Buying UK stocks that are rallying hard can be a good idea, as the positive momentum can keep the share price moving higher. However, there’s also a case to be made in buying shares that are falling in value. The strategy I have here is that the share price could recover in the long term, banking me some solid profit.
Here are two ideas I’ve got on my watchlist right now.
Getting off the ground
The first one is Wizz Air (LSE:WIZZ). Down just over 40% in the past year, the stock recently hit fresh 52-week lows.
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The bulk of this fall has come over the past couple of months, with a disappointing earnings report from the start of August. Operating profit fell 44.2% versus the same quarter the year prior. This was mainly due to the fact that “well documented issues relating to Pratt & Whitney’s GTF engines led to the grounding of an average of 46 neo aircraft over the quarter“.
Naturally, if aircraft are grounded, it can’t be making money for Wizz Air via flights. Yet although this is a pain, it’s not a long-term problem. In fact, the business reported a 1% rise in passenger numbers in August despite the issue! Once this storm has blown over, I expect the share price to rally over the next year.
Wizz Air’s continuing to push forward, looking to take on more long haul options. This includes a new low-cost route from London Gatwick and Jeddah in Q1 next year. This has the potential to really boost profitability.
Looking for bidders
Another option is Auction Technology Group (LSE:ATG). The FTSE 250 firm’s down 47% over the past year. I put this down to the lower earnings per share results from the half year report, as well as a slowdown in the annual pace of growth.
For example, the company doubled revenue from 2020 to 2021, and almost doubled it again in 2022. So even though the business grew revenue by 13% last year, this was seen as a disappointment by some investors. The high benchmark some people have is a risk going forward.
The half-year 54% drop in earnings per share can partly be explained by the higher investment costs during the period. The CEO commented that “where we’ve invested, we are growing”. This indicates that investors will see the future benefits of the costs being taken on now.
I think the market’s overreacted and that the stock looks a good value buy. It has a strong hold on the online auction market. It’s not an easy area for a new company to break into. Further, with the increased spend on new tech capabilities and add-on’s, I can only see it attracting more customers going forward.
I think both UK shares are looking attractive and I have them on my watchlist to consider buying.
