The stock market has been in sell-off mode in 2022 as evidenced by the sharp declines in major indexes such as the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite, which are down 17.6% and 26%, respectively, so far this year.
The broader stock market slump means that investors now have an opportunity to buy shares of some solid companies on the cheap. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM 2.71%), popularly known as TSMC, and Zoom Video Communications (ZM -0.99%) are two such companies with healthy prospects and cheap valuations that investors can consider buying right now.
Let's see why these two tech stocks could turn out to be solid buys at their current valuations.
1. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing
TSMC is the world's largest semiconductor foundry, with a market share of nearly 54%. It counts major chipmakers like Nvidia, Intel, AMD, Qualcomm, and MediaTek among its customers. This explains why the company's business has been growing at a rapid pace in recent years, as the demand for chips used in several applications ranging from automotive to smartphones to data centers has boomed.
The semiconductor bellwether released its second-quarter 2022 results on July 14, reporting a 36% year-over-year jump in revenue to $18 billion. TSMC's operating margin shot up by an impressive 10 percentage points year over year to 49.1%. The mix of solid top-line growth and fatter margins sent the company's earnings to $1.55 per share last quarter, up 67% over the prior-year period.
Even better, TSMC's guidance for the current quarter indicates that its rapid growth is here to stay. Analysts expect the company to finish 2022 with a 32% spike in revenue to $75 billion and a 50% jump in earnings to $6.19 per share. Wall Street is also upbeat about TSMC's long-term prospects, estimating 23% annual earnings growth for the next five years.
It isn't surprising to see why the company is expected to grow at a fast pace in the coming years. Semiconductor sales are expected to increase 13.7% in 2022 to $661 billion. By 2029, global semiconductor sales could hit nearly $1.4 trillion, according to a third-party estimate. As a result, TSMC's customers are likely to place more orders for its chips.
That's why the company is confident it will clock consistently strong long-term growth following its impressive showing in 2022. TSMC management forecasts an annual revenue growth rate between 15% and 20% for the "next several years," which should be achievable given the massive semiconductor opportunity.
With the stock price down 28% in 2022 so far, TSMC looks like a bargain, as it is trading at 20 times trailing earnings, lower than the Nasdaq-100's multiple of 26. The forward earnings multiple of 14 is also attractive and points toward a stronger bottom-line performance, which TSMC could sustain in the long run.
All this makes TSMC a top semiconductor stock to buy right now because it could enrich investors' portfolios both in the short and the long run.
2. Zoom Video Communications
Zoom Video Communications is another tech stock that has taken a big beating in 2022, with shares of the communications platform provider down 42% so far this year. This steep decline has made Zoom stock cheaper than before, as it now trades at 27 times trailing earnings as compared to last year's multiple of 49. The price-to-sales ratio is also down to 8 in 2022 from 14 in 2021.
There is a reason why Zoom stock has been battered badly amid the tech sell-off. The company's pandemic-driven growth has come to an end following a terrific surge that was driven by the booming demand for remote work and online education. However, things aren't as bad for Zoom as they may seem.
The company expects revenue to increase 11% in fiscal 2023 to $4.54 billion. The bottom-line forecast is where things go south: Zoom's earnings are expected to decline to a range of $3.70 to $3.77 per share from $5.07 per share in fiscal 2022. Analysts, however, expect Zoom's earnings growth to pick up the pace from next year.
ZM EPS Estimates for Current Fiscal Year data by YCharts.
What's more, the company is expected to clock 13.6% annual earnings growth for the next five years. This makes buying Zoom stock an enticing proposition for the long run, especially considering that its product development moves could help it drive faster bottom-line growth.
For instance, Zoom entered the contact center market in February this year. The company has already rolled out its contact center platform in the U.S. and is adding more regions across the globe. The entry into the contact center market is going to open a huge addressable market for Zoom, as this niche is expected to triple in size to $75 billion in annual revenue in 2026 from $24.1 billion in 2020, according to a third-party estimate.
Investors should also note that Zoom is witnessing impressive growth in customer spending even after the reopening of offices and educational institutions. The number of Zoom customers contributing more than $100,000 in trailing-12-month revenue was up 46% year over year in the first quarter of fiscal 2023 (for the three months ending April 30).
The addition of new services by the company should help it capture a bigger share of customers' wallets and also improve its margin profile. That's why investors looking to buy a beaten-down tech stock that could step on the gas, in the long run, should have Zoom Video Communications on their radars.
