Investors must look for opportunities to get the most bang for their buck with the current market turmoil and I have chosen the seven best stocks to buy if you’ve got just $100 to invest. Growth stocks have taken a hammering of late and are now trading at significantly attractive multiples. These stocks with impressive long-term growth potential can be scooped up for chump change.
Many stocks are trading below the $10 mark, allowing investors to build a diversified portfolio. Several stocks are trading near all-time lows, but have fundamentally solid underlying businesses. It is important to do your due diligence and select stocks that have been beaten down unfairly by the market.
With that being said, let’s look at the seven best stocks to buy:
| Ticker | Company | Price |
| HIMX | Himax Technologies, Inc. | $9.38 |
| KGC | Kinross Gold Corporation | $4.52 |
| F | Ford Motor Company | $13.49 |
| NOK | Nokia Oyj | $5.01 |
| WKHS | Workhorse Group Inc. | $2.97 |
| CS | Credit Suisse Group AG | $6.88 |
| UMC | United Microelectronics Corporation | $8.73 |
Best Stocks to Buy: Himax Technologies, Inc. (HIMX)
Himax Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:HIMX) designs and sells semiconductors that have become ubiquitous over time. It boasts a diverse customer base. Its margins are stellar due to lower startup costs compared to its peers. Hence, its return on common equity increased to a mind-boggling 63% year-over-year in 2021.
Himax operates in three core divisions, including technologies, display and imaging. In particular, display and imaging have been experiencing robust growth due to a growing demand for display driver integrated circuits in the automobile sector. It develops an array of products in the display and imaging sector and its fabless production enables it to sell and maintain high margins. Its lean business model has helped build its colossal cash balance of roughly $447 million. Moreover, the growing free cash flows (FCF) will likely lead to a substantial increase in dividend payouts and share buybacks.
Kinross Gold (KGC)
Kinross Gold (NYSE:KGC) is a small-cap gold producer with global operations. It boasts attractive growth opportunities, with a remarkable balance sheet and strong FCF. 2020 was incredible for gold, where it grew over 25% in value. Consequently, we saw how Kinross’s FCF grew by over 750% in 2020, but its numbers have normalized significantly.
Moreover, it expects to produce 2.65 million gold ounces this year and scale that to 2.8 million ounces by 2023. Scaling production won’t affect the company’s lean balance sheet, with a cash balance of $464.5 million. With the rising inflation rates and the war in Ukraine, gold prices are likely to remain elevated — at least in the short-term — significantly benefiting KGC. Its relatively fixed cost structure can generate sizeable profits with the rise in gold prices.
Best Stocks to Buy: Ford (F)
Ford (NYSE:F) is an automotive giant that has been in business for over 100 years. F stock performed incredibly well last year, with over a 100% bump in price, thanks to renewed investor enthusiasm for the company’s new direction. Ford plans to become a juggernaut in the electric vehicle (EV) space, spending billions of dollars in research and development to compete with the industry’s stalwarts. Particularly, the launch of its electric pickup can effectively disrupt the sector and significantly contribute to its revenue expansion in the coming years. Its EV segment increased sales by 139% in its first quarter, led by healthy demand for its EV offerings.
The auto titan plans to separate its legacy and EV business units to allow greater wiggle room for its EV segment to pick up the pace in the coming years. It plans to use profits from its legacy business to realize its EV-related plans. Last year, it accounted for 12.63% of the U.S. market share. Hence, there’s a lot to be excited about with its massive growth runway.
Nokia’s (NOK)
Nokia’s (NYSE:NOK) turn-around story is nothing short of extraordinary. Once a leading smartphone maker, Nokia struggled to find direction with its nascent mobile telecommunications business until it kicked into high gear under the dynamic leadership of its Chief Executive Officer Pekka Lundmark. It has now evolved into a leading mobile telecommunications giant with a growing portfolio of 5G contracts.
Recent results have been solid and are indicative of the inroads Nokia has made in the burgeoning 5G sector. In its first quarter, company net sales rose 1% from the prior-year period. Moreover, enterprise sales have been growing aggressively, with new customers driving a 14% increase in sales in the segment. 5G-related gains are driving growth in the company’s mobile networks business, which is poised for colossal growth ahead. The 5G services sector can reach $1.67 trillion by 2030, registering 52% growth from 2022 to 2030.
Best Stocks to Buy: Workhorse Group Inc. (WKHS)
Workhorse Group Inc. (NASDAQ:WKHS) is an EV startup that focuses on developing cost-effective solutions for the commercial transportation industry. It manufactures heavy-duty battery-EVs which offer real-time telematics for monitoring systems. It has enough liquidity to finance the future manufacturing of products. Additionally, it has $167 million in cash equivalents.
Moreover, it plans to develop and sell at least 250 vehicles that could generate $25 million in revenue. New vehicles will be released in the next couple of years, which should significantly grow sales in the coming years. Recently, it announced an agreement with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and planned to explore more projects with the federal government. Hence, WKHS stock could be an exciting long-term prospect despite the risks.
Credit Suisse Group (CS)
Credit Suisse Group (NYSE:CS) is the second-largest bank operating in Switzerland, dating back to 1856. Early on, the bank’s core purpose was to finance the country’s infrastructure systems, but later shifted to a retail banking business following an emerging middle class. It is among the largest asset managers globally with 45,000 employees.
The bank’s strength has been its strong and profitable private banking business. It’s an A-rated bank that is well-liked by its growing customer base, so it deserves a premium price. The primary issue is its investment banking arm, which has been unprofitable for many years. Nevertheless, it has generated strong cash flows, with a blow-out result last year with FCF of $38.86 billion. Moreover, CS stock trades at just 0.94 times forward sales.
Best Stocks to Buy: United Microelectronics Corp (UMC)
United Microelectronics Corp (NYSE:UMC) is a leading semiconductor foundry business that has been one of the best performers in the sector. Its margins have been growing healthily amidst tightening supply, while revenues are well over its five-year average. The EBITDA margin for UMC is at a staggering 48.21%, while its levered FCF margin exceeds 23%.
In its past three quarters, revenue growth has been driven by higher selling prices for wafers (semiconductor slices). With the constrained supply and increase in semiconductor demand, UMC is likely to be in a strong position this year. Research from SEMI suggests that the total semiconductor capacity is expected to grow to 6.6 million wafers per month by 2024, from just 950,000 wafers in 2020.
On the publication date, Muslim Farooque did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
