As we near the end of a challenging 2022, most investors probably aren't too sad to see it go. But despite the misery of what looks likely to be the worst year on record since 2008, investors can see the silver lining in taking advantage of great stocks selling at low prices.
Stock market corrections and even bear markets are an inevitable part of investing. They hurt, but if you have a properly diversified portfolio and start investing early enough, they shouldn't spoil your game. So while we're still experiencing pressure, grab stocks that present buying opportunities.
MercadoLibre (MELI -1.10%) and Fiverr International (FVRR) are two top stocks to buy right now.
The opportunity in Latin American e-commerce
MercadoLibre continues to enjoy high sales growth as it dominates Latin American e-commerce. In the third quarter, sales increased 61% over last year, and both its e-commerce division, which is similar to Amazon, and its fintech solutions, similar to PayPal, were very strong.
The company had posted triple-digit growth throughout five consecutive quarters at the beginning of the pandemic, and even facing those tough comparable sales, it's maintaining incredibly high growth rates. A number of factors are contributing to the success, from a first-mover's edge and a large market of 18 countries in which it operates to easy-to-use services and strategic investments in its businesses.
This was particularly well illustrated in Brazil, which is the most populous country in Latin America (with nearly 214 million people) and one of MercadoLibre's largest markets. Industry observers believed the company had outgrown that market. But contrary to those estimates, MercadoLibre's gross merchandise volume (GMV) increased 20% year over year in the third quarter while net revenue jumped 35%.
On Black Friday, which MercadoLibre celebrated with a promotional week from November 21 to November 27, overall Brazilian e-commerce fell 23% year over year, but MercadoLibre's sales there increased 19%. The company attributed that strong showing to an agile system that works with third-party sellers to meet changing consumer demand.
The fintech side of the business is also posting huge growth and, as a smaller part of the overall business, has tremendous potential. Off-platform use of MercadoPago, the digital payments app, increased 122% in the third quarter, and it added more unique users in the third quarter than any other in the past two years.
MercadoLibre stock is down 35% this year, and the shares trade at about five times trailing-12-month sales, which looks incredibly cheap for a company with so much potential. This is an excellent time to buy this unstoppable stock before it heads back up.
Maintaining its dominance in the gig economy
Fiverr became a household name during the pandemic as companies decentralized and workers went remote. It demonstrated high growth throughout, and its stock catapulted an outrageous 730% in 2020.
In the aftermath of that excitement, growth is slowing down, and investors are becoming impatient with the company's continued losses. A few things set Fiverr apart, however, and it's cutting through its challenges to become more efficient and generate higher sales.
I would say the main differentiating factor for Fiverr is the successful capture of its business market. Fiverr is essentially a platform connecting freelancers and service buyers. It launched a business segment to provide higher-level solutions for medium- and large-scale companies that buy more services, and this has been an incredible growth driver.
Fiverr's model is somewhat different than that of most freelance platforms because workers provide their services in the form of gigs, or prepackaged product types with definitive parameters. There's less negotiation involved, since buyers see what they're getting and at what cost, making the transactions more transparent and less prone to problems. Fiverr sees its platform as an e-commerce marketplace and calls its model product-as-a-service.
Management says it has a $247 billion market in the U.S., of which it now owns just a tiny fraction. As more companies rely on remote work and growing numbers of freelance workers feed that trend, Fiverr is well-positioned to benefit.
Wall Street sees Fiverr as a sure bet. Out of the nine analysts that research the stock, none issued sell or underperform ratings, and their price targets for Fiverr range from 2.2% to 54.8% gains over the next 12 months.
Fiverr stock is down 72% this year, and shares trade at a price-to-sales ratio of 3.5, which looks very reasonable for a company with Fiverr's potential. This stock could be explosive in 2023 and long into the future.
