Post-Pandemic Winners That Are Still Winning... And Proof of Opendoor's Struggles

I still get a twinge of PTSD when I think back on doing short research in the year post-pandemic... That was when even the most fundamentally flawed companies were winners. And it seemed that the more fundamentally flawed, the bigger the winner. The biggest immediate winners, of course, were the likes of Peloton (PTON), Zoom […] Not rendering correctly? View this e-mail as a web page [here](. [Empire Financial Daily] Post-Pandemic Winners That Are Still Winning... And Proof of Opendoor's Struggles By Herb Greenberg --------------------------------------------------------------- [500% indicator just pointed to a new stock]( It's one of the most powerful trading systems we've ever seen. Already, it's identified gains as high as 341%... 407%... and 1,697%. And it just picked up on a new stock that's flying well under the radar that could explode at any time. [Click here for the full details](. --------------------------------------------------------------- I still get a twinge of PTSD when I think back on doing short research in the year post-pandemic... That was when even the most fundamentally flawed companies were winners. And it seemed that the more fundamentally flawed, the bigger the winner. The biggest immediate winners, of course, were the likes of Peloton (PTON), Zoom Video Communications (ZM), DocuSign (DOCU), Teladoc Health (TDOC), Shopify (SHOP), and just about anything that had to do with not leaving your house... and certainly not going to the office. For the most part they've all crashed. And some – yes, I'm talking about you, Peloton – have burned... But we wondered whether any post-pandemic highfliers were still winning... To find out, we ran a screen on Bloomberg for U.S.-listed companies with $5 billion-plus market caps that returned at least 500% from the market's bottom on March 23, 2020. The results were fascinating, especially considering that almost everything that was up – and not just the poster children above – has pulled back. The screen yielded 37 names: Among them, I would categorize four as holdover direct beneficiaries of the pandemic: Celsius (CELH), Moderna (MRNA), Crocs (CROX), and, to a lesser extent, Dick's Sporting Goods (DKS). Of those, with a gain of nearly 3,000%, Celsius was clearly the standout of being in the right place at the right time with the right energy drink. The company had been struggling for years... but due to the pandemic – deservedly or not – its energy-boosting concoction seemingly came out of nowhere to take the industry by storm. More recently, an investment from PepsiCo (PEP), which is also investing in the company, added fuel to the story... and the stock. The laggard in our group of direct pandemic beneficiaries, Dick's, has also been the most consistent... still up nearly 600%. At its peak, the stock was up about 760%. Beyond that, if there's any theme – the bigger and the more boring, the better... But for the most part, none of the rest are what you would call the big, lasting winners from the pandemic. Instead, they're either one-offs or tied to trends tied to residual effects of the pandemic. Consider that the biggest chunk of winners in the group – 23 companies, or 61% – are energy related, such as Devon Energy (DVN) (up nearly 1,000%) and Marathon Oil (MRO) (up nearly 800%). The winner's camp also includes Alcoa (AA), which spiked earlier this year for a peak post-pandemic gain of roughly 1,200%before settling back to a nearly 600% gain. The company is benefiting from rising prices and shortages – in large part because of shutdowns in China. --------------------------------------------------------------- Recommended Link: [This could be the No. 1 stock to beat inflation]( The analyst who bought Apple at $0.35 and Amazon at $2.41 is now pounding the table on a play he believes could be the No. 1 inflation stock. [Full story here](. --------------------------------------------------------------- Meanwhile, there are the one-offs... Among them... - ShockWave Medical (SWAV), a medical-device maker that had success with a new treatment to bust up heart-related calcium buildups – decidedly not a pandemic play but proving to be on quite a roll. - Enphase Energy (ENPH), which makes solar converters, was clearly helped by post-pandemic dollars poured into homes. Consider that its chief rival, SolarEdge Technologies (SEDG), wasn't helped anywhere nearly as much... and isn't on that list. - Dillard's (DDS), the department store chain, which continues to buy back its own shares every quarter... almost as if it's taking itself private. - GameStop (GME), the last of the meme stocks. Notably absent: the go-go tech stocks that drove the market higher. I guess if you're a contrarian, therein lies the opportunity. (And if you're a short seller, there are a few ideas staring you in the face.) On the other hand – sticking with the underlying theme of my newsletters here at Empire Financial Research – when everything else falls apart, real companies that make real things or provide real services for real people – while slow and even sometimes lagging – often win the race. In fact, I took it a step further with my analysis and developed the "QUANT-X" scoring system to find the best possible stocks for my Investment Opportunities newsletter. Learn more about it – and get a free recommendation of one of my favorite stocks right now – by [clicking here](. Moving on, I've previously raised red flags here at Empire Financial Daily about Opendoor (OPEN), the company that will buy your house from you... Even while its stock was flying and the company's business model appeared to be doing well, the bigger concern was always, "Well, yeah, but what happens when housing prices crash?" They may not be crashing, but Opendoor's stock has... The below [sampling]( of Opendoor's purchase/listing/sales prices – as told by the San Diego Union-Tribune earlier this week – helps explain why: - [5437 San Roberto, San Diego]( Opendoor bought this three-bedroom townhouse in Otay Mesa in June for $689,000 and then listed it for $710,000 a few weeks later. It had several price reductions before selling for $666,000 on Halloween. - [12303 Springwater Point, San Diego]( Opendoor bought this Sabre Springs condo for $801,500 on November 3. The house is now listed for sale for $730,000. - [1419 Pershing Road, Chula Vista]( Opendoor bought this four-bedroom single-family home in the San Diego area for $939,500 in April. It then put it on the market for $1 million a few days later. It had several price reductions before selling for $855,000 in October. Put another way: The idea is usually to buy high and sell much higher. As the company itself warns in the "risk factors" of its SEC filings... Once we have acquired a home, we may decrease our anticipated resale price for reasons such as unknown defects related to home condition requiring remediation, lower/higher than forecasted demand/supply, or other detractors that were unknown or missed at the time of acquisition. This in turn could negatively impact our revenue, gross margins and results of operations, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Yet another example of risk factors becoming a reality. As always, feel free to reach out via e-mail by [clicking here](mailto:feedback@empirefinancialresearch.com?subject=Feedback%20for%20Herb). I look forward to hearing from you. Regards, Herb Greenberg December 6, 2022 [Get a 60-day, 100% money-back trial to Empire Real Wealth by clicking here.]( --------------------------------------------------------------- If someone forwarded you this e-mail and you would like to be added to the Empire Financial Daily e-mail list to receive e-mails like this every weekday, simply [sign up here](. © 2022 Empire Financial Research. All rights reserved. Any reproduction, copying, or redistribution, in whole or in part, is prohibited without written permission from Empire Financial Research, 380 Lexington Ave., 4th Floor, New York, NY 10168 [www.empirefinancialresearch.com.]( You received this e-mail because you are subscribed to Empire Financial Daily. [Unsubscribe from all future e-mails](