After the market's sharp downturn in 2022, many stocks fell to attractive levels. And while some have started to recover this year, major indexes have yet to wipe away the losses they accumulated last year. Plenty of exciting companies still seem pretty cheap.
Let's consider two companies trading below $20 right now that are worth investing in today: Exelixis (EXEL 0.13%) and Snap (SNAP -4.04%).
1. Exelixis
Shares of this oncology-focused biotech are currently selling for about $16.50. Over the past year, has underperformed the market, partly due to reliance on its crown jewel, Cabometyx, which generates the bulk of its sales. Being highly dependent on just one source of revenue can be a problem for any business that isn't a monopoly.
But it is worth noting that Cabometyx is the leading tyrosine kinase inhibitor (a targeted therapy that specifically attacks cancer cells) in treating renal cell carcinoma, a form of kidney cancer. The drug has continued to be approved in more indications, and with multiple ongoing clinical trials, there are likely others on the way.
Exelixis is also developing new medicines. The most advanced non-Cabometyx candidate is zanzalintinib, which is being evaluated in a pair of phase 3 studies as a potential treatment for colorectal cancer and kidney cancer. In both cases, the five-year survival rate is relatively low once the diseases have metastasized, meaning there is a dire need for new medicines in these areas.
The company will launch more late-stage studies for its next potential crown jewel this year. Beyond that, Exelixis has a trio of candidates in early stage clinical trials.
Exelixis has also entered into agreements to develop cancer drugs with other biotechs. It recently announced that the Food and Drug Administration had cleared ADU-1805 to start human clinical trials. Exelixis expects to start testing the drug in the second quater as a potential combination treatment for advanced solid tumors.
It is developing ADU-1805 in collaboration with Sairopa, a private clinical-stage company. Exelixis is casting a wide net, and while it probably won't succeed with every candidate, at least some of them could go on to earn regulatory approval.
The biotech has proved its ability to innovate in the field of oncology -- one of the largest and fastest growing in the industry -- an important reason to consider holding its shares, especially while they trade for less than $20.
2. Snap
At first glance, Snap might look like a bargain: a leading social media specialist whose shares are only about $11.80 as of this writing. But it's important to mention the company's issues. It suffered from many of the same problems as other social media giants over the past year or so -- particularly a decrease in ad spending, which is its primary source of revenue.
To that we can add Apple's privacy-centered iOS changes that made it harder for businesses to track the success of their ad campaigns. All of that weighed on Snap's results last year.
In the fourth quarter, revenue of $1.3 billion more or less remained flat compared to the year-ago period. Total revenue of $4.6 billion for 2022 increased by almost 12% year over year, and even then, that's not at all impressive by Snap's historical standards.
SNAP revenue (annual YoY growth) data by YCharts; YoY = year over year.
And Snap isn't profitable. It reported a net loss of $1.4 billion for 2022, much worse than the $488 million recorded in the previous fiscal year. Is there any hope?
The answer is yes, especially because one of its key metrics continues to head northbound: daily active users (DAUs). Snap ended the year with 375 million DAUs, an increase of 17% year over year. The company's popularity among users age 13 to 34 is worth mentioning. It reaches more than 70% of people in this demographic in 20 countries that represent more than half of the world's digital ad spending.
Snap can continue to grow its audience, especially as younger people come to make up an increasingly larger percentage of the population. Moreover, the company reports that users are spending more time on Snapchat. These factors can add up to higher revenue, especially once digital ad spending picks up.
The economy won't stay down forever, so while Snap might still be vulnerable in the short run, the long-term prospects look attractive. It's a good idea to consider initiating a position in this company while its shares are down.
