No investor likes to see a portfolio decline, but with the S&P 500 down 20% year to date, the stock market is on track to have its worst year since 2008.
But there's a silver lining to the 2022 sell-off. Stocks are cheap, and a surprising number of them are actually below pre-pandemic levels as investors have essentially discounted the significant growth through 2020 and 2021.
If you're looking for a few stocks that could be poised to rebound next year, check out the two names below.
1. Roku
If you want a stock at a discount to its pre-pandemic levels, Roku (ROKU 1.58%) should be near the top of your list.
The leading streaming platform has plunged 81% this year as revenue growth has slowed and the company's profits from a year ago have turned into losses. But there are good reasons for those challenges.
First, advertising demand has fallen sharply as advertisers trim their budgets and prepare for a recession. Roku isn't the only digital ad platform that has been affected by this trend. Leading digital ad businesses like Google and Facebook have both seen rapid deceleration as have other social media platforms. Roku even forecast a slight decline in revenue in the fourth quarter.
The company spent aggressively last year to grow its business, which has led it to report wide losses in 2022, and investors have taken a dim view of the streaming industry as subscribers at services like Walt Disney and Netflix seem to be plateauing.
However, 2023 could bring better news for Roku. First, Disney and Netflix have recently launched their ad-supported tiers, and Roku typically takes 30% of its streaming partners' ad inventory, which could be a boon if the ad tiers gain adoption. If a recession happens, consumers could also trade down to ad-supported streaming tiers, which would benefit Roku over the long run.
Second, advertising demand is likely to rebound quickly once businesses believe the recession has passed and consumers are ready to spend again. Digital ad budgets can be easily adjusted, making them sensitive to the broader economy, and they could ramp up as quickly as they fell.
Roku is not only down 81% year to date, but it has also fallen 67% from the beginning of 2020 before the pandemic started. If the business starts to gain momentum, there's a lot of upside potential in the stock.
2. RH
RH (RH -3.37%) CEO Gary Friedman has a reputation for being blunt, and he didn't hold back on the recent earnings call, telling investors that the housing market had collapsed and that he was afraid things would get worse before they get better.
The fortunes of the high-end home furnishings retailer (formerly known as Restoration Hardware) are naturally tied to the housing market; home purchases help drive spending on new furniture. And the boom in housing prices during the pandemic gave consumers more money to spend due to the wealth effect of their home values increasing, and they were able to borrow against that increased home equity value at rock-bottom interest rates.
Management has been sober about the macroeconomic headwinds. But at the same time, it is spending aggressively on new projects, launching the brand across Europe with several new design galleries and extending the brand in a number of new ways. These include leasing a pair of jets and a yacht, opening a new hotel and restaurant in New York, and launching an upcoming streaming service focused on architecture and design.
RH also envisions the company selling fully furnished houses, effectively becoming a player in the massive housing market. It's a bold vision for the company, but it could make the stock a big winner over the coming years if it resonates with its customers. And RH already has a built-in loyal customer base thanks to its membership program, which offers discounts on its products for a $175 annual fee.
Given those prospects, the stock looks dirt cheap at a price-to-earnings ratio of 9. While the next few quarters could be rough for RH, the stock, which is down 52% year to date, could rebound aggressively once the economy starts improving or if its new businesses show results.
