Investors holding technology stocks aren't having a great year. The tech-heavy Nasdaq-100 index has suffered a loss of 33% since the beginning of 2022. Many individual companies have experienced even steeper declines in value.
It might be tempting to take advantage of the heavily discounted share prices of some companies, and in many cases, that's wise long-term thinking. But bear markets often expose deficiencies in the business models of some organizations, which previously went unnoticed when the market was roaring higher.
With that in mind, here's why Workiva (WK -1.40%) is a stock worth buying now, and DoorDash (DASH -0.95%) is one to avoid.
The stock to buy: Workiva
As the pandemic has proven, working remotely is an extremely popular concept for many employees. Technology has made it not only possible but often just as effective as physically being in the office, but it does create challenges when it comes to oversight. It's much harder for managers to monitor a workforce that's sprawled across multiple locations, and collecting data to compile reports based on that work can be an even greater challenge.
That's a problem Workiva aims to solve. Its platform connects to dozens of different online applications and pulls data onto one central dashboard to give managers a single source of truth across workflows. Whether employees are using different systems of record like Microsoft Excel, Salesforce, or Workday, Workiva can aggregate information from each of them.
From there, the platform provides hundreds of reporting templates, including those necessary for reporting to the Securities and Exchange Commission, which significantly cuts down on preparation time.
But Workiva is eyeing a new, emerging opportunity. It's helping companies track their environmental, social, and governance (ESG) impacts, which could be a highly valuable proposition in the future as more governments around the globe mandate such reporting.
In the recent third quarter (ended Sept. 30), Workiva grew its revenue by 17.9% to $132.8 million. But it saw a 25% jump in the number of customers spending $150,000 or more with the company on an annual basis, to 676. That was its fastest-growing customer segment, but it also saw above 20% growth in the cohorts spending at least $100,000 and at least $300,000.
Workiva stock is down 60% from its all-time high, but its platform is becoming essential for large organizations with remote workforces, which is being reflected in its customer growth. Demand for the company's tools will likely continue to expand, so it might be a good time to take a position with a long-term investment horizon.
The stock to sell: DoorDash
DoorDash stock has declined by almost 80% since hitting its all-time high in late 2021. Its valuation back then was largely spurred by pandemic restrictions, which made its food delivery service almost essential for many consumers. That period was so strong that the company experienced quarterly revenue growth in the triple-digit percentages, but that has since tapered off to far more modest levels.
DoorDash completed its acquisition of Wolt earlier this year, a European delivery platform focused on all things commerce, not just food. It's already making a contribution to DoorDash's results. In the third quarter (ended Sept. 30), DoorDash grew its marketplace gross order value (GOV) by 21% year over year to $12.6 billion, but after adding in Wolt's numbers, the figure grew by 30% instead to $13.5 billion. The problem is that DoorDash's stand-alone rate of growth was the slowest this year, and it continued a worrying trend of deceleration.
GOV is a critical number because it represents the total amount customers have spent across the company's platforms, so when growth slows, it points to a pullback in consumer spending. As a result, slower GOV growth can have negative implications for revenue.
While Wolt expands DoorDash's suite of services in both scope and geography, the tech-driven delivery industry is brutally competitive because there aren't many barriers to entry. In other words, it's not hard for a new start-up to get traction, especially if it's willing to charge lower prices. Customer loyalty is relatively low because there isn't much difference in the user experience across platforms; in fact, 62% of Americans use more than one delivery service.
DoorDash is the largest player in the U.S. with a 59% market share, but keeping that up has proven expensive. The company consistently makes net losses, including $296 million in Q3, which was the deepest it has been in the red all year. The company's largest operating expense is marketing, and although it has modestly trimmed it back, it still remains at over $400 million per quarter.
To be clear, DoorDash has over $3.7 billion in cash, equivalents, and marketable securities on its balance sheet, so its net losses aren't an existential threat in the short term. But the company couldn't find a way to be profitable during the pandemic when its business was red hot, so it's difficult to envision a pathway now without materially cutting costs and risking its dominant market share.
For that reason, this might be one stock to avoid for now.
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