The Motley Fool does not prorate subscriptions canceled well in advance of their scheduled renewal dates, even though Stock Advisor members are free to cancel at any time. For instance, if you cancel your annual membership with six months left, you’re still responsible for half the fee. The exception: If you cancel your membership within 30 days, you’ll receive a full refund.
• “Sell” recommendations must also be heeded by long-term subscribers. Stock Advisor members aren’t obligated to act on any of the team’s recommendations, but their portfolios may deviate significantly from the Stock Advisor portfolio’s performance unless they faithfully act on “buy” and “sell” recommendations in a timely manner. Members who wish to mirror the recommended equity basket’s performance must outsource their investing strategies to David and Tom Gardner, even if they could do better elsewhere.

Stock Pick Performance – Motley Fool Stock Advisor

You should only invest in a service that has a history of generating significant returns when it comes to giving you an edge in the market.

A look at the historical performance of the Motley Fool Stock Advisor service’s picks reveals an impressive record of profits with a few bumps along the way.

Recently, there have been a number of noteworthy investment alerts, including:

• Tom suggested subscribers buy CrowdStrike Holdings (CRWD) at $95.98 per share on June 4, 2020. By early April 2021, those who invested saw 112% gains. This stock was so compelling that it appeared again as an alert in July 2020 at $107.27. An investment at this level would have generated nearly 90% returns by April 2021.
• David pointed out ASML Holdings (ASML) as the next big opportunity at $383.95 on July 16, 2020. Investors who jumped into the opportunity earned more than 65% by April 2020.
• In early April of 2021, the stock price of Fiverr International (FVRR) had climbed by more than 95% since Tom suggested it was the next big opportunity on September 3, 2020.
• It was recommended to purchase Bandwidth Inc (BAND) in September 2020 at $150.06. The stock was down around 14% by early April 2021. Since no one can predict the future, there have been a few losing trades over the past year.

The best thing you can do is run from a stock picking service that claims to be right 100 percent of the time. In reality, when you invest, you are attempting to predict the future, and that isn’t a science that can be 100% proven.

The vast majority of alerts have resulted in profitable investments, many of which far exceed the average returns of the stock market as a whole. Although the service has resulted in a few losing trades, it is also clearly a winner, with the vast majority of alerts resulting in profitable investments.

Does Motley Fool Stock Advisor work?

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor is legit.

Investments aren’t guaranteed. Stock investing isn’t risk-free either.

There are no guarantees with Motley Fool Stock Advisor. But David and Tom Gardner, the stock gurus behind the service, deliver high-conviction stock picks regularly. Some may beat the market, and some may not. But the Gardners stand behind everyone.

Any risk-tolerant, high-volume DIY investor should consider Motley Fool Stock Advisor subscriptions. The choice is yours, though.