Two Financial Stocks to Build Your 10-Stock Portfolio With Just $500

When it comes to building a diversified investment portfolio, most newcomers gravitate toward the obvious choices. Yet the smartest move might be looking beyond the headline-grabbing tech sector. With just $500, you can acquire meaningful positions in two of the fastest-growing financial institutions globally—SoFi Technologies and Nu Holdings—stocks that deserve consideration in any 10-stock watchlist.

Both companies represent a fundamental shift in how banking operates worldwide. They’re profitable, growing at impressive rates, and fundamentally reshaping the financial landscape in their respective regions. Let’s explore why these two banking plays could be smart additions to your portfolio today.

Why Skip AI Stocks for Banking Opportunities

The investing world tends to chase themes. Right now, artificial intelligence dominates headlines and attention. But this obsession with trendy sectors can blind investors to tremendous opportunities elsewhere—particularly in financial services.

Here’s the reality: You don’t need millions to start investing, and you don’t need to follow the crowd chasing the hottest narrative. Financial stocks, long overlooked by mainstream media, are quietly delivering the kind of growth that typically gets reserved for tech darlings. The difference? These companies are already profitable while still expanding rapidly.

Consider the track record of patient investing. When Netflix landed on the Motley Fool’s top recommendation list in December 2004, a $1,000 investment would have grown to $415,256. When Nvidia made the list in April 2005, that same $1,000 would have become $1,133,904. These weren’t overnight successes—they were quality companies given time to compound.

The same principle applies today. Rather than chasing the next AI sensation, smart investors should identify businesses with durable competitive advantages, sustainable growth, and improving profitability. That’s where SoFi and Nubank fit perfectly.

SoFi’s Path From Startup to Profitability

SoFi Technologies began in 2011 on Stanford University’s campus as a student loan refinancing platform. The journey from that niche origin to a full-service digital banking powerhouse demonstrates the power of focused execution and customer obsession.

Today, SoFi operates a one-stop-shop banking application with an intuitive mobile interface and a comprehensive product suite. The user-friendly experience and smart customer acquisition strategy have fueled rapid expansion—the platform reached 13.7 million customers at the end of 2025, representing 35% year-over-year growth.

The financial metrics tell an even more compelling story. Over the past five years, SoFi’s revenue skyrocketed 2,900%, reaching $4.77 billion in the trailing twelve months. More impressively, the company has crossed into sustained profitability, generating over $500 million in pretax income during 2025. This combination—rapid top-line growth plus healthy bottom-line profits—is precisely what separates exceptional companies from flash-in-the-pan stories.

As the customer base expands, adoption of higher-margin revenue streams accelerates. More users experiment with personal loans, credit cards, and investment products. This deepening relationship with each customer creates a compounding growth engine that should continue driving results for years ahead.

Nubank’s Reign Over Latin America’s Banking Revolution

While SoFi transformed U.S. banking, a similar revolution has been unfolding south of the border. Nubank, owned by Nu Holdings, is remaking financial services across Latin America with the same customer-centric mobile-first approach.

The mobile banking transformation came slightly later to Latin America than the United States, but it’s accelerating rapidly. Nubank operates across Brazil (its home base), Mexico, and Colombia, offering customers a compelling alternative to traditional banks burdened by expensive branch networks, predatory lending practices, and inefficient service models.

By providing everything customers need through a mobile app and modern payment cards, Nubank captured an enormous opportunity. The company now boasts 106 million active users as of the third quarter of 2025—making it one of the world’s largest financial institutions by customer count. That scale provides an expansive runway for revenue growth for years to come.

The growth trajectory is breathtaking. In the last quarter reported, Nubank’s revenue climbed 42% year-over-year to reach $4.2 billion, while net income surged to $783 million. The ability to generate such strong profit growth while maintaining such rapid expansion indicates even greater margin expansion potential at larger scale. This is the hallmark of a company in the early innings of a multi-year profitability expansion cycle.

Building a Balanced Investment Strategy Today

Both SoFi and Nubank represent precisely the kind of stocks that should make any thoughtful investor’s 10-stock portfolio. They’re in a mature industry—banking—that receives minimal speculative attention. They’re expanding customer bases by double-digit percentages annually. And crucially, they’re already highly profitable, eliminating the “growth-at-any-cost” risk that plagues many modern investments.

The mathematics are simple: With $500, you can build a meaningful position in two exceptional financial stocks. You’re not gambling on unproven business models or waiting for eventual profitability. You’re investing in companies already printing cash while still in early-stage growth mode.

That combination—established profitability plus accelerating growth—has historically created multibagger opportunities for patient investors. The 10-stock watchlist you build today could include these two financial institutions alongside other carefully selected holdings, creating a portfolio positioned to compound wealth over the long term.

The time to start thinking beyond the AI bubble isn’t tomorrow. It’s today.