The recent economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic sent retail investors into a frenzy, leaving many tech stocks artificially overvalued and eventually triggering a significant correction in the major indexes. In the span of less than a week, the Nasdaq Composite declined 11% from its all-time high Sept. 2.
When volatility hits the markets, it's best to buy stocks that give investors the confidence to hold and endure short-term pitfalls. Today, let's take a look at three such stocks that fit in this category, and why you should invest $1,000 into any one of them.
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1. Biogen
In the near term, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will soon be ruling on whether to approve Biogen's (BIIB +0.82%) aducanumab, a potential first-line therapy to reduce cognitive decline in patients with Alzheimer's disease. By the end of 2021, the company will also see the results of seven phase 2/3 clinical trials for various drugs in treating dementia, ALS, lupus, retinal disorders, and stroke.
Even beyond near-term catalysts, Biogen's core portfolio of drugs is also performing well. In the second quarter of 2020, the company grew its revenue by 2% year over year to $3.68 billion, led by the strength in its multiple sclerosis and neuromuscular treatments. Meanwhile, Biogen's earnings grew 12% annually, to $10.26 per share.
The company's market cap stands at $42.7 billion, even though management projects $14 billion in revenue this year and $35 in earnings per share. In other words, the company is trading for as little as 3 times price-to-sales and 8 times price-to-earnings going forward. This cheap biotech stock is one that value investors will not want to miss. Shares are up about 15% over last September's price.
2. Sea Limited
Sea Limited (SE +6.38%) is quickly becoming one of the world's premier holding companies. The company specializes in gaming services, e-commerce, and digital finance. There are currently over 500 million players utilizing Sea Limited's gaming platform, Garena, up 61% over last year.
That's not all; the company's online shopping business, Shopee, is gaining rapid traction in countries including Taiwan, Malaysia, and the Philippines. During the entirety of Q2 2020, Shopee saw $615.9 million worth of gross orders on its platform, an increase of 150% over Q2 2019.
Finally, Sea Limited's payment processing solution, SeaMoney, has also been on a tear this year, with $1.6 billion worth of payments processed during the quarter ended June 30. That is a 60% increase over the payment volume in Q1 2020 alone.
Overall, Sea Limited's revenue increased by 93% year over year in Q2 2020 to $1.3 billion. Even though the company is posting a net loss for the sake of growth, it still has a massive $3.2 billion cash and investment balance to sustain its operations. Since last September, shares of Sea Limited are up almost 350%.
3. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing
Perhaps unbeknownst to much of the world, TSMC (TSM +6.30%) plays a critical role in supplying the global tech sector. The company is currently responsible for providing 5-nanometer and 7-nanometer processors for all newer versions of Apple's (AAPL +1.18%) iPhone. Additionally, all of NVIDIA (NVDA +5.93%) and AMD's (AMD +18.37%) next-generation CPUs and GPUs are made using the company's semiconductors.
Without a doubt, the COVID-19 pandemic has acted as a catalyst to digitize economies across the world, increasing the demand for Taiwan Semiconductor's core business products. In the second quarter of 2020, the company's revenue grew by more than 34% year over year, to $10.4 billion. Simultaneously, its net margin increased by 11.2 percentage points to 38.9%.
The stock currently trades for about 23.4 times price to sales, which is well worth the incredible growth performance the company can deliver. Keep in mind that Taiwan Semiconductor's operations are also yielding an impressive return on equity of 28.5%. The company's stock has gained more than 78% during the past year.
