Key Points
- Alibaba Group has plummeted 49% since peaking 13 months ago.
- Alibaba's Singles' Day isn't what it used to be now given China's "common prosperity" initiative.
- Alibaba and two other U.S. former market darlings have a strong chance to bounce back from here.
The market's getting volatile, but it's still trading close to its recent all-time highs. Are you waiting for the market to take a big hit before putting your money on the sidelines to work? Well, a lot of last year's biggest stars have already crashed.
Shares ofAlibaba Group Holding(NYSE:BABA),Zoom Video, and Pinterest have all plummeted at least 40% since hitting all-time highs. The markdowns seem overdone. Let's take a closer look.
1. Alibaba
Thursday should've been a big day for China's online retailers. It's Singles' Day! Alibaba created the shopping holiday that takes place every year on Nov. 11 -- called Singles' Day because of the 11/11 date -- but it has since been widely adopted by smaller e-tailers.
Singles' Day is hitting different this year. China's government push for "common prosperity" finds it unfashionable to tout commerce and consumption. Alibaba is highly unlikely to match the $74 billion it rang up in sales during last year's "Double 11" celebration.
Alibaba enters Singles' Day trading 49% below the all-time high it hit late last year. Investors have steered clear of China's growth stocks in the wake of the government's crackdown on several industries, but the real bargain for Singles' Day could be shares of Alibaba itself. It has grown revenue by at least 32% every year over the past decade. Even now as Alibaba grapples with the COVID-19 crisis and the country's common prosperity objectives, trailing revenue has climbed 40%.
2. Zoom Video
The rise and fall of Zoom Video is well known. The videoconferencing platform skyrocketed in popularity during the early months of the pandemic when in-person classes, work meetings, and gatherings of friends and family weren't safe. Now that we're largely vaccinated and case counts are lower is there really a future for Zoom?
The market seems to think that the future will be bleak. Like Alibaba, shares of Zoom peaked 13 months ago. Zoom stock has plummeted 57% since that high. The twist here is that Zoom is still growing. Revenue rose 54% inits latest quarter. Sure, revenue is decelerating. We're not going to return to the triple-digit top-line growth that Zoom posted in each of the five previous quarterly reports.
However, Zoom is still growing in the recovery climate. Video meetings will continue to be a cost-effective way to gather and get things done. Zoom is fleshing out its offerings, and a recently fumbled acquisition attempt won't stop the evolutionary process. There was a crazy time last year when Zoom was trading for more than 100 times trailing revenue. The one-two punch of heady sales growth and the cascading stock price finds that multiple whittled down to just 20 right now.
3. Pinterest
A year ago we were leaning on Pinterest to get crafty. The visual discovery engine was a valuable resource for recipes, decorating tips, and daydreaming about destinations we wanted to visit once we were able to safely travel after the pandemic.
Everything was going swimmingly for Pinterest until we were cool to toss out our sourdough starter and head outside to eat someone else's bread. Pinterest has now stunned investors with back-to-back sequential declines in active users. The stock has plummeted 49% from February's peak.
Last month PayPal Holdings was reportedly negotiating to buy Pinterest in a largely stock deal that would value Pinterest at$70 a share. Pinterest investors who were cocky about holding out for more would love a chance to get back there, as the stock has fallen sharply since the proposed combination came undone. Pinterest would have to appreciate by 53% to get to $70 now.
PayPal stock sold off on the initial chatter, but it continues to fall even now that a deal is not on the table. It probably won't come back on bended knee now that both stocks are out of favor, but Pinterest still has a vibrant platform with improving monetization. Revenue is still growing as advertisers flock its marketing opportunities to reach the lucrative Pinterest audience.
Alibaba, Zoom, and Pinterest are still thrivinggrowth stocks. The shares just happen to be trading between 49% and 57% off their all-time highs. You don't need to wait for the market crash to happen to pick up bargains. They're out there now.