After the recent market downturn, there is good news for growth-oriented investors. The bad news is that growth stocks are down massively this year; oddly enough, the good news is the same. Plenty of beaten-down growth stocks could provide outsized returns to those who buy at current levels and hold their shares for a while.
That's the beauty of bear markets: They present investors with incredible opportunities to make money. With that in mind, let's examine two growth stocks to consider buying before the market recovers: Match Group (MTCH -0.19%) and Block (SQ -1.97%).
1. Match Group
Match Group helps people find love by connecting them with potential partners they might have never met otherwise. The online dating specialist has a portfolio of websites and apps, most notably Tinder, its namesake Match.com, Hinge, and more. Match Group is struggling right now for the same reason many other corporations are. The challenging macroeconomic environment is affecting its users and, therefore, its revenue.
The company reports that its platforms that target customers with less discretionary income, such as Plenty of Fish, are particularly affected. In the third quarter, the company's total revenue increased by a paltry 1% year over year (YOY) to $810 million. Putting aside the effect of currency exchange movements, Match Group's revenue increased by 10% YOY.
Match Group's paying users increased by 2% YOY to 16.5 million. The company's revenue per payer of $16.02 remained flat year over year.
Match Group is going through a bit of a transition. The company hired a new CEO this year, Bernard Kim, who set out to improve the business, especially Tinder. Kim decided to let go of the app's former CEO, Renate Nyborg, citing Tinder's inability to live up to its potential and failure to pounce on some important opportunities under Nyborg.
Under new guidance (though with no official CEO yet), Tinder is experimenting with various initiatives designed to help improve the experience of its users. Match expects Tinder and the rest of its business to record stronger revenue growth in 2023. Beyond that, the company is still looking at a massive online opportunity in online dating.
Match Group estimates that only 15% of singles between 18 and 24 use Tinder on a monthly basis in its 10 largest markets within the U.S. The company's penetration is even lower in most other countries. Further, the value of Match's platform increases as more people use it, with more potential daters attracting each other to its ecosystem.
That grants Match a solid competitive edge that will help it increase its payers, revenue, and stock price. Investors should pounce on the company's stock while it remains near its 52-week low.
2. Block
Block is a fintech specialist that serves both individuals and businesses through its Cash App and Square ecosystems, respectively. The former is a peer-to-peer payment app with many more features, including direct deposit, free tax preparation services, a debit card, and stock and cryptocurrency trading. Cash App directly competes with banks in many ways.
Block's goal has been to target the underbanked population. The company's Square ecosystem is equally valuable to businesses, providing portable point-of-sales systems, inventory and payroll services, and more. Block is performing surprisingly well amid the economic challenges we face. The company's revenue grew by about 17% YOY in the third quarter to $4.5 billion.
The company is not consistently profitable yet, reporting a net loss of $15 million during the period. Block's business had broken even in the third quarter of the previous fiscal year. Block's inability to stay profitable is one of the reasons its stock is struggling. The company has also been hit hard by the fall of cryptocurrencies. Block generates a non-negligible amount of its revenue from Bitcoin trading.
In the third quarter, the company's Bitcoin revenue (the dollar amount of Bitcoin sales to customers) declined by 3% YOY to $1.76 billion. Excluding Bitcoin, Block's top line jumped by 36% YOY.
Block's Cash App and Square ecosystems continue to turn in solid gross profits. Cash App's gross profit came in at $774 million, 51% higher than the year-ago period, while Square's jumped by 29% YOY to $783 million. The crypto space is fairly volatile, and uncertainty surrounding Bitcoin could continue to weigh on the company's financial results and stock price. But the good news is that Block's square and Cash App ecosystems still have plenty of room to run, especially as the fintech giant adds additional features to attract even more users.
The company recently rolled out a feature on Cash App that helps users search for items that allow buy now, pay later (BNPL) transactions through the company's BNPL subsidiary, Afterpay, or through Cash App Pay. Block is still in the early innings of its attempt to add e-commerce functionality to Cash App, while its Square ecosystem continues to make tremendous progress.
The company is well-positioned over the long run to reward investors who pick up its shares on the dip.
