It's been a difficult year for the stock market, but sometimes tough conditions create buying opportunities in beaten-up stocks. For vastly different reasons, I think Johnson Controls (JCI 0.13%), Baker Hughes (BKR 0.56%), and ABB (ABBN.Y -1.51%) are attractive stocks right now. Here's why.
1. Johnson Controls
It's been a disappointing year for the heating, ventilation, air conditioning (HVAC), building products, and controls company. Going into 2022, the company's game plan mirrored much of the industrial sector. The supply chain issues would ease through 2022, leading to substantive margin expansion in the second half as supply chain costs came down and component shortages eased. As such, the company would be ideally placed to deliver on its growing backlog of orders.
Meanwhile, Johnson Controls would continue to make headway with its digital platforms intended to help customers create healthy, clean buildings while reducing carbon emissions by creating smart buildings.
Unfortunately, only part of that scenario came true. Orders remain in double-digit growth mode, and the backlog keeps hitting record highs. However, management cut its full-year guidance in May since it was finding it a lot harder to overcome supply chain issues than it originally thought.
That said, Wall Street still thinks the stock can grow operating profit by 18% next year, driven by its pricing power, strong order book, $11.1 billion backlog, and ongoing cost-cutting measures. Throw in the probability that supply chain disruptions and component shortages (such as semiconductors) will ease, allowing the company to deliver some higher-margin technology products, and the outlook is bright.
2. Baker Hughes
Having tracked its oil equipment and services peers Schlumberger and Halliburton through much of 2022, the market decided to decouple the stock after a disappointing set of second-quarter results. Component shortages, supply chain challenges, a $365 million charge from the suspension of activities in Russia, and a CEO discussing a deteriorating demand outlook were enough to make investors ditch the stock.
Still, it's worth noting that oil is currently trading at $90 per barrel -- a level traditionally seen as highly conducive to oil investment. Meanwhile, CEO Lorenzo Simonelli has promised to evaluate the organizational structure of the business, with an eye toward better aligning its operations and creating synergies. In addition, the significant increase in liquified natural gas (LNG) -- partly driven by the opportunity to sell into Europe as a replacement for Russian gas -- is giving Baker Hughes a growth opportunity.
Value investors often buy the ugly duckling of the sector, provided they are convinced the company can play catch-up to its peers' operational performance while enjoying the same end market conditions. Baker Hughes looks like a good example of such a stock.
3. ABB
Speaking of ugly ducklings, European industrial giant ABB has long been seen as one among its peers. Despite leading positions in some exciting end markets, including discrete automation, process automation, robotics, motion control, e-mobility (electric vehicle charging stations), and electrification products, the company has disappointed with serial underperformance.
Matters came to a head in 2019 with the departure of former CEO Ulrich Spiesshofer and then the appointment of new CEO Bjorn Rosengren in 2020. Since then, ABB has changed its organizational structure, sold off noncore businesses, and will spin off its turbocharging and e-mobility businesses in due course.
Meanwhile, Rosengren has put a plan in place to reach an earnings before interest, taxation, and amortization (EBITA) margin of 15% in 2023 from just 11.1% in 2019. Given that the EBITA margin hit 15.5% in the second quarter, investors have good reason to believe ABB will get there.
In addition, the long-term outlook remains positive as the trend toward electrification in the economy continues. In addition, industrial companies are looking toward robotics and automation as a solution to many of the issues faced by the manufacturing sector due to the pandemic. All told, ABB's turnaround strategy is working, and management is starting to realize the full value of its businesses.
