2022 was a bad year for many investors, with most stocks — especially tech — plummeting to levels not seen since 2008. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index dropped more than 33% in 2022, while the S & P 500 fell nearly 20%. But there could be some opportunities in the chaos, with a number of companies trading at steeper discounts on a price-to-earnings basis than they have in recent history. A price-earnings ratio is the current share price of a stock divided by its earnings per share.
Pro screened for analyst favorites using these criteria: Stocks trading at a lower forward price-to-earnings ratio relative to their average five-year forward P/E multiple, "Buy" ratings from at least 60% of analysts covering them, Upside to average price target of 50% or more. The following names appeared on the screen. Cybersecurity firms CrowdStrike and Palo Alto Networks are two names that showed up.
's Maggie Fitzgerald contributed to this report.