If you're worried that a beaten-down stock market could get even worse, you're not alone. Through most of October, weekly surveys from the American Association of Individual Investors (AAII) showed a strong majority of us expect markets to continue falling in the near term.
While the overall market may be expected to decline, investment bank analysts who follow certain growth stocks are predicting big gains up ahead. Consensus price targets on these stocks suggest they can double your money or better. Here's why the experts are so optimistic.
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Butterfly Network
Butterfly Network (BFLY -0.31%) makes the world's only handheld ultrasound scanners. In addition to making high-quality ultrasound scans affordable, the company sells a software service that helps organize and interpret the deluge of scans that clinicians are taking with their new handheld devices.
Shares of Butterfly Network tanked around 16.5% on Thursday, Nov. 3, in response to a third-quarter earnings report that was only mildly disappointing. Revenue that grew 34% year over year to $19.6 million was slightly less than investment bank analysts had predicted.
Analysts on Wall Street who follow Butterfly Network expect it to bounce back. The average target on this stock is 101% above its recent price. They're especially encouraged by improving margins and software and services revenue that jumped 71% year over year.
Ultrasounds are traditionally used to confer medical decisions based on outside observation. Butterfly Network makes using ultrasounds earlier in the process economically feasible, but it will take time for the global medical community to adjust.
In its third-quarter report, Butterfly reiterated an expectation to lose between $155 million and $145 million this year before adjusting for interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization. A chance to sell millions of ultrasound processing subscriptions make this stock look like a buy right now. That said, negative cash flows make it relatively risky.
Lovesac
Lovesac (LOVE -2.59%) is another company with a captive customer base. It's named after high-end beanbag chairs that you can still buy. But these days, sectional seating solutions called Sactionals are its main source of revenue.
COVID-related lockdowns were a boost for Lovesac that didn't last. Fear of diminished demand for premium sofas now that we can all go back to work has pushed the stock down by 66% this year. Analysts who follow Lovesac expect a big rebound. The consensus price target on this stock suggests it could climb 212% before too long.
Lovesac's Sactional business is exciting because it could see more repeat customers than any furniture company in history. Sactionals can be reconfigured and upgraded to grow with families or split into smaller units once children have their own homes.
Replacing worn-out cushions and upholstery is already driving heaps more repeat business than you'd expect for a furniture company. During Lovesac's fiscal 2022, which ended Jan. 31, more than two-fifths of all transactions were from existing customers.
In addition to a captive customer base, Lovesac benefits from extraordinarily wide profit margins unheard of in the furniture business. During the quarter that ended July 31, Lovesac reported a 54.5% gross margin.
Unlike Butterfly Network, Lovesac is generating profits. Right now, you can buy the stock for a low multiple of just 8.2 times earnings. That's a valuation fit for a business expected to stagnate, but Lovesac is still growing fast. Second-quarter revenue soared 45% year over year. Even if a looming recession that may or may not happen cuts Lovesac's growth rate in half, the stock looks like an unbeatable bargain right now.
