FTSE shares are on a tear. Both the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 have posted impressive gains so far in 2024.
But not all stocks have enjoyed the rally. In fact, a handful of them have posted losses year to date.
Here are two that have underperformed, falling by over 10%. But I reckon now could be a smart time for investors to consider buying some shares. If I had the spare cash, I’d happily buy both stocks today.
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Safestore
Shares in storage giant Safestore (LSE: SAFE) have disappointed year to date. They’re down 11.9%.
As a shareholder, that’s frustrating to see. But when I’m bullish on a stock over the long term and I see it trading at a beaten-down price, I’m always tempted to snap up more shares.
The FTSE 250 constituent looks like great value for money at the moment. It’s trading on 6.4 times earnings.
To go with that, it has a 3.9% dividend yield. That’s just above the FTSE 250 average. The business is in its 14th consecutive year of hiking dividend payments.
Its share price has suffered recently due to the difficult economic climate. Safestore has pushed up its prices to combat rising costs, which has led to occupancy rates falling. For the six months ended 30 April, they fell by 1.6%.
But as the UK’s largest storage provider, I back Safestore to manage this difficult spell. It’s also continuing with its expansion into Europe, which I think is exciting.
After impressive growth last year, it’s keeping in line with expanding into major metropolitan areas, such as Paris and Madrid, a method the business says has a “clear track record” of providing strong returns in the long run.
easyJet
Like Safestore, easyJet (LSE: EZJ) has also had a turbulent start to the year. So far, it’s down 11.5%. But that fall means the stock now looks like decent value for money. It’s trading on 9.2 times earnings.
Investors clearly weren’t impressed with its half-year results released in May. Across the month, its share price slid by over 14%. In the announcement, easyJet revealed a £350m loss before tax.
But it was always going to be some time before the business made any sort of comeback from the pandemic. And despite what its share price says, I think it has made a decent recovery so far.
From having nearly £500m in debt on its balance sheet, the business has flipped this. It now has nearly £150m in net cash.
I’m also liking the progress it has continued to make with its holidays business. This side of the company focuses on selling cheap package deals. In a cost-of-living crisis, I reckon that could prove to be incredibly popular amongst consumers.
Of course, we’re still battling with lingering inflation and any sign of a delay in interest rate cuts will no doubt harm investors sentiment around easyJet. Another risk to consider is that the airline sector can be highly cyclical.
Nevertheless, it seems easyJet has high ambitions for the unit too. It’s expecting profit before tax to rise 40% year on year. That could provide the stock with some much-needed momentum.
