The stock market doldrums of 2022 will live in infamy. The S&P 500 (^GSPC 0.21%) index fell 19.4% last year, making it the seventh worst market year since 1929.
But the worst market years have often been followed by impressive gains in the next year, and 2023 is shaping up to follow that pattern. Luckily, you still have time to pick up some top-quality stocks at a generous discount before the next bull run. In particular, you should take a second look at media-streaming technology expert Roku (ROKU +0.37%), e-commerce giant Amazon (AMZN +0.38%), and freelance marketplace operator Fiverr International (FVRR 2.80%) while the getting is good.
NASDAQ: ROKU
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Roku
Don't get me wrong -- I understand why market makers slapped a rebate-flavored price tag on the stock as the inflation crisis played out. Roku's high-octane growth has slowed down in recent quarters and the all-important digital advertising market is still far below room temperature.
All of that makes perfect sense, but Roku's market pendulum swung too far in the other direction. The stock deserved a modest correction last year -- not the 92% meltdown it recorded near the end of 2022.
The stock gained 57% in the first half of 2023 but still sits 87% below the all-time highs of 2021. Again, I understand how you could make an argument for this radical price cut, if there were something seriously wrong with Roku's business model or future prospects.
And that's where I can't just nod along anymore.
Roku isn't just an early market leader in the market for streaming video software and services. It essentially created this market, selling the first streaming boxes for Netflix video streams, back when that content was just a free add-on for Netflix's DVD-mailer subscribers. The company has been fine-tuning its user platform ever since, while also collecting valuable viewer data and crafting its own content-publishing plans. If Roku isn't a top solution for streaming systems on a global level in five years, I'll eat my Roku Stick.
I could go into excruciating detail on how Roku's neutral viewing platform serves every content service, and why both new and established streaming channels essentially have to support the Roku platform or miss out on millions of potential viewers. And I could spend hours on the cord-cutting trend pointing to massive long-term growth for the streaming market. Oh, and you don't want to get me started on the temporary nature of the advertising slowdown -- another case of revenues shifting deeper into the digital world over time.
But you could follow the links I just gave you if you want that kind of detail. Here, I'll just say that Roku's business prospects look excellent. Grabbing a few shares at these bargain-bin prices should set you up for tremendous gains as the streaming market matures.
NYSE: FVRR
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Fiverr
Many investors saw Fiverr as a huge beneficiary of the lockdowns and safer-at-home policies of the early coronavirus pandemic. Lots of people found themselves with plenty of extra time on their hands, often equipped with newly upgraded computer systems and network connections, and also eager to grab whatever extra income they could find. So Fiverr's services gained traction, revenues soared, and the stock skyrocketed.
But the gravy train stopped as soon as effective COVID-19 vaccines became widely available. The new thinking was that the sudden freelancing boom must be short-lived, largely forgotten as soon as people could get back to the office again. So Fiverr's stock now trades near an all-time low, 93% below the peaks of early 2021.
And I think that's a big mistake. You see, Fiverr did not run into a brick wall in 2021. Instead, its sales soared 57% higher that year and added another 13% jump on top of that larger revenue platform in 2022. That is indeed a dramatic slowdown, but not for a lack of interest in freelance services. You may have noticed that there's an inflation-based economic crisis to deal with, which makes many businesses hold on to their budgetary purse strings with a tight grip.
Fiverr is quite exposed to that pressure, given how quickly its main clientele in small to medium businesses adjust to economic news.
"We felt macro ahead of everybody else because small businesses are very similar to consumers. So you feel it very, very quickly," Fiverr CEO Micha Kaufman said at an industry conference in May. "Bigger ships take longer to turn. They feel macro slightly slower. They have committees to decide that they want to cut back on expenses, and so on. Smaller businesses don't have that. They just see the wrong headline in the newspaper and they're done. They're playing defense instead of offense."
On the other side of the same coin, Fiverr should enjoy the economic recovery earlier and more dramatically than companies serving enterprise-class clients.
So the rumors of Fiverr's death are exaggerated and the company is just biding its time until the market recovery gets going. Mind you, even the deepest, darkest downturn still allowed Fiverr's sales to grow at a double-digit percentage rate. As a leading gig economy name, this little company is going places in the long haul. You should consider grabbing a couple of shares before the next growth spurt.
NASDAQ: AMZN
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Amazon
The e-commerce and cloud computing titan's retreat from recent highs isn't quite as dramatic as Fiverr's and Roku's, but a 32% discount is nothing to sneeze at.
Once again, we are looking at a market overreaction to a temporary setback based on inflation concerns. In this case, Amazon's customers are not splurging on big-ticket items like up-to-the-minute electronics or fashionable outfits. Instead, the product mix has shifted toward low-priced commodities with thinner profit margins, resulting in the slowest top-line growth numbers in Amazon's history.
Furthermore, Amazon expanded its distribution network a bit too quickly when online retail sales were booming and before the inflation crisis. So the company laid off some of the workers it had just hired. Amazon's sales guidance for the current year has not been inspiring.
You see a trend here, right? Amazon's bears quickly jumped to the conclusion that the best days of e-commerce growth are behind us, and that Amazon surely will become just another slow-growing retail network. And I'm quite sure future investors will remember this period as a speed bump on a long road to global growth.
In other words, it's another big misunderstanding. Amazon looks like a great buy in this market.
