2 Super Stocks Down 24% and 67% From All-Time Highs You'll Regret Not Buying on the Dip | The Motley Fool (2024)

The tech sector is on a tear this year with the Nasdaq-100 technology index up 37.5% so far in 2023. But the index still hasn't reclaimed its all-time high from 2021, when many stocks were riding high on pandemic-related government stimulus and record low interest rates.

Many individual tech stocks also continue to trade well below their best-ever levels. But with the broader market on the upswing, the highest-quality tech names have a good chance of recovery too, especially over the long term.

With that in mind, here are two tech stocks currently trading at double-digit-percentage discounts that investors might wish they'd bought on the dip.

1. Uber Technologies: Down 24% from its all-time high

Most consumers recognize Uber Technologies (UBER -0.77%) for its ride-hailing and food delivery platforms. However, they may not be aware the company is planning a seismic shift toward autonomous self-driving vehicles, which could change the face of those services forever.

Around 6 million drivers work in Uber's ecosystem at the moment, and they are the company's largest expense by a long shot. In the recent second quarter of 2023 (ended June 30), Uber collected $33.6 billion in gross bookings from customers, and it paid $15.1 billion of that money to those drivers. If that cost was removed from the equation, the company's economics would be absolutely transformed.

Autonomous technologies are still in the early stages of commercialization, but self-driving cars developed by several companies are already in the real-world testing phase. Uber is approaching the industry by partnering with some of the technological leaders:

• Uber has a 10-year partnership with Motional, which is a joint venture between Korean automaker Hyundai and mobility technology company Aptiv. Hyundai's Ioniq 5 electric vehicle is fitted with Aptiv's autonomous hardware and software technology.
• Uber signed a deal with Alphabet's self-driving vehicle subsidiary Waymo earlier this year, and the two companies could activate an autonomous ride-hailing service by the end of 2023.
• Uber still holds a 26% equity stake in Aurora, which took over Uber's in-house autonomous driving project in 2020.

According to analysts at Ark Invest, the autonomous ride-hailing industry is projected to generate $4 trillion in revenue by 2028. Since Uber has a 25% global market share in human-driven ride-sharing at the moment, it stands to capture a substantial piece of that pie -- as long as it doesn't lose share to new entrants like Tesla, which has plans to build an autonomous ride-hailing network of its own.

Uber will likely be insulated from the competition long into the future because it already has 137 million monthly users. If developers of self-driving technology want their cars in front of the largest audience, then Uber will likely be the preferred network.

In the near term, the company just achieved its first-ever quarterly net income (profit) in Q2. Wall Street analysts predict it will be profitable for the 2023 full year, too, with earnings set to triple in 2024. Despite its recent success and positive long-term outlook, Uber stock still trades 24% below its all-time high, which could be an ideal entry point for investors willing to hold for the next few years.

2. Confluent: Down 67% from its all-time high

Confluent (CFLT -1.77%) has developed a technology called data streaming, which nearly every business will find useful eventually. In fact, the International Data Corp. predicts 90% of the world's 1,000 largest companies will use it by 2025. So, what is it?

Before the onset of cloud computing, businesses would store valuable data on physical servers located on-site. Now, they rent capacity from centralized data centers managed by cloud providers like Microsoftand Amazon for a fraction of the cost. That allows businesses to harvest, process, and analyze data through online channels, and with data streaming, they can do all of those things instantly.

Movie streaming is a great analogy for the above. Consumers used to buy a DVD disc and play it on a DVD player stored in their home. Now, that hardware is obsolete because platforms like Netflix store the content and stream it directly to the consumer's TV using the internet. We can watch almost anything we want, any time, entirely on demand.

The benefits of data streaming are incredible. Confluent has over 4,830 customers, and some of the most notable include Walmart, Domino's Pizza, Citigroup, and Dick's Sporting Goods. Walmart, for example, uses data streaming for real-time inventory management by connecting all of its physical and online sales channels. When a customer buys a product, stock levels across the entire company are instantly updated so Walmart can replenish shelves before they run bare.

Despite challenging economic conditions, Confluent grew its revenue by a robust 36% year over year to $189.3 million in the second quarter of 2023. That was also above its prior forecast, which prompted the company to lift its full-year revenue guidance by $7 million, to $772 million.

Larger organizations with more complex operations (like Walmart) will likely draw the most value from Confluent. This is likely why the number of customers spending at least $1 million per year on Confluent's platform soared 48% in Q2, outpacing every other customer cohort. But Confluent estimates its addressable market is currently worth $60 billion, so based on its 2023 revenue forecast, it has only scratched the surface of its opportunity across the board.

Confluent stock trades 67% below its best-ever levels set in 2021, and given the power of its technology, that could be a great chance for investors to buy in for the long run.