We recently compiled a list of 8 Cheap Growth Stocks to Buy According to Analysts. In this article, we will look at where Flex Ltd. (NASDAQ:FLEX) ranks among the cheap growth stocks to buy according to analysts.
Why Is the Market Still Volatile After Rate Cuts?
When the Federal Reserve cut rates last week there was a general anticipation that the market would rise. However, that has not been the case. Tom Lee, Fundstrat Global Advisors managing partner and head of research joined CNBC for an interview recently to talk about why the market is not performing as expected. The Federal Reserve has unleashed an easing cycle on the market, which is supposed to have a positive effect. Tom Lee believes that the market is positive historically if we look at a 3-month or a 6-month picture. However, the behavior of the market for the next 40 days is a coin flip.
Two reasons why there is volatility are first because there was some repositioning in the market due to the rate cuts and secondly the market is now entering into the 40-day election period. Tom believes that the positive effect that the rate cut was supposed to have has not vanished but is delayed until after the elections. Talking about his personal experience coming from various conferences and meetings, he thinks that a major chunk of the population doesn’t want to commit capital before the election. Moreover, it doesn’t matter who wins, but the public just wants to have the election day in their rear mirror before they take the capital out.
We recently covered an article about 7 Cheap Blue Chip Stocks to Invest in Now, where we talked about how the S&P 500 index has been overcrowded with Technology companies and has somewhat lost its diversity. Here’s an excerpt from the article:
“Turning back to how investors might revisit their idea of S&P being a low-risk investment. This idea was pitched by Bill Nygren, the Chief Investment Officer at Oakmark Funds in a recent CNBC interview. His approach reflects a strategic shift as to how investors might view the S&P 500 and mega-cap stocks in the current market situation. He pointed out that while the index has traditionally been viewed as a diversified index, in reality, it is just a bet on a few large technology companies. Currently, around half of the S&P 500 is dominated by some 25 large tech names, which essentially diminishes its original diversification.
Bill Nygren, emphasized the importance of having a more diversified portfolio beyond just mega-cap stocks. He believes that diversification of the portfolio provides better risk-adjusted returns compared to relying solely on a few big companies. We have also discussed Matt Stucky, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management’s chief equities portfolio manager, talking about a similar strategy in 13 Most Undervalued Blue Chip Stocks To Buy According To Analysts.
The investment strategy that Nygren is vouching for suggests that the current market scenario where investors are favoring positive momentum stocks can lead to missed opportunities in other undervalued sectors such as financials and energy. He believes that the potential lucrativeness of the Tech sector has overcrowded the space creating opportunity in other sectors.”
Lee also supports the idea that the S&P 500 index is a bet on the technology sector. He believes that if the technology sector does not resume its role as the leader and declines, it is going to be difficult for the rest of the stocks to hold up.
Lee has been a fan of small-cap stocks and closely analyzes the Russell 2000 index. He acknowledges that the index has been slow, however, the fundamental investment case for small caps remains the same. Lee thinks that bottoms of the year are not always straight up and the probability of the market making record highs next year remains high. His investment thesis is to buy the dip if the market goes down during the election days as the current market condition ensures that the positive effect is just around the corner.
Our Methodology
To compile the list of 8 cheap growth stocks to buy according to analysts, we used the Finviz stock screener to aggregate an initial list of stocks. We searched for cheap stocks in various growth industries including Technology, Healthcare, Biotechnology, and Telecommunications, among others. Our criteria for “cheap” is stocks trading below the forward price-to-earnings ratio of 23.98 (the market’s forward P/E as per the Wall Street Journal) and earnings expected to grow during the year. Using this criteria we compiled a list of 20 cheap growth stocks and then ranked them as per their analyst upside potential sourced from CNN. The list is ranked in ascending order of the analyst upside potential.
Why do we care about what hedge funds do? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points (see more details here).
Flex Ltd. (NASDAQ:FLEX)
Forward P/E Ratio: 13.55
Earnings Growth This Year: 12.60%
Analyst Upside Potential: 21.31%
Flex Ltd. (NASDAQ:FLEX) is a multinational technology company that provides a wide range of services for various industries. For instance, its Flex Agility Solutions (FAS) helps organizations build infrastructure for data and communication. On the other hand, Flex Reliability Solutions (FRS) develops components for high-end industries such as automotive, health, and industrial products.
The products and solutions provided by Flex Ltd. (NASDAQ:FLEX) help businesses integrate artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities into their technology. Thereby making it a hidden AI company that is prospected for growth soon. As soon as the management shifted its focus towards high-end value products the company entered an era of growth. At the moment, these industries account for more than 60% of the company’s total revenue and management is at work to grow its footprint further.
Another differentiating factor is its engagement within the data center and AI market. The most recent quarter results further highlighted its growth prospects. While the fiscal first quarter revenue for 2025, was down 13.93% year-over-year, it was up from the previous quarter by 2%. More notably, 25% of this revenue came from the growth in the data center and power segments.
Despite the revenue decline, gross profits were up by 50 basis points led by a strong demand for medical devices. Moreover, the company also benefited from its effective cost management.
The fact that Flex Ltd. (NASDAQ:FLEX) is involved with high-end industries which are forecasted to grow in the future, automatically makes the business landscape lucrative for the company. Furthermore, it is also undervalued at current levels. Flex is trading at 13.55 times its forward earnings while the market average sits close to 24. Moreover, analysts expect its earnings to grow by 12.6% during the year, thereby making it one of the cheapest growth stocks to buy according to analysts.
Artisan Small Cap Fund stated the following regarding Flex Ltd. (NASDAQ:FLEX) in its first quarter 2024 investor letter:
“We initiated new GardenSM positions in Flex Ltd. (NASDAQ:FLEX), On Holding and Onto Innovation during the quarter. Flex provides outsourced electronic manufacturing services to a diverse set of end markets. The company hired a new CEO in 2020, who has been driving a strategic pivot toward manufacturing high-value products in areas such as health care, industrial, automotive and cloud infrastructure. Today, these higher value items account for ~60% of revenues, and we believe they will continue to tick higher. We also believe an improving business mix, along with the reshoring of supply chains, will lead to faster growth and higher margins.”
Overall FLEX ranks 1st on our list of cheap growth stocks to buy according to analysts. While we acknowledge the potential of FLEX to grow, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for a promising AI stock that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
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Disclosure. None. This article is originally published on Insider Monkey.