Earlier this month, the S&P 500 hit a record high of more than 6,000 for the first time ever. Based on that, you might assume that stocks may be too expensive to buy right now as the average stock in the index is trading at more than 25 times earnings. However, there are still many deals out there.
Two stocks that could be among the best bargains right now include AbbVie (ABBV 3.04%) Comcast (CMCSA -0.07%)
AbbVie
Drugmaker AbbVie isn’t having a great year, but it’s not having a bad one, either. Its year-to-date gains totaled a modest 7% as of Monday’s close. That’s decent, but it’s nowhere near the S&P 500’s more impressive 23% rally.
For a while, the stock was outperforming the broad index. However, things went sideways for AbbVie recently after the company reported last week that its schizophrenia drug, emraclidine, failed to meet its primary endpoint in a phase 2 clinical trial. Emraclidine seems to have had the potential to be a blockbuster drug for AbbVie, and investors didn’t take the news lightly, dumping the stock afterward.
For a diverse business like AbbVie, that is by no means crippling to its operations or long-term outlook. In its most recent quarter, for the period ending Sept. 30, the company reported $14.5 billion in revenue, which grew by nearly 4% year over year — and that includes a 37% decline in Humira, which recently lost patent protection. AbbVie’s diverse business spans immunology, oncology, aesthetics, neuroscience, and eye care.
Yet, investors generally recognize that the company is no pushover. Abbvie has historically proven itself to be a growing business. While the pharmaceutical business is inherently risky, and failures will probably show up in Abbvie’s pipeline of drug therapies, that itself isn’t a reason to turn bearish on what’s still a top stock to buy and hold. Eventually, the risk-reward profile is too good to ignore.
AbbVie is facing a slowdown right now but the company expects that in 2025 it will “return to robust growth” and that through until the end of the decade, it will grow by high-single digits per year. And while Humira has lost patent protection, the company has effectively replaced that revenue with Skyrizi and Rinvoq, two immunology drugs which it believes will combine for higher peak revenue than its popular rheumatoid arthritis treatment.
For investors looking to play the long game, this sell-off can be an opportune time to buy AbbVie on weakness as it trades at a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple of 14, which looks dirt cheap for such a great growth stock.
Comcast
Comcast hasn’t had a huge sell-off recently; it’s doing poorly because investors simply haven’t seen a big reason to invest in the business this year. Since January, the stock has declined by around 2%. The Summer Olympics gave the company’s revenue a bump up in the current quarter as Comcast reported 7% revenue growth for the period ending Sept. 30 (it was down 3% just a quarter earlier), while adjusted earnings per share improved by 3%. But that wasn’t enough to get investors excited about the business. It is, after all, just a short-term boost.
Heading into next year, however, there could be another growth catalyst to watch out for, and that’s the opening of Universal’s Epic Universe theme park, which is scheduled for May. Comcast’s theme park segment hasn’t been doing well this year, as guest attendance is down, and sales declined by 5% for that area of its operations last quarter.
Things have slowed after the past couple of years have been record ones for theme parks and keeping up that growth is proving to be a challenge. But the launch of a massive, 750-acre park should spur some excitement in an already-popular tourist area such as Orlando. CEO Brian Roberts says the new park will be “the most ambitious and technologically sophisticated theme park ever created.”
Strong numbers from the Epic Universe next year could make 2025 an epic year for this underrated stock. And with Comcast recently announcing plans to spin off of its cable networks, the business could be a much better investment moving forward.
With those assets accounting for less than 6% of its revenue, it won’t make the business drastically smaller but it could help with its potential in the long run, by being able to divert more funds and resources into more attractive growth opportunities (such as theme parks).
Comcast is trading at an incredibly low forward P/E of 10 and it could make for an excellent contrarian buy right now.