When stocks go public, investors sometimes hesitate and don't invest right away. Then, they might worry that they've missed the boat on a promising new investment. But with some bearishness in the markets of late, there's a chance for growth investors to scoop up some recently issued IPOs at reduced prices.
Both American Well (AMWL 5.54%) and ContextLogic (WISH 1.74%) are trading at their lowest levels ever in their short histories. Investors have a chance to buy these stocks at discounted prices -- should they?
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1. American Well
Shares of telehealth company American Well (also known as Amwell) began trading on the public market on Oct. 5, 2020, at $28.86. Today, shares of the healthcare stock are trading below even half of that price -- at less than $9 per share. That's a steep drop for a company in a high-growth sector like telehealth; analysts at Facts & Factors project the industry will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 26.5% until 2026.
Amwell's revenue growth in its last quarter (ending June 30) was lackluster, with its top line of $60.2 million declining by 12% from a year ago. However, it was going against some tough comparables in 2020 when lockdowns were essentially forcing people to rely on telehealth rather than in-person visits to the doctor's office. There's still growth ahead for the sector, and Amwell is in an excellent position to benefit from it. It is shifting toward technology solutions (e.g., making it easy for companies to deploy telehealth using Amwell's Converge platform, which can integrate and host digital applications from third-party providers all in one place) versus relying on virtual visits. The company says this will improve its margins -- the business has reported a net loss of $190 million over the past 12 months.
Amwell is an intriguing growth stock, even if it continues to hit new 52-week lows. And if I didn't already own shares of its rival Teladoc Health, this is definitely a stock I'd be looking to buy right now. With a price-to-sales (P/S) multiple of just seven (versus nearly 10 for Teladoc), Amwell is the cheaper stock today.
2. ContextLogic
ContextLogic is better known as Wish, which is also the name of the popular e-commerce website it runs. It began trading on Dec. 16, 2020, at an opening price of $22.75.
Like Amwell, this is a beaten-up stock that is trading nowhere near those levels. At less than $5 a share, it has plummeted more than 73% year to date while the S&P 500 has risen by 16% (Amwell is down 64%). A big part of the reason investors are likely extra bearish on Wish is that its platform depends on China; most of its merchants are based there.
Shipping and logistical challenges due to COVID-19 are just part of the reason some investors would rather steer clear of the company right now. Chinese stocks in general haven't been great buys in 2021 as crackdowns and restrictions in that part of the world have made investors extremely hesitant to buy shares of businesses that depend on China for their growth. It certainly doesn't help that Wish's revenue of $656 million for the period ending June 30 was down 6% year over year, and its net loss of $111 million was 10 times the size of what it incurred a year earlier.
But there is hope the numbers will get better. The company is working on improving the customer experience and strengthening its top and bottom lines. After improving its logistics, "product-quality issues became the number one reason for customer service requests," the company noted in its second-quarter letter to shareholders. It is working on improving the quality and selection of products, while also looking to improve the shopping experience (this includes more personalization), and making performance improvements to its app.
Wish is a risky stock, but it's trading at an incredibly cheap P/S multiple of just one (e-commerce stock Shopify trades at a whopping 43 times revenue). That alone isn't reason enough to buy the stock, but I think Wish could be worth taking a chance on for plenty of other reasons. If the changes the company is working on pay off, there's definitely potential for its shares to double in value, at least.
