It has not been an easy year for growth stocks.
The bellwether technology stock index, the NASDAQ Composite Index, has fallen by nearly 26% year to date and is wallowing in a bear market.
The last two years has seen a surge in demand for digitalisation that has propelled many of the fast-growing stocks to all-time highs.
High inflation is now the latest bugbear that threatens to dampen consumer demand.
Along with rising interest rates, many companies have seen their valuations and share prices tumble.
For the savvy investor, such declines open up opportunities to accumulate shares of solid companies on the cheap.
Here are five US growth stocks that recently hit their 52-week lows that you may consider adding to your buy watchlist.
Okta (NASDAQ: OKTA)
Okta is a software-as-a-service (SaaS) company that provides an identity management platform for enterprises to help them manage authentication and access privileges.
The company has seen its share price plunge by 72.5% year to date, touching a 52-week low of US$58.12 recently.
Okta had released a strong set of results for its fiscal 2023 second quarter (2Q2023) ending 31 July 2022.
Total revenue climbed 43% year on year to US$452 million, of which subscription revenue made up 96% of the total.
The identity management company narrowed its net loss slightly from US$276.7 million a year ago to US$210.5 million.
Remaining performance obligations rose 24.8% year on year to US$2.8 billion and Okta’s trailing 12-month (TTM) dollar-based net retention rate was high at 122%.
Sea Limited (NYSE: SE)
Sea Limited is a Singapore-based technology company with three main divisions – e-commerce (Shopee), digital entertainment (Garena) and digital financial services (SeaMoney).
The company’s shares have lost close to three-quarters of their value year to date and are trading just above their 52-week low of US$54.06.
Sea’s 2Q2022 results were a mixed bag.
Revenue rose 29% year on year to US$2.9 billion but net loss more than doubled year on year to US$931.2 million, in part due to a goodwill impairment of US$117.3 million.
For Shopee, gross orders climbed 42% year on year to two billion while gross merchandise value (GMV) increased 27% year on year to US$19 billion.
However, in view of increasing macroeconomic uncertainties, Sea Limited has suspended its e-commerce division revenue guidance for the full year.
It also didn’t help that Garena saw continued attrition for its quarterly paying users with a 39% year on year decline to 56.1 million.
Shopify (NYSE: SHOP)
Shopify is an e-commerce retailer that provides entrepreneurs and small business owners with a platform and tools to successfully run and grow their businesses.
The company’s shares have tumbled 77% year to date and are hovering close to their 52-week low of US$29.07.
Shopify put up a respectable performance for 2Q2022, with total revenue rising 16% year on year to US$1.6 billion.
Both GMV and gross payments volume (GPV) also rose, increasing by 11% and 22.7% year on year, respectively.
However, in light of slower growth, the e-commerce company has shed one-tenth of its workforce back in July.
Zoom Video (NASDAQ: ZM)
Zoom Video is a SaaS business that offers a videoconferencing platform for individuals and corporations to communicate and interact with other people.
The company’s shares have lost more than half their value this year and are trading close to their 52-week low of US$77.79.
Zoom’s 2Q2023 saw revenue inching up 8% year on year to US$1.1 billion.
However, net profit plunged from US$317 million a year ago to US$45.7 million due to higher research and development as well as sales and marketing expenses.
On a brighter note, Zoom continued to generate healthy free cash flow of US$727.3 million for the first half of fiscal 2023.
The videoconferencing company also saw healthy growth at its enterprise division.
Enterprise revenue rose 27% year on year to US$599 million for 2Q2023 while the number of customers in this segment grew 18% year on year to 204,100.
Beyond Meat (NASDAQ: BYND)
Beyond Meat produces plant-based meat products that are used in its burgers, sausages and other products that are sold through retailers and wholesalers.
The company’s shares have shed two-thirds of their value year to date and are trading close to their 52-week low of US$20.50.
The plant-based meat specialist reported a downbeat set of earnings for 2Q2022.
Revenue dipped by 1.6% year on year to US$147 million led by a 17% year on year fall in international retail sales.
The company also reported a gross loss due to inventory build up and saw its net loss balloon nearly five-fold to US$97.1 million.
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Disclaimer: Royston Yang does not own shares in any of the companies mentioned.
