Growth stocks have been buried in the recent decline. It’s no secret, particularly as the major indices have slid into a correction of 20% or more. However, the problem is that many of the high-quality companies are getting sucked in with the low-quality companies and the selloff has created a lot of cheap growth stocks. Therein lies another problem, though: Cheap stocks can always get cheaper — especially in a bear market.
Now that’s got investors in a tough spot. Do they buy while these stocks are down anywhere from 60% to 80% or more?
As long as the businesses have not deteriorated as fast as the stock price has, the valuation usually becomes more palpable. That being said, it’s hard to ignore the trend of the market, particularly in growth stocks.
While that will eventually balance out and the winners will rightfully be rewarded, it doesn’t mean these cheap growth stocks can’t get cheaper and see more selling pressure.
With that caveat in mind, aggressive bulls can look for buying opportunities, while conservative bulls can build their go-lists to buy these cheap growth stocks when the market eventually returns to a more favorable state.
| NFLX | Netflix | $226.78 |
| AMD | Advanced Micro Devices | $102.31 |
| PYPL | PayPal | $95.32 |
| META | Meta Platforms | $167.11 |
| ROKU | Roku | $82.86 |
| TTD | The Trade Desk | $52.78 |
| AMZN | Amazon | $140.80 |
Cheap Growth Stocks: Netflix (NFLX)
Who would have ever thought that Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) would be called cheap? The stock has been hammered, suffering a peak-to-trough decline of 76.8%. At those lows, shares were trading near 17 times earnings.
I think two realizations surprise investors here. The first is that Netflix was trading at a lower price-earnings (P/E) ratio than the S&P 500. Even after the stock’s 40% rally, the stock still only trades at 22 times earnings. The other realization is that Netflix is profitable and growing its bottom line.
Cash flow has long been a concern at Netflix due to rising content costs. But with the company sporting 220.6 million subscribers around the world, Netflix has recurring revenue to lean on. A focus on ad-revenue may help boost its growth, as will cracking down on password sharing.
The company recently reported a so-so quarter. Earnings beat, revenue missed, guidance was light for next quarter and margins were disappointing. But to see Netflix stock rally on bad news is a positive step.
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD)
Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) is one of the more undervalued stocks, but somehow is not flying under the radar. AMD is a favorite among retail investors, yet the stock has been crushed.
While shares have rebounded with a nice 46% rally, the stock is still down 37% from its high and suffered a peak-to-trough decline of 56.5%. The company recently reported its Q2 results, beating earnings and revenue estimates. However, management’s guidance for Q3 was a little light, calling for revenue of $6.7 billion (at the midpoint) vs. estimates of $6.81 billion.
That’s okay. The point is that estimates for AMD simply continue to climb right now. That goes for both revenue and earnings. Despite the stock price being more than cut in half at one point, estimates have not only been immune to the stock’s pain, but they have actually continued to improve.
Despite the stock’s nice rally, it leaves AMD stock trading at roughly 23 times this year’s earnings. That makes it one of our cheap growth stocks to follow.
Cheap Growth Stocks: PayPal (PYPL)
The situation with PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) is not an easy one, especially since the stock is up almost 50% from its 2022 low.
After the rally, shares of PayPal trade at about 24 times this year’s earnings. That doesn’t seem too expensive, until we consider the fact that earnings are forecast to decline about 14.5% from 2021. That’s not good, but we have to remember it’s one of the few growth stocks that are actually profitable.
In 2023, the company is forecast to get back to growing its bottom line, with 22% growth. Analysts expect about 10% revenue growth this year, an acceleration to 14% growth in 2023 and 12% to 15% growth in the next two years beyond that. Of course, these are all just estimates, so the caveat is that they may not come to fruition.
However, the company recently announced a $15 billion buyback plan — which is significant given its $115 billion market capitalization — as well as a $2 billion stake by activist investor Elliott Management. PayPal also gave a slight boost to its full-year earnings outlook.
Meta Platforms (META)
All FAANG stocks rallied after reporting earnings… except for Meta (NASDAQ:META). That’s disappointing, especially given that many other FAANG components missed on earnings, revenue or both metrics.
Yet Meta is the only one that failed to gain upside traction. As it stands, shares trade at about 16.1 times this year’s earnings estimates. At its low, shares traded at sub-15 times earnings. Like PayPal though, earnings are forecast to fall at Meta this year, which is certainly a negative.
However, we’re talking about the FAANG stock with the best profit margin and a powerful balance sheet. Obviously the company’s business model is a question mark and even though it’s a cash cow with Facebook and Instagram, growth is the main concern.
At some point though, the financials, margins and valuation have to play a role in our decision making.
Cheap Growth Stocks: Roku (ROKU)
Not many readers are going to be happy to see Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU) on this list. The company continues to deliver disappointing results as supply chain woes squeeze margins and lower ad spend has weighed on revenue. But after a near-90% decline from the highs, there has to be some value in this stock.
Roku is still a top-tier streaming name in the industry and streaming has proven to be the way of the future for video consumption. Streaming hours, users and other metrics continue in the right direction and as user growth continues, the ad dollars will eventually follow.
The problem? A recession.
A global slowdown will hurt ad spending, which will hurt platform revenue and platform profitability for Roku — a company that’s competing with Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG, NASDAQ:GOOGL) and other big hitters.
Just trading at a couple of times revenue and now back near its Covid-19 low from March 2020, Roku may be worth a look on another dip.
The Trade Desk (TTD)
When investors punch in The Trade Desk (NYSE:TTD), they may see that shares trade at roughly 50 times this year’s earnings and conclude that it’s in fact not one of the cheap growth stocks to buy. That’s a fair takeaway, albeit one that could use a little bit more work.
The Trade Desk is becoming a go-to advertising platform for companies, particularly those that want to advertise on connected TVs. Further, The Trade Desk can operate in China, something many of its ad-based FAANG peers cannot do.
The company is one of the few growth stocks that is actually profitable and has steady growth. Analysts expect about 31% revenue growth this year, then 25% to 28% annual growth over the next several years.
So what’s the catch? Well, advertising. From many ad companies (and connected-TV companies, like Roku), we’re seeing a slowdown in ad spend as businesses anticipate a recession. So if we see this stock break the lows near $40 and trade down into the low- to mid-$30s, it’s one to consider scooping up for the long haul.
Cheap Growth Stocks: Amazon (AMZN)
Like The Trade Desk, Amazon also joins this list with a caveat. The stock has had an impressive rebound, climbing back to the $140s after hitting a low of roughly $101 in the second quarter. Unfortunately for bulls, I don’t know that we can call this the end of the bear market.
If that’s the case, investors may be able to see a retest of the $100 area in Amazon, where I believe we can find value in this stock. Not only does Amazon have an e-commerce moat that — at least presently — feels impenetrable, its Amazon Web Services (or AWS) business continues to hum along.
Revenue climbed just 7% in the most recent quarter, while AWS sales soared 33% year over year. Advertising revenue climbed 18% as well, while management continues to navigate inflation. From CEO Andy Jassy: “Despite continued inflationary pressures in fuel, energy, and transportation costs, we’re making progress on the more controllable costs we referenced last quarter, particularly improving the productivity of our fulfillment network.”
Is that a slam dunk? Not exactly. But on a larger pullback, Amazon is one to take note of.
On the date of publication, Bret Kenwell held a long position in TTD and ROKU. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.