After soaring in 2024, the stock market is approaching the end of December in a volatile fashion. On Friday, Dec. 20, artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer Nvidia is down by 11% in a month.
The stock is still up by 161% year to date, but that's a pretty sharp correction. If you have been looking for an opportunity to buy Nvidia shares at a lower price, this just might be the correction you've been waiting for.
Even so, market darling Nvidia isn't my favorite stock pick right now. The shares are still pricey at 52 times trailing earnings or 58 times free cash flow, and there are lots of modestly priced alternatives out there.
If you have $1,000 to invest after paying the holiday bills, here are two of my favorite stock-buying opportunities right now. Fiverr International's (FVRR -1.68%) growth prospects are ridiculously undervalued, and Intel (INTC -0.69%) isn't used to playing the underdog, but I see great promise in its ongoing strategy shift.
Fiverr's growth story is far from over
Many investors saw Fiverr as a direct play on the coronavirus pandemic. Lots of people were stuck at home for months, with uncertain income sources and rising costs of living. Why not take advantage of a freelance services expert like Fiverr to bolster that aching wallet for a while?
On the flip side, the same investors who rode Fiverr's stock to lofty highs in 2020 and 2021 have been avoiding the stock in recent years. The lockdowns are over, so the unique and temporary business opportunity is gone forever.
Right?
Well, no. As it turns out, Fiverr's business slowed down after the widespread return to offices, but it never stopped growing. The company is also quite profitable, especially in the shareholder-friendly realm of free cash flows.
Yet, the stock has continued to lag behind the broader market in this bull market. Fiverr's shares are up by a measly 9% in two years, while the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) gained 55% over the same period. The stock trades at a very affordable 14.6 times free cash flows, and its forward-looking price-to-earnings valuation is also low.
The company expects healthy revenue growth in 2025, driven by more optimistic market outlooks among small and medium-sized business owners. As a preview of what to expect in 2025 and beyond, Fiverr shares rose 35% in a week after crushing analyst targets in October's third-quarter report. That bullish price correction was a good start, but Fiverr's market makers have more work to do.
All things considered, Fiverr's stock deserves a richer valuation. This growth story looks deeply undervalued, and I expect good news on that front in the near future.
Intel's strategy shift deserves more respect
Semiconductor giant Intel is trying out a very different business plan. And when I say "trying out," I mean that the company is pulling every available lever to make radical strategy changes. The company's capital expenses were about $15 billion a year before the COVID-19 crisis. Building one of the world's largest third-party chip manufacturing services isn't cheap, so those costs rose to approximately $25 billion in the last three years.
Intel expects to have the second-largest external chip foundry in the world by 2030. This ambition is potentially good for Intel's business results and stock owners and serves an important market function. Most of Intel's chipmaking facilities are springing up in places like Arizona and Ohio, making advanced semiconductor manufacturing available on American soil.
This is important for national security purposes. Due to a long-running exchange of American trade restrictions and border-crossing tariffs with the chip centers in China and Taiwan, this approach sets Intel up for long-term success.
The company is currently unprofitable, and the stock trades at bargain-bin valuation ratios in this painful period. Technology genius Pat Gelsinger was recently forced to retire as large-scale Intel investors grew impatient with his extreme focus on long-term results. In my view, this imbalance between Gelsinger's clear-eyed legacy and an overly bearish market reaction adds up to a fantastic buying opportunity for Intel stock right now.
