Photo by Nick Chong on Unsplash

Today’s episode of Full Court Finance at Zacks explores the market as stocks hit new 2022 lows amid escalating tensions between Russia, Ukraine, the U.S., and others. The episode then dives into three strong, beaten-down stocks (Target, Salesforce & Builders FirstSource) from totally different sectors that investors might want to consider buying and holding for the long haul ahead of their upcoming earnings releases.

The market attempted a brief comeback early Wednesday morning, but things got progressively worse as investors found no comfort in the ongoing headlines about the possibility of war between Russia and Ukraine. President Biden gave a speech Tuesday and said the U.S. will roll out sanctions against Russia and said this was the official “beginning of a Russian invasion of Ukraine.”

The ratcheted up geopolitical tensions have spooked Wall Street, sending the Nasdaq tumbling 2.6% Wednesday to the brink of bear market territory. The S&P 500 slipped another 1.8% after it dropped into correction territory Tuesday for the second time this year.

Closer to home, Wall Street is getting anxious about the Fed’s first projected rate hike that’s due out in the middle of March. On top of that, lingering covid setbacks have continued to slow down already clogged up supply chains. Yet, despite all of the real setbacks, S&P 500 companies have flexed their financial might, with the outlook for 2022 earnings, revenue, and margins looking good (also read: Focusing on the Retail Sector as Q4 Earnings Season Winds Down).

With this in mind, investors with long-term horizons might want to consider buying strong stocks at solid discounts right now even if things get a little worse in the near-term. All three of the stocks we look at today are set to report their fourth quarter financial results on Tuesday, March 1.

Target’s (TGT) stellar pandemic run was far from a fluke and consumers have continued to flock to its stores and utilized its e-commerce offerings to buy nearly anything they might want or need. Target boasts tons of solid fundamentals and its ability to successfully expand and adapt its in-house brands for everything from food to fashion helps it thrive and stand out against its fellow retail titan peers such as Walmart and Amazon.

Salesforce (CRM) shares have tumbled since November and Wall Street appears worried about slowing growth, especially on the bottom line. But Salesforce is still focused heavily on all things expansion as it aims to become the most diverse and dynamic subscription-based business software company on the planet. And CRM shares are trading around where they were in the summer of 2020.

Builders FirstSource (BLDR) is one of the largest U.S suppliers of building products, prefabricated components, and services to the professional market for new residential construction and remodeling. Builders FirstSource’s exposure to nearly all of the largest markets around the U.S. will help it continue to grow for years to come. BLDR lands a Zacks Rank # 1 (Strong Buy) right now and its industry is highly ranked, with the housing market set to keep on growing.

Video Length: 00:23:15