The S&P 500 as a whole is testing new all-time highs, but not all stocks are performing well. Some iconic companies have lost more than 40% of their value since 2024 began.
And now could be the time to buy one of these S&P 500 laggards.
Down 56%, is this major retailer a screaming buy?
Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ: WBA) is a well-known American company. Headquartered just outside Chicago, Illinois, the company operates more than 8,000 retail and pharmacy locations serving nearly 9 million people every day.
Since 2024 began, Walgreens stock has fallen 56%. The S&P 500, by comparison, has risen 17%. The collapse has brought Walgreens’ market capitalization down from $22 billion at the beginning of the year to just under $10 billion. The stock’s price-to-earnings ratio, meanwhile, has fallen to 32 times earnings as of this writing.
What’s going on? The biggest issue is that pharmacy benefit managers — the intermediaries between pharmacies and health insurers — have been squeezing pharmacies on reimbursement rates. It’s an industrywide problem, but unlike many of its competitors, Walgreens doesn’t own a major pharmacy benefit manager. The result is shrinking margins.
The company has also struggled with poor acquisitions. Its recent VillageMD acquisition, for example, has destroyed a ton of shareholder value. Purchased for $5 billion in 2021, the business has generated hundreds of millions of dollars in losses for Walgreens, which now plans to shutter hundreds of locations.
Is now the time to buy? Not if competing pharmacy Rite-Aid is any indication. That company filed for bankruptcy less than 12 months ago due to many of the same pressures. While Walgreens stock may look like a bargain, its future will be dictated by a force it doesn’t control: the decisions of major pharmacy benefit managers. Shares appear cheap according to some valuation metrics — shares trade at just 4 times forward earnings estimates, for instance — but it’s wiser to stick with companies that better control their own futures, like the next stock on this list.
This big brand stock is no lemon
Like Walgreens, Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ: LULU) has had a tough 2024. Shares are down 44% since the year began, but the recent slide masks what has otherwise been an impressive long-term performance. Over the past decade, Lululemon stock is up over 600%, while Walgreens has declined nearly 85%.
Why is this once high-flying stock in the bargain bin? As Fool contributor Jennifer Saibil explains: “Many investors have turned pessimistic about Lululemon. Growth is slowing, and it’s facing fierce competition from new companies like Alo Yoga and Vuori, not to mention the regular competition from Nike and similar companies. In the pressured inflationary environment, it’s also likely that some of its customers are switching down.”
Yet Lululemon remains, undeniably, a leading apparel brand. The company enjoys high levels of customer loyalty, and its premium prices reflect that reality, even if sales growth has been pressured more recently. The company is still guiding for 11% to 12% revenue growth this year, and management recently raised its full-year earnings guidance from $14.10 to $14.37 per share. Management also doubled down on the struggling share price by initiating a $1 billion stock repurchase plan.
At the start of 2024, Lululemon stock traded at a pricey 65 times earnings. After the correction, shares trade at just 23 times earnings. That’s a terrific price for a growing, iconic apparel company with its best days likely still ahead of it.
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Ryan Vanzo has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Lululemon Athletica and Nike. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2025 $47.50 calls on Nike. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Is It Time to Buy 2024’s Worst-Performing S&P 500 Stocks? was originally published by The Motley Fool
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