A lot of investors will be happy to say good riddance to 2022 in another month, particularly those who invested in tech stocks. After a 14-year-long bull market, the tech-laden Nasdaq-100 is still down over 28% year to date with a firm grasp on a bear market correction.
While the Dow Jones Industrial Average has clawed its way back to near breakeven (it's down 5% as of this writing), tech stocks are still in a funk. As disappointing and painful as that is, it also represents an opportunity because many of the top names in the space have been beaten down -- and not necessarily unfairly. There have been problems with the businesses that indicated the stocks didn't warrant trading at inflated values, since they were no longer on the same growth trajectory.
Yet it's also not fatal to their long-term performance, so the new, cheaper valuations are a chance to buy these otherwise good companies at a price not seen in a while.
Image source: Getty Images.
If you've been keeping some powder dry for just such a moment -- and really you should always have some cash available to take advantage of market mispricings like this -- then you might want to consider the following pair of stocks that are now sporting discounts.
With $2,000 waiting to be deployed, you could start or add to positions in Apple (AAPL 1.27%) and Shopify (SHOP -2.37%).
Apple
Apple stock is down about 20% from its 52-week high, and there's the distinct possibility it could go lower as China's zero-COVID policies are causing protests in the country.
Workers at Apple's iPhone factory in China that's operated by Foxconn were seen rioting over workplace conditions due to a COVID-19 outbreak, and clashes with police have spread into many major cities as the government orders citizens to remain indoors.
It's quite possible Apple will experience iPhone shortages that cause the tech giant to miss its earnings numbers next quarter. Bloomberg reports that Apple could fall 6 million iPhone Pro units short from production losses as a result, at a time when sales were seemingly softening. Although iPhone revenue was $14.6 billion last quarter, it missed analyst expectations, as did iPad sales, though Mac and wearables revenue was markedly higher.
Services, of course, is expected to be where Apple's future growth comes from and the tech leader said paid subscriptions across all of its platforms soared by 155 million in the quarter to 900 million. It's also noteworthy that Apple remains Warren Buffett's biggest holding in Berkshire Hathaway.
A dollar-cost averaging strategy would be useful with Apple as it would allow you to benefit if there's further weakness in the stock as a result of the foregoing, but still having a stake should Apple prove more resilient than expected as has occurred many times before.
Image source: Getty Images.
Shopify
Online e-commerce platform provider Shopify has lost more than three-quarters of its value as the boost from the pandemic faded to the background. Yet Adobe says U.S. consumers spent a record $9.1 billion online on Black Friday, and Shopify said its sales for the day grew 19% year over year to a record $3.4 billion on a currency neutral basis. At its peak, Shopify was seeing sales of $3.5 million a minute, showing retail is not dead yet -- at least not online.
Cyber Monday was another big day, and Shopify said its Friday-to-Monday sales total hit a record $7.5 billion, up 21% from last year on a constant currency basis.
Shopify has transformed from simply being a tool merchants can use to have an online presence to a provider of a suite of tools that are helping its customers manage through the current environment.
With plenty of cash and short-term investments available ($4.9 billion at the end of last quarter), Shopify can easily survive any short-term headwinds. E-commerce will continue growing into the preferred shopping channel, pointing to the platform provider having a long runway of growth still before it.
