Timing can be everything when it comes to investing. Buying a good stock at its peak can return a loss while buying an underperforming stock at its low can lead to a profit. While you don't necessarily want to wait for the perfect opportunity and miss out on potential gains along the way, you also don't want to neglect what could be a rare chance to buy stocks near their lows.
That's the opportunity presented today, with panic selling in the markets creating many attractive buying opportunities. Below are two of the better stocks that investors can buy today with the potential to double in value.
1. Curaleaf Holdings
Curaleaf Holdings (CURLF 0.66%) has shed 60% of its value over the past 12 months. It's nowhere near the sell-off of some marijuana stocks, and even the broad Horizons Marijuana Life Sciences ETF is down much more during this time -- around 80%. However, Curaleaf is also a likely candidate to come out of this market crash. It may take a while to do so, but the company could be in a terrific position, and it wouldn't be surprising to see its share price double within even the next 12 months. The one caveat there, however, is that the longer the coronavirus outbreak keeps investors on edge, the longer it may take for Curaleaf to rally.
But time is something the company has. In Curaleaf's third-quarter results, it recorded more than $91 million in cash and cash equivalents. Meanwhile, the company burned through $20 million in cash from its day-to-day activities over a nine-month period ending Sept. 30, 2019. That's a healthy buffer, and it's important especially since cash flow is a sensitive topic in the industry these days. Investment bank Ello Capital anticipates that some cannabis companies could run out of cash within months. As long as Curaleaf can weather this storm, it should come out a lot stronger once the market starts showing signs of recovery.
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Curaleaf has acquisitions pending that will lead to significant growth in the company's top line once the transactions are complete. The company's pro forma revenue in Q3 was $129 million, which is what its sales would be with all of its acquisitions. To put that into perspective: Canopy Growth (CGC 5.00%) recorded net revenue of 124 million Canadian dollars in its most recent quarterly results.
Investors often see the Canadian pot producer as an industry leader, but Curaleaf's stature is rising in the industry, especially with such strong sales numbers. Currently, Canopy Growth trades at around 14 times its revenue. Curaleaf, meanwhile, trades at a much more modest seven times sales. If investors were to value Curaleaf at a multiple similar to Canopy Growth, the stock would easily double. And that's with the industry seeing a lot of bearish activity over the past year.
Curaleaf arguably has more lucrative opportunities in the U.S. market as well. Now that its acquisition of Cura Partners is complete, the company can make a large dent in the California market; a case could be made that Curaleaf's stock should be more valuable than Canopy Growth's.
2. Snap
Snap (SNAP 6.00%) hasn't crashed as badly as any pot stock, but it's still down 14% over the past 12 months. That's right in line with the S&P 500's decline of 15%. It was only about a month ago that Snap's shares were trading at more than $17, nearly double what they are worth today. Snap's business didn't fundamentally change -- it's just the bearishness in the market that is sending shares of Snap and other stocks into the gutter. The good news is that when stocks fall for no apparent reason, they're often more likely to recover with the market as well.
The company reported 281 million daily active users in the fourth-quarter results it released on Feb. 4. And although its revenue fell slightly short of expectations, missing by just $2 million, the company's adjusted earnings per share of $0.03 showed progress and beat analysts' expectations of $0.01. Snap was making progress until the panic surrounding the coronavirus put an end to that. But ironically, it may help the company rebound as well. As more people are staying home and bored, an app like Snap may rise in popularity and potentially see an uptick in usage.
A strong earnings report can be all that Snap needs to get back on a positive trajectory. But even as the markets come down, investors may start to be more bullish about Snap's value as it's trading within a few dollars of its 52-week low. It won't take much for Snap's shares to double from where they are today, and that's why the tech stock could be a great buy while its price stays around $10.
