The stock market may be down and investors may be selling growth stocks, but there are still some companies with explosive results that are worth your attention. And they're trading at lower levels than we've seen in years.
Three companies that I think have outstanding results and explosive investment potential are Block (SQ 1.52%), Cloudflare (NET +2.52%), and Wynn Resorts (WYNN 2.47%). Here's why.
NYSE: SQ
Key Data Points
1. Block
Over the last five years, Block's revenue is up to nearly $17 billion, which does include the impact of Bitcoin trading, but that's an impressive result by any metric. Revenue growth has slowed this year, but I'll highlight below that's primarily because of a decline in Bitcoin volume, not weakness in the core business. Free cash flow is also improving and positive, which isn't the case for a lot of growing software companies right now.
SQ Revenue (TTM) data by YCharts
In the third quarter, total revenue was up 17% to $4.52 billion, but excluding Bitcoin (which is not a money-making business) revenue was up 36% to $2.75 billion.
What's most impressive is how well the company's core operations have done in 2022 as many competitors have faced softening results. The company's gross profit jumped 38% to $1.57 billion, with Cash App gross profit up 51% to $774 million and Square gross profit up 29% to $783 million.
This isn't just a company growing on payment volume increases, either. Square's subscription and services revenue increased from $99 million in the third quarter of 2019 to $332 million last quarter. This is a sustainable profit driver, as Square is used more by businesses.
Adoption of Block's consumer and business platforms are increasing, which makes this a stock that could explode in coming years.
NYSE: NET
Key Data Points
2. Cloudflare
One of the biggest winners of the software as a service infrastructure market is Cloudflare, but the company has suffered from an unsustainable high valuation on the market. The company's stock has fallen 75% from its all-time high because investors realized a price-to-sales ratio over 100 didn't make sense for the company. Despite the drop, shares still trade at an 17.5 price-to-sales ratio, which is well above the market's multiple because of the company's growth.
In the third quarter of 2022, revenue was up 47% to $254 million, and between 2016 and 2021, the company grew at a compound annual growth rate of 51%.
The company's critical infrastructure products are unmatched in the industry and integrating with 11,000 networks and 156,000 paying customers. I think that's where the company can leverage to move into even more markets.
But the bottom line needs to improve. Operating loss was $45.9 million last quarter, and GAAP net loss was $42.5 million as Cloudflare invests heavily in sales, marketing, and R&D to grow the business. If spending on operations slows and the company starts turning a profit in the next few years, this stock will be off to the races.
NASDAQ: WYNN
Key Data Points
3. Wynn Resorts
Few companies have been hit as hard by the pandemic as Wynn Resorts. The company's two most profitable resorts in Macao have been shut down off and on since the pandemic began as China pursued a zero-COVID policy. Revenue and EBITDA, a proxy for cash flow, were heavily impacted.
WYNN Revenue (TTM) data by YCharts
So, why could this be an explosive stock? Starting with Las Vegas, we have seen gambling revenue surge since travel went back to "normal" in the U.S. And Las Vegas has never been stronger. In the 12 months ending Oct. 31, gambling revenue on the Las Vegas Strip was $8.2 billion, an all-time high and up 25% from $6.6 billion in 2019. This recovery is a big reason the stock is up sharply over the last few months.
Macao has been a very different story. Gambling revenue was $2.84 billion in November 2019 alone and had fallen to $374 million in November 2022. That's why Wynn Resorts has struggled, but China is now starting to loosen COVID restrictions, and it's expected that by the middle of 2023 travel will be much more open than it is today.
We don't know if Wynn's Macao operations will return to pre-pandemic levels, but the reference point is Las Vegas, where visitors are gambling more than ever. After three years of lockdowns, China's gambling enclave could follow an even more explosive path, and that's why I like Wynn Resorts' stock.
High-potential stocks
Block, Cloudflare, and Wynn Resorts have explosive potential for very different reasons. In each case, I don't think the market fully appreciates what powerful companies these are, and that could change in 2023.
