Rising interest rates by the Federal Reserve brought the wall street party to a halt. But that doesn’t mean the Biden bear market is a bad thing. In fact, big discount opportunities and resilient stocks could make 2023 a life-changing year. So what are the best growth stocks to buy in the Biden bear market? Find out below.
Related: What Is A Growth Stock?
Best Stocks to Buy in Biden’s Bear Market
Novavax Inc (NASDAQ: NVAX)
NVAX developed a protein-based COVID vaccine that has reached upwards of 90% efficacy levels.
The fact that their vaccine is not RNA-based, and works, could be appealing to those who have remained skeptical.
The need for a booster round in 2023 could also help the stock price soar if their vaccine is distributed.
The company just appointed a new CEO who’s already stirring the pot and seeking commercial approval for the vaccine.
The product has already been approved in 47 countries, which helped the company generate a record $2 billion in revenue.
And when we say the price could soar, we mean soar—NVAX’s price history is not short of compelling.
First, the stock had a 1000%+ run in 1998, going from $27 to upwards of $300. Then it had similar extravagant moves both in 2011 and 2019.
During those periods, the stock price appears to have established a massive channel, and it’s currently approaching the bottom of it.
If the stock would have a similar price move again in the future, investors could see returns of thousands of percent.
Past performance is not indicative of future results, but the stock has at least demonstrated its ability to make big moves.
NVAX also has a massive short float of 36%. This kind of high level of short interest leads to a phenomenon known as a short squeeze.
A short squeeze occurs when a high percentage of bears cover their short positions by buying back the stock. This causes the stock price to surge aggressively.
Signs that bears will cover a short squeeze could include technical levels, bullish earning reports, or bullish news.
Nio Inc (NYSE: NIO)
It wasn’t that long ago that investors wished they had picked up NIO shares cheaper than $60. But now that NIO is nearing a 12$ support area, the wishful buyers are all but gone.
The EV bubble might have short-circuited, but there is still a strong case to be made for some EV manufacturers.
According to industry experts, the Chinese EV market is projected to generate the most revenue out of all the international markets.
The same data shows that the size of the Chinese EV market could grow to $190 billion in 2023. At the same time, revenue is expected to grow at a CAGR of 14.18% through 2027.
NIO had it rough in the past year, partly due to China’s zero-COVID strategy which largely staled their economy.
However, China is set to finally re-open, which could help boost sales growth and their overall economy.
If that’s the case, then the EV manufacturer could stand to make significant gains, even in a bear market.
Particularly considering that NIO recently cited supply chain issues for their lowered delivery guidance.
Therefore, the opening of the Chinese economy could also help ease some of the production constraints the company has had to face.
Generally speaking, NIO appears to be on a good track despite its lack of profitability.
The company is projected to deliver 39,000 vehicles in the most recent quarter—close to 10% of what Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) delivered during the same period.
The Chinese economy’s reopening is likely to be one of the most important economic events of 2023.
Looking for ways to capitalize on it is probably a good way to avoid the Biden bear market.
Expedia Group Inc (NASDAQ: EXPE)
No other industry has been so beaten down by the pandemic as travel.
Cruise lines are now operating on oceans of debt while airline stocks are flying so low they are missing out on everyone’s radar.
But that could all change even on the mists of a bear market. After nearly 14 years of growth and a nearly three-year pandemic, it might be time for some to take a vacation—regardless of the economic environment.
Data from the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) appears to align with this idea. A report released points to an increase in global tourism of 30% in 2023.
Opening the Chinese borders after nearly three years of closure could contribute to the sector’s earnings growth.
Expedia is a global leader in travel, and the growth stock stands to benefit from the shift in the sector’s sentiment.
Nearly 75 million people traffic their website each month, making it the 98th most visited website in the United States.
While TripAdvisor (NASDAQ: TRIP) has many more visitors and similar potential, Expedia’s valuation might give it a competitive advantage.
The company trades at a forward P/E ratio of 11x, slightly below TRIP’s 16x and below the market average.
Expedia’s earnings guidance forecasts revenue growth of 9% in 2023, expecting to beat pre-pandemic numbers by 7%.
From a technical perspective, the growth stock appears to be maintaining an uptrend from its 2009 bottom.
Even though the trend broke during the pandemic selloff, its current share price seems to respect it.
If the tide does turn in its favor, then there is plenty of room above its head. The stock’s all-time high is $217—nearly twice its current share price.
The travel stock also has a very high percentage of institutional ownership (96%). This could be a sign that smart money could be expecting future growth.
Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ: MSFT)
The third largest public company by market cap could get the fuel it needs to get back on the bull train and deliver growth in 2023.
Data shows that 93% of all global internet searches are on Google. A near-absolute monopoly that has fueled their ad revenue growth for more than a decade.
But some of that market share could shift in favor of Bing—Microsoft’s search engine.
If you keep up with recent news, you’ve likely heard of the recent success of Chat GTP—an Ai chatbot making all the buzz in the interwebs.
Microsoft was an early investor in Chat GTPs parent company—Open Ai. But the tech giant is reportedly discussing a more considerable investment and seeking a larger share of ownership.
The large-cap giant intends to leverage the power of Ai and Chat GTP to supercharge Bing and Microsoft Design.
By doing so, Google could face real competition for the first in decades and risk losing some market share to Microsoft.
Microsoft’s Azure cloud service is also posed to deliver some growth as it seeks to capitalize on the sector’s 17.9% CAGR rate.
Azure is second only to Amazon’s AWS by market share and saw its revenue grow over 45% in 2022.
Are High-Growth Stocks a Good Investment in a Bear Market?
High-growth stocks could be a good investment in a bear market if a cost-average strategy is employed.
“The bigger they are, the harder they fall”— the common saying may have some resonance when considering growth stocks and market cycles.
Share prices and revenue that grow faster than the broader market also tend to fall faster and harder.
Therefore, growth investing during a bear market might not be at the top of most investors’ priorities. In fact, quite the opposite occurs as many investors tend to flock to value stocks.
But, those with a higher risk tolerance might find a bear market an excellent opportunity to buy growth companies.
In such cases, growth investors may employ an average cost strategy to ease into their position.
A cost-average strategy might benefit shareholders in multiple ways, for example, by lowering costs, easing stress, and avoiding the challenges of guessing a stock market bottom.
But not all growth stocks fall off cliffs; in some cases, the top growth stocks tend to maintain their value.
However, investing in high growth doesn’t come without risk. Many growth stocks are highly speculative, and it could take years to retake their previous highs—if ever.
Take Microsoft, for example. The growth company took nearly 16 years to retake its dot-com bubble highs. But after doing so, the company returned nearly 500% profits in nearly five years.
There is also always the risk that a company’s financials might not weather the storm and fall under.
Therefore, picking sound companies with business models that can stand the test of time could improve the chances of success.
Warren Buffet—arguably one of the best investors of our lifetime—said, “Be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful.”
During times like these, it could be a good idea to take a long-term view of the market.
Remember that brighter days could always be ahead of us and that they could bring higher stock prices with them.
Is your risk tolerance in line with high-growth stocks? Are you looking to find growth stocks at a discount rate? Then you might want to invest in one (or more) of the above growing companies.