It’s been a painful year for newly debuted tech companies, but investors can find treasure in the rubble if they know where to look, according to Bank of America. Tech companies especially have suffered as the Federal Reserve proceeds on its rate-hiking campaign. Higher interest rates are particularly tough on tech names as they reduce the value of future cash flows for those companies. Indeed, the Nasdaq Composite has slumped about 23% in 2022. “The selloff comes as investors demand positive cash flows and profitability, in our view; two things that Internet and IPOs aren’t exactly known for,” Bank of America analyst Justin Post wrote in a Tuesday report. Now shares of some recent tech IPOs have fallen far enough to be attractive, according to Post. “As multiples have compressed considerably, we believe there is a significantly enhanced opportunity in select low-cash burn and profitable stocks,” he said. Three buy-rated “babies” Shares of gaming platform Roblox have collapsed from last year’s record levels. As of Monday’s close, shares were about 78% off the company’s 52-week high of $141.60. Nevertheless, Bank of America says, at these prices, investors are scooping up “an emerging category leader” in a new field — the metaverse. Bank of America set a price target of $46 on Roblox, a roughly 47% gain from Monday’s closing price. Online course provider Udemy also caught the firm’s attention, particularly for its enterprise segment Udemy Business — “an underappreciated growth driver.” Udemy management has highlighted that larger enterprise organizations are using the service, Bank of America said. The firm has a price target of $34 on the stock, which represents an increase of more than 150% from Monday’s closing level of $13.46. Finally, Xometry , an industrial parts marketplace, has slid about 36% in 2022, but Bank of America says, “at current levels, we see the the valuation as very attractive.” The firm pointed to Xometry’s large total addressable market and “long growth runway.” “Global technology growth could drive further expansion of TAM as demand [increases],” the bank found. Bank of America gave Xometry a $60 price target, suggesting upside of about 81%. — CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed to this story.
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