It's been a wild ride for the economy and stock market over the last three years. Many companies are still dealing with macroeconomic headwinds that are pressuring consumer spending and revenue growth, but others are already showing improvement in key numbers that could signal attractive returns ahead for long-term investors.

Here's why three Motley Fool contributors believe it's a good time to buy Opendoor Technologies (OPEN 3.38%), Wayfair (W 2.08%), and Coupang (CPNG -0.52%).

Planting seeds now for growth later

Jennifer Saibil (Opendoor): The housing market is not at its best these days, and that's an understatement. 

Opendoor is an i-buyer, which means it buys and sells homes digitally. It aims to take the complications and pressure points out of home buying, which is almost always a stressful experience. Stressful or not, people aren't buying and selling homes as much as they used to because inflation is rampant and mortgage rates are at high levels.

Opendoor's revenue decreased 53% from last year in the second quarter of 2023 to $2 billion. It sold 5,383 homes, a 35% reduction from the first quarter, and purchased 2,680 homes, 80% lower than in the first quarter. 

Considering the market right now, Opendoor is focusing on cutting expenses while retaining brand awareness. It reduced marketing spending by 80% in the second quarter of 2023; management says it maintained brand awareness through creative strategies like working with online influencers. Current conditions are depressing, but Opendoor is managing them well. 

Digital home buying is still the tiniest fraction of the overall market, accounting for 1% of what is a $1.9 trillion market. This bodes well for its future, which could shake up the industry.

Buying Opendoor right now comes with plenty of risk. The market is suppressed, and profitability is pressured. However, the opportunity looks truly massive. Many investors are already recognizing and taking advantage of the potential here, and Opendoor stock is up 175% so far this year.

Even at the current price, Opendoor shares trade at the dirt-cheap valuation of 0.2 times trailing-12-month sales, making this a real risk vs. reward proposition.

Patient investors who can see the forest beyond the trees, who can stomach the risk, and who have a long time horizon could reap huge rewards down the line.

A return to growth

Jeremy Bowman (Wayfair): Wayfair was a poster child for the pandemic-driven boom and bust in e-commerce and home goods stocks.

As the leading pure-play online home furnishings retailer, Wayfair was a natural beneficiary of the pandemic, but since then, the stock has struggled, and the company has reported eight straight quarters of declining revenue. Consequently, the stock is down 80% from its peak in 2021.

However, there are signs that Wayfair is finally turning the corner.

Revenue fell just 3.4% in its most recent quarter, a sign the company could soon return to growth. U.S. revenue is even closer to recovery, down just 0.4% in the second quarter, showing that the international market is the main reason for the company's struggles.

Even as revenue has fallen, Wayfair has made significant strides on the bottom line after multiple rounds of layoffs and other cost-cutting measures, reporting an adjusted profit of $0.21 per share in the most recent quarter and an adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) of $128 million.

Wayfair's business is likely to struggle while the housing market is slow and interest rates are high, but that won't last forever. The retailer should eventually return to solid growth, and the company has built a number of competitive advantages in areas like customer service, technology, and its wide selection.

With its profitability significantly improved and revenue growth improving, Wayfair looks undervalued at a price-to-sales ratio of just 0.5, especially considering its prospects once the housing market improves and interest rates normalize.

Undervalued growth

John Ballard (Coupang): Investors who would love a second chance at buying stock in Amazon in its early stages of growth should look no further than Coupang -- the leading online retailer in Korea. Last year's slower rate of revenue growth due to headwinds in the economy caused the stock to fall, providing new investors a great opportunity to buy the stock as growth accelerates again.

The company is following a similar strategy to Amazon's. It offers a membership program that provides free shipping, online grocery shopping, and exclusive discounts. It's this value proposition that has driven revenue growth back to double-digit rates this year after slowing in 2022.  On a currency-neutral basis, revenue increased by 21% year over year in the second quarter. 

Active customers grew 10% in the last quarter, reaching nearly 20 million. But even after years of strong growth, Coupang still only controls a single-digit share of the online retail market in Korea. It's also expanding beyond Korea as it invests in Taiwan. 

Coupang is also demonstrating excellent leverage on costs. Earnings per share improved to $0.08 in the quarter, erasing last year's loss. Free cash flow was $1.1 billion on a trailing-12-month basis, a big improvement of $2.2 billion over the year-ago quarter. 

With margins starting to improve, the stock looks undervalued at a price-to-sales ratio of 1.53. Coupang probably won't grow into a global e-commerce leader like Amazon, but the stock offers plenty of upside as Coupang gains share in Korea and neighboring markets.