No one knows when the market will take its next big tumble. It may happen tomorrow -- or it may have happened this morning. Regardless, I'm prepared. I've got a watch list of dozens of stocks I'd like to own -- at the right price.
Most of the stocks seem overvalued to me right now, but that can change if the stock market crashes. Inexperienced investors or those who have put short-term dollars that they'll need next year in stocks may gnash their teeth at a big market downturn, but experienced long-term investors can get giddy with excitement about stocks that will be on sale.
Image source: Getty Images.
Here are three stocks I'd like to buy if the market crashes in the near future.
1. Roku
Roku (ROKU +0.38%) is probably familiar to you as that box that you (or someone else you know) has connected to your TV, enabling you to stream video from Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, and other services. It also comes in a smaller stick form that you just plug into your TV's HDMI port. But there's more than meets the eye with Roku.
For one thing, it's not satisfied to remain a hardware business and is developing its own content. That has it competing with the likes of Netflix and Amazon. However, it also benefits from those companies: When consumers cut the cable cord and opt to stream their video entertainment, Roku often wins as it enables them to stream just about anything on their TVs.
Roku has been firing on all cylinders. In fiscal 2020, total revenue grew 58% year over year, and it grew even faster in 2021's first quarter, rising 79%. The company notes that, "In 2020, 38% of all smart TVs sold in the U.S. were Roku TV models." As of the first quarter, the company had more than 53 million active accounts.
With a recent market value topping $41 billion, Roku stock isn't cheap right now. Its price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio recently topped 350, while its price-to-sales (P/S) ratio sat near 20. If the stock retreats sharply, though, I'm interested.
Image source: Getty Images.
2. Airbnb
Next up is Airbnb (ABNB 1.19%), which needs little introduction. I'm impressed by how it's disrupting the hospitality industry -- but with its recent market value of $87 billion, which is more than of Marriott and Hilton Worldwide combined, its value seems to have gotten ahead of itself at the moment. [Note that its recent price was still 36% below its 52-week high that occurred a few months after its IPO (initial public offering) in December of last year.]
Valuation aside, Airbnb's business model has clear advantages over that of traditional lodging companies because it's so light. It doesn't involve building, buying, or maintaining gobs of physical properties, and can grow simply by signing up more hosts and guests electronically.
Business is likely to get much busier soon for Airbnb -- and traditional hotels, as well -- as the economy opens up more in America and other locations. Those with pent-up travel yearnings will finally be able to book rooms and take off.
CEO Brian Chesky is certainly bullish, adding this note to the company's recent first-quarter earnings report:
We are proud of our strong results. We surpassed 2019 revenue levels even though urban travel and cross-border travel, two of our strongest segments historically, have not yet recovered... We expect a travel rebound unlike anything we have seen before. Travel is coming back and Airbnb is ready.
The company does have competition, such as in VRBO and even sites such as Booking.com that let hosts list their offerings. But Airbnb is still in a leading position, with some solid tailwinds -- such as growth in long-term stays. The company noted that in its first quarter: "Nearly a quarter (24%) of our nights booked (prior to cancellations and alterations) in Q1 were not for traditional travel, but for long-term stays (defined as stays of 28 days or more). This was up from 14% in 2019."
Images source: NVIDIA.
3. NVIDIA
Then there's graphics-processing-unit (GPU) maker NVIDIA (NVDA +1.13%), another stock I'd love to own but which I've had trouble bringing myself to buy into because it seems so steeply priced. Its market value was recently $354 billion -- close to three times that of IBM.
NVIDIA's technology is at work behind the scenes in gaming platforms, and revenue from gaming grew a hefty 41% year over year in fiscal 2021. The company is also heavily involved in other growing technological realms, such as artificial intelligence, robotics, cloud-computing, autonomous driving, and 5G. In fiscal 2021, revenue grew 53% year over year, gross margin grew by 5%, operating income soared 82%, and earnings per share jumped 73%. Revenue from its data center unit surged 124% -- which is particularly valuable as it has high profit margins.
Speaking of profit margins, the company is now offering more software in addition to the chips for which it's best known, and software is generally a much higher-profit-margin business than chip manufacturing.
It's true that many great companies are often trading at prices that seem way too steep, rarely dipping into attractive territory -- and leaving would-be investors (like me) on the sidelines. If any of these growth stocks interest you as much as they do me, do your own digging into them and see if you think they're worth buying now, worth buying at lower price points, or perhaps worth buying into gradually over time, in chunks.
