The stock market has indeed had an impressive run in the first half of the year, with the Nasdaq leading the charge and posting record gains. This bullish trend might have left some investors feeling a sense of FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out). However, it’s important to remember that the market is vast and filled with opportunities. There are still plenty of cheap stocks to buy that offer significant potential for growth.
In fact, several of these cheap stocks to buy are poised to rebound and align with the broader market in the latter half of 2023. These stocks may have experienced a downturn recently, but that doesn’t mean they’re out of the game. Quite the contrary, these temporary setbacks could present lucrative buying opportunities for discerning investors.
These are the hidden gems of the stock market – stocks that have been overlooked or undervalued by the market but have strong fundamentals and promising prospects. They represent companies that have been temporarily beaten down due to various factors but are well-positioned for a dramatic recovery.
Pfizer (PFE)
Looking to invest in cheap stocks? Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) is a great place to start.
Pfizer is well-known for its COVID-19 vaccine, which was one of the biggest product launches in pharmaceutical industry history. The company’s overall revenues soared from around $40 billion per year prior to 2020 to a peak of $100 billion in 2022.
Understandably, revenues will not remain at that peak given the decline in vaccine demand recently. That said, analysts expect Pfizer to bring in approximately $68 billion of revenues in both 2023 and 2024 which is light years ahead of where the company was five years ago.
Long story short, Pfizer has grown dramatically over the past few years, and that’s true even after stripping out the temporary pandemic-related revenues. PFE stock is now going for just 11 times forward earnings and offers a 4.5% dividend yield. It’s true that Pfizer’s profit boom has ended, but the company remains massively profitable and shares are a bargain back here at pre-pandemic prices.
Charles River Laboratories (CRL)
Charles River Laboratories (NYSE:CRL) is a leading healthcare company focused on providing lab tools and services related to pharmaceutical drug development. It’s also one of those cheap stocks.
Historically, it has been the dominant player in animal models. That is to say, Charles River procures, breeds, and distributes lab rats, mice, rabbits, and non-human primates. The latter got the company into trouble, as Charles River is currently part of a Department of Justice investigation into Cambodian monkey smuggling.
The sell-off associated with this has created a tremendous buying opportunity. There’s much more to Charles River. It’s one of the largest contract research organizations in the world, meaning it performs lab work for other companies. In addition, it has developed software and services to help biotech companies develop drugs and design clinical trials. This another reason why it’s one of those cheap stocks to buy.
Putting it all together, Charles River was involved in helping development of more than 80% of all drugs that received FDA approval since 2020. In effect, Charles River is a tax on the entire biotech industry. That’s been a good place to be, with Charles River posting a compounded earnings per share growth rate in the teens since the turn of the century. Thanks to the recent scandal, shares are now on sale at an unusually low 20 times forward earnings.
Globant (GLOB)
Globant (NYSE:GLOB) is a leading information technology outsourcing company. It provides IT services to large enterprises that require specialized expertise.
The business model is simple and attractive. Globant hires IT professionals from cheaper labor markets such as South America and contracts with companies in developed markets that can pay high rates for service. This pricing arbitrage has proven greatly advantageous, with GLOB stock rising more than 1,500% since its IPO.
However, shares have fallen by nearly half since their 2021 peak as spending has slowed in the IT sector. The war in Ukraine has disrupted some engineering talent based out of Eastern Europe as well.
But GLOB stock has been overly punished on these developments. Globant is profitable, debt-free, and has been growing both revenues and earnings per share at a greater than 20% annualized rate in recent years. Shares should rebound sharply as soon as activity starts to pick up more broadly for tech spending budgets. Adding to that, Globant’s AI product offerings should be a particularly rapid growth vertical going forward.
On the date of publication, Ian Bezek held a long position in CRL and GLOB stock. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
