It's no secret the market had an atrocious year in 2022. However, with practically every stock heavily sold off, some innocent bystanders were also affected. These are the companies I'm targeting in 2023 since they are undervalued from a historical perspective yet still have tailwinds.
Here are four stocks I think investors will be thanking themselves later for buying now.
1. Airbnb
Airbnb (ABNB +2.80%) is the leader in booking vacation rentals and experiences for travelers. With a 25% increase in nights and experiences booked in its third quarter, driving a 31% gain in gross booking value, the company is still experiencing much growth on the platform. And it has become incredibly profitable, generating $3.3 billion in free cash flow over the past 12 months.
NASDAQ: ABNB
Key Data Points
That values Airbnb at 17 times free cash flow, absurdly cheap for a rapidly growing business (or even one growing moderately). With revenue expected to grow by 12.2% in 2023, this valuation will only get cheaper as long as Airbnb responsibly grows its expenses.
With the stock down over 50% from its all-time high, now looks like a great time to get into Airbnb's stock.
2. MercadoLibre
In Latin America, no other e-commerce player compares to MercadoLibre (MELI +0.58%). Through its online platform, digital payments offering, shipping logistics division, and consumer credit business, MercadoLibre has everything it needs to bring e-commerce to the masses.
Although MercadoLibre started as an e-commerce business, its fintech wing (digital payments and consumer credit) generates nearly the same revenue now. Furthermore, fintech grew at a blistering 115% pace to $1.23 billion in the third quarter, with commerce growing at a much slower (although very respectable) 33% to $1.47 billion.
NASDAQ: MELI
Key Data Points
Despite this growth pace, the stock trades at 4.4 times sales -- the lowest since the bottom of the Great Recession in 2009. With analysts guiding for 23.1% growth for 2023, the stock is primed to explode higher this year once investors realize not every e-commerce company is struggling.
3. Adobe
Adobe's (ADBE 2.06%) 2022 will be remembered for one thing: its bold $20 billion acquisition of Figma. This acquisition can break the company with its sheer cost, but the collaborative benefits that Adobe is acquiring should more than pay for themselves in the long run.
NASDAQ: ADBE
Key Data Points
In response to this purchase, investors sold off the stock to a price-to-free-cash-flow multiple of 21.7, the lowest since it switched its business in 2014 to the software-as-a-service (SaaS) model. While this isn't as cheap as Airbnb's stock, it's a low price for a company that generates a vast amount of free cash every year.
Over the past year, Adobe has generated more than $7 billion in free cash flow, which means it can digest the Figma acquisition in under three years if it devotes its cash flows to this purpose. So while the market is pessimistic about this acquisition, investors should use this as their chance to purchase one of the market's best software companies.
4. Autodesk
Autodesk (ADSK 0.58%) is another SaaS company. It supplies engineers and architects with the tools to create blueprints and mechanical drawings. This makes Autodesk an expense that cannot be cut, helping to position its products as recession-proof.
Despite growing revenue by 14% and earnings per share (EPS) by 48% in the third quarter of fiscal 2023 (ended Oct. 31), the stock is valued at its lowest since it switched to the SaaS model. At 22.4 times free cash flow, Autodesk is just asking to be bought.
And analysts expect a year of 9.4% revenue growth with a 10.9% increase in EPS, so 2023 has the potential to be a recovery year for Autodesk.
All four stocks excite me for 2023, and I think investors will have a successful year with these companies in their portfolios.
