Related tickers: Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), RDA Microelectronics (NASDAQ:RDA), Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU), Cirrus Logic (NASDAQ:CRUS)
Just as we examine companies each week that may be rising past their fair value, we can also find companies potentially trading at bargain prices. While many investors would rather have nothing to do with companies tipping the scales at 52-week lows, I think it makes a lot of sense to determine whether the market has overreacted to the downside, just as we often do when the market reacts to the upside.
Here’s a look at three fallen angels trading near their 52-week lows that could be worth buying.
Fabless or fabulous?
China-based Rda Microelectronics Inc (ADR) (NASDAQ:RDA) , a fabless semiconductor company that makes wireless connectivity and radio-frequency products, certainly didn’t make any friends in March when it announced a secondary offering of 8.35 million shares. The move will boost its total outstanding share count by 17%, which, not coincidentally, is nearly the same as the amount the shares have fallen since that announcement — 20%.
While I agree that shareholders shouldn’t be thrilled with this secondary, RDA is a consistent moneymaker with a solid balance sheet and has ample emerging-market opportunities that simply can’t be ignored.
Credit: Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)
There’s also a tremendous need and opportunity for lower-end 2G and 3G wireless components in the majority of Asia and Eastern Europe, where 4G has yet to penetrate with any efficacy. This means that while RDA’s technologies might appear largely outdated to the tech-savvy investor in the U.S., understanding that Rda Microelectronics Inc (ADR) (NASDAQ:RDA)’s customer is likely to be in the emerging markets gives it what I’d say is at least another decade of consistent cash flow. At five times forward earnings, it’s worth a flier.
The revival of king coal
It was at this time last year that decade-low natural gas prices had clean-energy supporters lauding what looked like the quick demise of king coal. Natural gas, a cleaner-burning fuel, was being selected for electric-generating purposes by many utilities because its cost was significantly lower than coal prices. However, natural gas prices have essentially doubled off their lows in the past year and given hope once again to coal enthusiasts (like me) that a turnaround is at hand. That’s why I feel Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU), a U.S. and Australian coal miner, could be ripe for a rebound.
I do have some concerns about mining costs in its Australian operations, which will keep my expectations for a recovery tempered in the very short term, but multiple factors are working in the company’s favor that should help boost its stock price over the long run.
For starters, Peabody is relying on exports to emerging markets (can you say “China”?) to drive bottom-line growth in a market where oversupply is hurting prices and demand. This is similar to the reason that I chose Arch Coal Inc (NYSE:ACI) in my contrarian and value-tracking portfolio. Its long-term export contracts set up through the West Coast and Gulf of Mexico are aimed at quadrupling its export exposure by 2020. The point is that demand is out there; it just happens to be overseas at the moment.
Another key factor here is that coal still makes up better than 40% of the electrical capacity in the U.S. It’s not an energy source that’s bound to disappear overnight; nor will President Obama, who has embraced a push toward cleaner energies, abandon coal. In fact, Obama made it clear in his campaigns that clean coal will play an important role in helping the U.S. claim its energy independence.
With gas prices rising and coal’s future looking healthy both overseas and domestically, I’d say Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU) is worth a shot here at just a shade more than book value.
Now that’s what I call a deep discount
Component suppliers to Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)‘s iPhone have ridden the company’s coattails to immense success. Cirrus Logic, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRUS) — the maker of Apple’s audio components that reduce echo cancellation, suppress noise, and provide amplification — is a perfect case in point, rising better than 1,300% in less than four years. But when Apple warned of an iPhone 5 order slowdown in January, much to the surprise of Wall Street, it gutted Cirrus, which derives around 70% of its revenue from Apple.
Wall Street would likely cordon off Cirrus with yellow caution tape. As for me, I see it as one of the most deeply discounted companies in all of tech.
Keep in mind that we aren’t talking about the death of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) here. Apple sold 47.8 million iPhones in the first quarter — that’s a record the last time I checked. It has hardly made a dent in most BRIC countries, where growth rates are phenomenal, and it has a proven track record of sticking with innovative companies as its hardware suppliers. There really aren’t any substitutes that are out there ready to take Cirrus Logic, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRUS)’s place as Apple’s audio components supplier.
From a valuation perspective, I’m not quite sure how you get any cheaper than six times forward earnings, with $148.2 million in cash and no debt on its balance sheet, and a projected revenue growth rate of 91% in 2013 and 20% in 2014. Unless Apple’s market share demonstrates sizable declines globally and domestically, Cirrus remains an intriguing and strong value play.
Foolish roundup
This week it’s all about cycling back into largely unwanted companies. Rda Microelectronics Inc (ADR) (NASDAQ:RDA) still offers investors promising 3G growth in emerging markets; Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU) gives investors a chance to profit because of coal’s ongoing role in electricity generation in the U.S.; and Cirrus Logic, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRUS) is Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s go-to audio solutions company for the best-selling mobile device in the world. It doesn’t get much better than that!
The article 3 Stocks Near 52-Week Lows Worth Buying originally appeared on Fool.com is written by Sean Williams.
Fool contributor Sean Williams has no material interest in any companies mentioned in this article. You can follow him on CAPS under the screen name TMFUltraLong, track every pick he makes under the screen name TrackUltraLong, and check him out on Twitter, where he goes by the handle @TMFUltraLong.The Motley Fool owns shares of Apple and Cirrus Logic, and recommends Apple.
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