It’s easy to say that there’s a lot of market uncertainty right now. But no matter what happens, there will always be uncertainty. And investors who wait for a clearer picture on how things develop don’t get great prices when buying assets.
That’s why value investors start to buy during market panics, even if it’s not near the bottom. Today, investors can find companies that are making big investments now, even amid all the uncertainties facing markets today.
While the economy looks like it’s slowing overall, there’s also a lot of spending coming from the government to support the domestic production of semiconductors. And companies are responding to incentives to move operations back to the United States.
One such company is Applied Materials (AMAT). They’re spending up to $4 billion to build out a new research and development center in Silicon Valley.
That could help the company improve its market share and industry position over time. While shares are already up 15 percent over the past year, there’s still room for shares to head higher in the months ahead.
Action to take: Investors may like shares here, given their inexpensive valuation at 17 times earnings. Applied Materials even has a dividend of about 1 percent, thanks to its recent increase which more than doubled the payout.
For traders, the August $140 calls, last going for about $3.70, could see mid-double-digit returns on a further move higher in AMAT shares.
Disclosure: The author of this article has no position in the company mentioned here, but may trade after the next 72 hours. The author receives no compensation from any of the companies mentioned in this article.