Even safe stocks take a hit sometimes. And when you're fully confident in a company's future when that happens, it's often a good move to buy shares on the dip. If you get scared away from a purchase, there's a decent chance that you'll miss out on the upside of the recovery.
Here are a pair of stocks that are likely to be fairly safe in the long term, and which are currently cheaper than they were recently. Especially if you're in the market for investments that'll be growing for years, it's worth at least thinking about whether now's a good time to buy so that you can avoid any regrets down the line.
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1. Pfizer
Despite its stock falling 18% in the past 12 months, Pfizer (PFE -0.41%) hasn't looked this appealing to purchase since the early days of its coronavirus vaccine development efforts in 2020. The pharma company's near term is overtly bearish, with its record revenue haul of $100.3 billion in 2022 expected to crash to as low as $67 billion this year as a result of rapidly declining demand for its coronavirus jab and also its antiviral pill. At the same time, its new vision for long-term performance is quickly taking shape, and it's one that investors will profit by owning a piece of.
Specifically, it expects to continue launching new medicines from its pipeline over the next few years, with a target compound annual growth rate of 6% for its revenue through sometime in 2025 -- essentially, business as usual. During that period, it'll also be going on an acquisition binge with the goal of generating an additional $25 billion in annual revenue by 2030. That means its rate of top-line growth should increase to roughly 10% annually from the end of 2025 through the rest of the decade.
So far this year, it bought the rights to an acute migraine treatment as well as a drug called Etrasimod for ulcerative colitis. In bigger news, it's planning to buy Seagen, a cancer medicine developer, for $43 billion in cash, which it'll generate by taking out $31 billion in long-term debt. Sales of Seagen's existing medicines will bring in more than $2 billion this year, so when the transaction closes, likely sometime in late 2023 or early 2024, that sum will go right to Pfizer. And by 2030, Pfizer expects Seagen's pipeline will deliver enough new medicines to power more than $10 billion in revenue per year.
Buying shares today means getting Pfizer before its stock price accounts for that revenue in its valuation, and before the market appreciates that its top line will eventually surpass 2022's massive sum. And while there's always a risk of failing to execute on commercializing new medicines, Pfizer's vast pipeline means it has so many shots on goal that in the long run, it probably won't matter if a few of its candidates don't work out.
2. Costco
The venerable Costco Wholesale's (COST 1.06%) shares might have fallen 16% since mid-April of 2022, but smart investors know that it's a great option for buying on the dip thanks to its massive long-term runway for growth. Whereas Pfizer's dip story is one of transitioning from boom-time revenue to a new set of revenue sources in the future, Costco's is based around its pricey valuation, which features a price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple of 37 that's far in excess of the market's average P/E near 22. But, that higher price point isn't prohibitively expensive, and it's also quite justifiable. And it isn't likely to get cheaper anytime soon.
After all, most companies can't grow their quarterly net income by an average of 12.8% year over year over the last 10 years, reaching $1.4 billion in its fiscal second quarter of 2023, especially not consumer-facing and narrow-margin businesses like Costco. Even the pandemic's immense disruptions did little to stop its growth, and inflation isn't hurting it much either; in March, its sales grew by 0.5% year over year to reach $21.7 billion. And because the company sells at the lowest possible profitable price a cornucopia of must-buy goods like groceries, gasoline, clothing, and home appliances, among many other things, it'll continue to be a favorite for consumers if the economy has more trouble.
If you're still a skeptic about Costco, perhaps Charlie Munger's take on the stock in 2022 will change your mind: "I wish everything else in America was working as well as Costco does. Think what a positive thing that would be for us all." That's pretty high praise from Warren Buffett's investing partner, and it speaks to one more reason why you might regret not buying a few shares while they're cheaper than usual.
