Bear markets are never fun to go through. A bear market is generally defined as a market drawdown of 20% or more, and we are currently in one of those periods in the United States. As of this writing, the Nasdaq 100 Index is down 24.3% year to date (YTD), with many technology stocks off 50% or even 75% from their recent highs in 2021. Investing through a bear market is stressful, but it can provide a great opportunity to buy some cheap securities for your portfolio.
Here are two value stocks to buy on the cheap during this bear market.
1. Nintendo
Nintendo (NTDOY -0.46%) is one of the largest entertainment companies in the world. The gaming company has made some of the most popular consoles and handheld devices in history, like the Nintendo 64, the Wii, and its current device called the Nintendo Switch. It also owns beloved gaming characters like Mario, Donkey Kong, and Zelda and has a large investment in The Pokémon Company.
With a strong game pipeline and the Switch console still selling like fire around the world, Nintendo is guiding to have another big year. For the full fiscal year ending in March, management is expecting to sell 21 million devices and 210 million software units (game sales), leading to $11.5 billion in revenue and $3.6 billion in operating profit.
Outside of gaming, Nintendo is expanding its ambitions to eventually become a more Disney-like entertainment empire. It is making animated movies in conjunction with Illumination Studios, has theme parks going up in four locations in a partnership with Universal Studios, and is making mobile games with innovative developer Niantic. These investments will take years to become material to Nintendo's financials but are a great way to lock in customers and expand how all its different brands can interact with their various fans.
After subtracting out its $11.3 billion cash position, Nintendo stock has an enterprise value of approximately $37 billion. This gives it a forward enterprise value-to-operating profit (EV/OP) of just 10.3 based on management's forward guidance. And this does not include Nintendo's stake in the Pokémon Company and the hedging gains it will achieve with the Japanese Yen depreciating versus the U.S. dollar this year. If you believe in the long-term durability of Nintendo's gaming properties, this discounted valuation makes it an easy buy right now.
2. Dropbox
Dropbox (DBX 1.27%) is a much simpler and younger business than Nintendo. Founded as a tech start-up a little over a decade ago, the file sharing, cloud storage, and workplace management software platform has become increasingly popular for individuals and small businesses to use to manage their day-to-day storage needs.
Since the company runs a subscription business, the most important top-line metrics to track are paying users and average revenue per paying user (ARPPU). Over the last few years, Dropbox has steadily grown both numbers. In the second quarter, Dropbox had 17.37 million paying users and an ARPPU of $133.34. In the same period in 2018, the company had only 11.9 million paying users and an ARPPU of $116.66. Clearly, Dropbox is seeing a nice tailwind of adoption as people find value in paying for its premium products.
This steady growth in paying users has led to Dropbox becoming increasingly profitable. In 2022, management expects the company to generate $760 million to $790 million in free cash flow. Compared to a market cap of $7.75 billion, that gives Dropbox stock a forward price-to-free cash flow (P/FCF) of approximately 10 if it can hit this forward guidance. For a business that has shown steady growth over the last few years, this P/FCF seems much too low.
Workplace management software is not the most glamorous business, but that doesn't mean Dropbox can't be a great stock to own for the long haul.