3 Top Stocks at Half Price

You love buying your shirts when they go on sale. And who can resist a buy-one-get-one-free offer? So when our stocks go on sale, why do we bemoan their low prices?

Smart investors like Warren Buffett or Marty Whitman love it when their stocks are suddenly selling at bargain-basement prices. For them, these companies become no-brainer buys.

The investors in the Motley Fool CAPS community also like a bargain, apparently. Below, you'll find three companies whose shares are selling at least 50% below their 52-week highs, but that still earn high honors from our investor-intelligence database. Consider it a BOGO sale on stocks.

Source: Motley Fool CAPS.

Naturally, we want you to look a bit closer at these stocks before buying. You can get low-priced appliances in the dent-and-ding section of your home-remodeling superstore, but their quality might not be so good. Same thing here: Make sure there's nothing seriously wrong with the company before you plug it into your portfolio.

Take two, they're small
I recently expressed concern that wireless backhaul operator Dragonwave may lose contracts with Clearwire (Nasdaq: CLWR) because it's an all-outdoor equipment maker, and it might not be able to pick up clients like Verizon and AT&T to make up the difference.

In a comment to that article, jrich0591, who sounds like he may work for Dragonwave, corrected me by saying the company is a leading all-indoor equipment provider, too, but that even the wireless carriers realize that such technology is not the best solution:

The fact is that DragonWave is a leader in all-indoor configurations as well. We have an excellent, extremely cost-effective all-indoor solution with Horizon Compact and our indoor install kit. However, it is important to note that an all-indoor configuration is sub-optimal in today's wireless networks versus split-mount or all-outdoor configurations. An all-indoor configuration is a throwback to legacy microwave systems of the past, when radios were more environmentally sensitive and less reliable than today (e.g., DragonWave high-capacity microwave radios deliver 99.999% availability).

While that may be, Dragonwave's recent weak guidance resulted in the stock cratering, even though it essentially met Wall Street's revenue and profit expectations. As that guidance was only for one quarter though, and not its usual full-year outlook, the fears over Clearwire's contract are gaining traction. Regardless of whether Dragonwave ultimately keeps Clearwire on board, it highlights the risks associated with a concentrated customer list (Clearwire accounted for 87% of quarterly revenues) and shows the importance of investing in companies with enough diversity.

Clearly, CAPS members are willing to shoulder that risk since 96% of those rating the backhaul equipment maker believe it will outperform the market.

Holding the trump card
Macau, the world's largest gambling market, generated record gambling revenues that soared 70% higher in April. Little wonder Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS) reported second-quarter earnings that quadrupled over last year, while Wynn Resorts (Nasdaq: WYNN) saw Macau-related revenues jump 32%.

With gamblers going all-in on Macau once again, look for the only publicly traded pure play on the island to improve its hand. Melco Crown Entertainment saw first-quarter revenues rise 162% as its City of Dreams performed dreamily and contributed most of the increase (the casino wasn't open in the first quarter of 2009). With its House of Dancing Water on track to open in the third quarter, Melco is holding a winning hand.

CAPS member powersatch says Melco's future is coming up aces and has strong long-term growth prospects:

Macau is the fastest-growing gaming market in the world.
Insiders own 32% of shares, and earnings are expected to grow at a 52% clip for the next 5 years.

Not playing games
Like LDK Solar (NYSE: LDK) and ReneSola, Suntech Power expects to report first-quarter earnings in June that are better than what's forecast, but despite promises of increased demand, perhaps we shouldn't count on that holding up. Tariff cuts by Italy, Spain, and Germany have customers hurrying up to beat the deadline. Without the rich subsidies in place, can Suntech and other solar shops really anticipate such strong growth numbers?

The market doesn't think so. After a number of solar companies saw shares rise rapidly on the better than expected numbers, they're starting to give back a lot of those gains. Some of that can be attributed to the broader market slide, but that in itself is predicated on the possibility of a double-dip recession which doesn't bode well for solar growth.

That's the outlook CAPS member cbwang888 has when he looks at the financial stress that global economies are experiencing:

I'm seeing more downside and consolidation for solar stocks ...

Greece, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Germany are all big markets for solar ...

China is one of the few country can really afford subsiding their solar industry ...

Have half a mind
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