Carvana (CVNA -0.24%) and Beyond Meat (BYND -2.65%) faced significant hurdles over the past year. As the possibility of continued inflation and market pressures mount, the large dips in these companies could signal a significant buying opportunity for savvy investors. However, this opportunity comes at a fairly high risk.

Here's a closer look at what makes each of these high-risk stocks worth considering today.

Carvana seeks a return to glory

When dealerships shuttered and America went into lockdown during the early days of the pandemic, car buyers increasingly moved online to find their next rides. Carvana benefited greatly from this shift away from traditional used-car dealerships. But that advantage continues to slip away after states removed most lockdown restrictions.

Just one year ago, Carvana shares commanded prices hovering around $150 per share, less than half of its pandemic highs. Today's share prices fall below $10, a drop of roughly 95% in 12 months. However, Carvana's continuing decline is driven by more that just consumer spending habits. Last year's supply chain woes and rising interest rates also cooled the growth that Carvana expected. The company responded with a series of anticipated cost-saving measures, noting that it had planned to reduce expenses as it matured and 2022 became a call to action on that front.

While fears of a market crash, or a least a significant pullback, remain out there, Carvana doesn't have far to fall. Moving toward streamlined operations and working to keep its costs low could well help turn the company's fortunes around and put it in a strong position should tough market headwinds prevail.

Beyond Meat continues to trim costs and create partnerships

Beyond Meat also announced plans to continue streamlining its operations with a goal of reaching positive cash flow this year. With share prices plummeting roughly 70% from this time last year, the company needs to reassure investors that now is the time to buy as it implement its turnaround strategy.

Pricing remains one of the biggest challenges to this strategy. As inflation continues to drive up costs, Beyond Meat cannot easily reduce its prices to challenge beef, pork, or chicken meat providers.

Continued strategic partnerships with foodservice providers may help bolster results, as the brand has become a commonplace name in fast-food chains, where meat substitutes are few and far between. Beyond Meat must also continue to expand its overseas operations, where fewer meat competitors exist in the same market. The release of "McPlant Nuggets" for McDonald's in Germany and similar inroads show that this international focus could be a large part of Beyond Meat's future success.

Another sign of a potential bounce comes in the moves already underway to reduce operations costs. Last year's final earnings report indicated a reduction of $12 million in operations loss. While Beyond Meat still needs to trim some of the fat to return to profitability, indicators such as these show that such initiatives offer more than the mere promise of success. Investors looking for a clear signal from this company should keep an eye on both domestic and international shifts.

Exceptional risk could lead to high returns

Previous success demonstrates that these two companies can command higher share prices and may well dig themselves out of tough times. Speculation may have driven much of previous share prices and overall valuations, but now Carvana and Beyond Meat must both buckle down to deliver on their promises of leaner operations and continued expansion. Concerns over a market crash may be premature, and these companies seem to have already let much of the air out of their respective bubbles.

This pair of stocks offers a rare buying opportunity to invest well below last year's buy-in costs, but it may take quite some time before either growth stock sees share prices return to those glory days. Those holding the stocks should buckle in for the ride. The low sits far too low to drive investors toward selling, and the potential upside of such bargain prices may offer much for investors willing to shoulder the risk.