Pay your fresh donut
Starting my investment journey has been both exciting and a bit overwhelming. As someone new to stocks and coming from a technical background, my approach to picking companies was shaped by both curiosity and the need for reassurance from real financial data. I want to document the reasons behind my first three stock picks:
- Freshworks (FRSH)
- Krispy Kreme (DNUT)
- Payoneer (PAYO)
while using data directly from SEC filings and recent company reports.
I approached this process much like a software evaluation: look for fundamentals, check scalability, and ensure there’s a clear path to steady growth. I avoided schemes based only on hype or speculation, and instead focused on businesses that have substance and transparency.
When I looked at Freshworks, I found a software company that serves over 50,000 organizations worldwide through cloud-based products for customer service and IT management. What stood out from their 2025 quarterly earnings was a consistent revenue stream built around subscriptions, which are recognized gradually over customer contracts. In the second quarter of 2025 alone, Freshworks reported $204.7 million in total revenue, representing 18% year-over-year growth. Their net losses have narrowed, and free cash flow grew to $53 million in that quarter. While they do report net losses, the gap is closing quickly, and their business model gives them room to expand further, especially through investment in research and development and steady customer acquisition. Their filings also stress that their customer base is well diversified, with no single client representing more than 1% of annual recurring revenue, which makes their income more resilient to market shifts.
Krispy Kreme was a more controversial pick. Most people recognize the brand, but it has struggled in recent years. Still, I found a compelling turnaround attempt in their latest 10-Q reports. The company is transitioning from a heavily asset-based system to a global franchise approach, expanding their presence into countries like Spain, Brazil, and Germany. While overall revenue declined by about 13% year-over-year in the second quarter of 2025, Krispy Kreme operated over 18,000 points of access globally and added 19 new shops in that quarter alone. The company’s omni-channel model and focus on expanding digital platforms show a shift toward more capital-efficient growth. Their management explicitly laid out a turnaround plan: refranchising, outsourcing logistics, and streamlining labor and delivery, all of which aim to deliver higher profit margins and more sustainable growth. While Krispy Kreme is still posting accounting losses, partly due to a significant non-cash charge from goodwill impairment, the ongoing franchise expansion and global brand recognition give it real potential as a recovery play.
Payoneer is in a different sector, but equally compelling. The company facilitates cross-border payments primarily for small and medium enterprises, freelancers, and marketplaces. It operates in the large business-to-business payment market, worth over $20 trillion. Instead of relying on volatile trends like cryptocurrency, Payoneer leverages its relationships with established platforms like Amazon and Upwork to build recurring, sticky revenue. Even though I could not retrieve their last 10-Q in time for this post, Payoneer’s business model and growth in global transactions are reflected in coverage across major financial outlets. The company’s strategy emphasizes network effects: as more partners and businesses use the platform, the more valuable it becomes. This sounds familiar to anyone who’s worked in tech and sees the power of platforms and integrations. It may not be as flashy as some consumer payment apps, but it is dependable and provides a real service at global scale.
For a first-time investor, these three picks feel anchored in strong fundamentals, transparent operations, and the potential for upward mobility. My focus was on avoiding companies propped up by trends, short-term speculation, or financial losses without a plausible recovery path. Freshworks offers the steady growth of SaaS and AI integration, Krispy Kreme is a recognizable turnaround with global ambitions, and Payoneer provides “picks and shovels” for modern commerce. Each is different, but all show the signs of credible businesses trying to build something lasting.
Let's see the results of the performance and whether my decision was right on the November Retrospective.
