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Even though the major stock indexes have enjoyed a healthy two-month bounce, it’s been a difficult year for professional and everyday investors alike. At some point during 2022, all three major indexes were firmly in bear market territory. But therein lies the opportunity.
Throughout history, every major decline in the broad-market indexes has served as an opportunity for investors with a long-term mindset to pounce. Even though it’s impossible to consistently forecast where stock market bottoms will occur during crashes, corrections, and bear markets, the fact remains that the major indexes head higher over long periods.
Image source: Getty Images.
What’s particularly interesting about the 2022 bear market is that it’s allowing investors to buy into industry-changing companies that are now historically inexpensive. What follows are three unparalleled stocks to buy now that have never been this cheap.
The first once-in-a-lifetime buying opportunity for investors is FAANG stock Alphabet (GOOGL -0.07%) (GOOG -0.09%), the parent company of Google, Waymo, and YouTube, among others.
The reason shares of Alphabet have been clobbered in 2022 is simple: It’s an ad-driven operating model. With the Federal Reserve aggressively raising interest rates to tackle historically high inflation, the likelihood of a recession materializing within the next 12 months has risen substantially. It’s not uncommon for ad revenue to be hit hard during periods of economic uncertainty.
However, allowing short-term ad worries to dictate your investment thesis would be a hasty move. Alphabet offers well-defined competitive advantages and effectively its lowest valuation since becoming a public company.
For example, data from GlobalStats shows that internet search engine Google has accounted for between 91% and 93% of the market share for worldwide monthly search looking back more than two years. Advertisers are well aware that Google gives them their best opportunity to reach targeted eyeballs with their messages on internet search pages. This is why Alphabet is able to command such impressive ad-pricing power.
Beyond Google, Alphabet has streaming service YouTube, which is the second-most-visited social site in the world, as well as Google Cloud. The latter is the No. 3 cloud-service provider globally, with Canalys estimating that it grabbed a 9% share of cloud spending in the third quarter. These are segments Alphabet will continue to invest in to drive double-digit sales growth.
But the real jaw-dropper is just how cheap this industry leader has become. Whereas Alphabet was regularly being purchased for 17 to 20 times year-end cash flow in the 2010s, opportunistic investors can scoop up shares right now for just 9 times Wall Street’s forecast cash flow for 2025.
A second unparalleled stock to buy that’s simply never been this inexpensive is healthcare company Teva Pharmaceutical Industries (TEVA -0.35%).
Although Teva has faced a myriad of issues over the past five years, including generic-drug price weakness and the loss of exclusivity for blockbuster multiple sclerosis drug Copaxone, it’s persistent litigation that has been most responsible for driving down its share price. A total 44 states have gone after Teva for its role in the opioid crisis, while additional litigation alleges price-fixing on Teva’s part for certain drugs. While these are tangible concerns, the worst appears to be nearly over.
The best news for Teva is that it’s nearing the finish line of what should be a nationwide opioid settlement totaling up to $4.2 billion. CEO Kåre Schultz expects this settlement to be in place before the end of the year, with these aggregate payments spread over 18 years. With this gray cloud about to be removed, the issues that have weighed Teva down for years should go away.
Just as important as putting its legal issues firmly in the rearview mirror is the fact that Schultz has done a phenomenal job of improving the company’s balance sheet since taking the reins in late 2017. As CEO, Schultz has reduced Teva’s annual expenditures by billions and sold off noncore assets.
In a little over five years, the company’s net debt has plunged from over $34 billion to approximately $19 billion as of the end of September. With more financial flexibility than Teva has had in over a half-decade, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see its valuation multiples expand.
It’s also worth pointing out that Teva benefits from the highly defensive nature of the healthcare sector. Since people can’t control when they get sick, there is always going to be demand for prescription brand-name and generic drugs.
With its balance sheet greatly improved under Schultz’s leadership and the company on the verge of putting its biggest legal gray cloud behind it, it stands out as a screaming buy at a multiple of less than 4 times forecast earnings for 2022 and 2023!
Image source: Amazon.
The third unparalleled stock that’s never been this cheap is e-commerce juggernaut Amazon (AMZN -2.34%).
Like Alphabet, Amazon has fallen victim to worsening consumer sentiment and the growing likelihood that the U.S. will enter a recession sometime in 2023. Since Amazon generates most of its revenue from its dominant online marketplace, there’s concern among skeptics that we could see widening losses from this seemingly core operating segment.
But the interesting thing about Amazon is that while its online marketplace brings in the lion’s share of its revenue, it plays a minimal role in generating operating cash flow. Rather, it’s the company’s ancillary operating segments that bring in the juiciest margins and the bulk of its cash flow.
For instance, Amazon’s online marketplace has helped the company sign up more than 200 million members globally to a Prime membership. Keep in mind this figure is as of April 2021, and there’s no doubt it has grown since Amazon became the exclusive carrier of Thursday Night Football. This high-margin subscription revenue is what allows the company to aggressively reinvest in its logistics and other high-growth initiatives.
Another example of an ancillary segment playing a key role is Amazon Web Services (AWS). Whereas Google Cloud brought in 9% of cloud-service spending in the third quarter, AWS led the pack with a 32% share. On an annual run-rate basis, AWS is generating $82 billion in sales and is usually responsible for more than half of Amazon’s operating income. Note that enterprise cloud growth is still in its very early stages.
If you thought Alphabet was a bit pricey at 20 times year-end cash flow during the 2010s, understand that investors were willingly paying 23 to 37 times year-end cash flow for Amazon over the same time frame. But based on Wall Street’s consensus forecast, investors can buy shares of Amazon right now for about 8 times its 2025 cash flow. It’s simply never been that cheap as a publicly traded company.
John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Sean Williams has positions in Alphabet, Amazon.com, and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet and Amazon.com. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
*Average returns of all recommendations since inception. Cost basis and return based on previous market day close.
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