It's the holiday shopping season, but you're not limited to just merchandise in finding big deals these days. Despite the market hitting fresh highs this month, there are still plenty of stocks that aren't coming along for the ride.
A lot of the hard-hit stocks aren't bouncing back, but I feel that Pinterest (PINS 0.85%), Coupang (CPNG 0.62%), and Bumble (BMBL -0.39%) have what it takes to start rebounding over the holidays. They're all trading at least 50% below their earlier highs. Let's see why they could be Black Friday deals for your portfolio.
Image source: Getty Images.
These are hard times for Pinterest. The visual search engine was all the rave last year when folks were stuck at home. New recipes, home decor tips, and promoting home-based businesses were 2020 in a snapshot, and Pinterest was the hotbed of sharing ideas on all fronts.
Things have been a bit more challenging in 2021. Folks are out and about, and suddenly home projects have fallen by the wayside in the reopening of the economy. Pinterest still entertained 444 million global monthly active users in its latest quarter, but that's 2% less than it was attracting three months earlier and a mere 1% decline over the past year. Back out the less-lucrative international audience, and domestic users have fallen sharply sequentially in back-to-back quarters, and are down 10% over the past year.
The good news is that Pinterest has learned to milk more ad revenue from its users. Revenue has soared 43% over the past year with net income; adjusted earnings; and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) all more than doubling. In short, the financials are improving even as investors have been bailing on the stock. The shares have fallen 53% since peaking in February.
There was also a reported flirtation with Pinterest as an acquisition target. The deal never materialized, but with the stock trading well below the rumored $70-a-share deal price, it seems like a win-win here. New investors wouldn't balk at a renewed buyout at $60 for a short-term exit strategy, and if it doesn't happen, Pinterest can still be a winner over the long haul.
Coupang
South Korea's leading online retailer went public at $35 in March, traded as high as $69 on its first day, but is now a broken IPO. The stock is 61% below its all-time high.
Coupang is living up to the initial hype. Its dominance in South Korea makes it difficult to topple. It has 100 distribution centers across the country, placing it within seven miles of 70% of South Koreans. It delivers grocery orders by 7 a.m. if they are placed by midnight the night before. Returns can just be placed on the porch for the next day's route. It's as strong a moat as possible for an e-commerce player. The comparisons to Amazon are often made, but -- get this -- Coupang is growing two to three times faster.
| Period | Amazon | Coupang |
|---|---|---|
| FY 2019 | 21% | 51% |
| FY 2020 | 28% | 91% |
| Q1 2021 | 44% | 74% |
| Q2 2021 | 27% | 71% |
| Q3 2021 | 15% | 48% |
Data sources: Amazon and Coupang.
Profitability is still a couple of years away, and growth has slowed after snapping its streak of 15 consecutive quarters of year-over-year sales increases of at least 50%. There are geopolitical risks with an e-tailer concentrated in South Korea, but the stock is too cheap for this dynamic operator.
Bumble
If Pinterest was seen as a casualty of the economy reopening, Bumble should be seen as a beneficiary. The company behind the world's second and fourth most-popular dating apps (Bumble and Badoo, respectively) is made for this climate with folks comfortable being out in public again.
Bumble's unique approach (only women can initiate connections) has made it a popular and distinctive way to meet new people. The stock tumbled after a poorly received financial update two weeks ago, but it wasn't too shabby. Revenue rose 24%, ahead of Bumble's earlier guidance. The rub here is that the number of paying users declined sequentially, even after a spike in marketing spend. Average revenue per user is still 19% higher than it was a year ago, and Bumble isn't likely to stay down for long.
