Finding the next big thing before it breaks out is a short-term trader’s bread and butter. However, it’s also a strong play for longer term investors who like to buy and forget. The following pair of stocks are currently undervalued and offer high-growth potential in overlooked fields. Let’s take a look at these two names and examine their suitability for long-term investment.
A top stock for the Canadian lumber boom
Interfor (TSX: IFP) has seen strong insider buying lately. Insider buying is a strong indicator of confidence within a business’s inner circle. It’s also a sign that those in the know expect a share price to rise. Strong insider buying of Interfor stock is a fairly reliable indicator that business insiders expect to make money from their shares. Ergo, regular investors stand a pretty good chance of catching some of that upside, too.
Reasons to buy Interfor stock range from a possible resurgence in Canadian lumber to the potential for a strong post-pandemic building boom. Infrastructure and construction are essential components of any young country with a lot of space and growing cities. The green economy could also fuel a lumber trend, emphasizing renewable building materials that sequester carbon rather than release it.
Building material sales have been jumping in the U.S. — a healthy sign for the lumber industry. As one of the largest global producers of forestry products, Interfor could rally hard post-pandemic. Its sawmills already pump billions of board feet into a global sales network that spans North America, Asia, and Europe. A Canadian lumber boom could be just around the corner.
A rare stock for healthcare and tech upside
South of the border, another name that could be about to pop is Corning (NYSE: GLW). This overlooked name is a play for specialty glassware, among other related and scientific equipment. The thesis for snapping up shares rests on a medical vial bottleneck. As the race for a vaccine gathers pace, the one commodity that may prove in short supply is glass. Corning could break out if the market catches on.
Pair Corning with Viemed (TSX: VMD)(NASDAQ: VMD) for a heroic tag-team of virus-battling stocks. Viemed is a play for the treatment of respiratory disease, while Corning has been selected by Operation Warp Speed. The upside in these names likely won’t be confined to the current pandemic, either. Given the habit of SARS-like viruses cropping up every few years, the current health crisis is likely to ensure these names become evergreen portfolio fillers.
Viemed is a strong play, up 144% since April. However, Corning is just getting warmed up. This makes the latter stock the richer target for upside hunters. It’s also a tech stock play, tapping the smartphone industry via the Apple collaboration. In short, this unassuming glass stock could be made of solid upside. A 3.3% dividend rounds out the reasons to buy, while a P/B of twice book is fairly reasonable.
