Since the end of October, stocks have rallied tremendously, with the S&P 500 soaring 15% and the Russell 2000 jumping 21%. This huge rebound, brought about by greater confidence in the economy and less trepidation about interest rates, resulted in many drastically overvalued stocks. For long-term, risk-tolerant investors, the latter situation created a good opportunity. That’s because some of these stocks are so overvalued that the chances of them tumbling are very high. As a result, those who short these names will probably generate a great deal of profit from doing so. Here are three overvalued stocks that are strong targets for short sellers.
VinFast (VFS)
Vietnamese electric vehicle maker VinFast (NASDAQ:VFS) has a gigantic trailing price-sales ratio of 19.09 and a forward price-sales ratio of 15.5.
The latter ratio is still very high, especially because analysts, on average, only expect the company’s per-share loss to drop to 86 cents in 2024 from 96 cents this year.
There are at least two positive aspects of VinFast’s business. Specifically, analysts’ mean estimates call for its top line to surge to $3.14 billion in 2024 from $1.34 billion in 2023, and VinFast is expected to incorporate StoreDot’s fast-charging batteries into its EVs by 2025. In 2024, StoreDot, an Israel-based battery maker, expects to mass-produce EV batteries that will “deliver at least 100 miles of range in five minutes of charging.”
But a great deal can go wrong for automakers, and if VinFast does not perform flawlessly, its overvalued shares will, in all likelihood, plunge. Therefore, VFS is one of the most overvalued stocks and will probably tumble sooner or later.
Walgreens (WBA)
I believe there’s a greater than 50% chance of Walgreens (NASDAQ:WBA) declaring bankruptcy within the next two years. By 2025, I expect the company to start reporting large losses, while its debt, which already stood at a huge $34.5 billion, is likely to explode higher going forward. Given these points, I believe that WBA is one of the most overvalued stocks, even though it’s changing hands at a relatively low forward price-earnings ratio of 7.5.
The company is facing many tough hurdles. It continues to have to shell out a great deal of money to settle lawsuits related to the opioid epidemic. For example, it agreed to make annual payments of $518 million as part of a settlement of such lawsuits in June.
Meanwhile, the company faces tough competition from Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), which may disrupt Walgreens’ retail drug business and its Pharmacy Benefit Management business.
Also noteworthy is that Walgreen’s close competitor, Rite Aid (OTCMKTS:RADCQ), already declared bankruptcy earlier this year. Meanwhile, the company’s low current ratio of 0.63 suggests the firm may have trouble paying its debts in the medium term.
Coinbase (COIN)
Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) stock has soared amid gains by Bitcoin (BTC-USD). The crypto’s value has surged, largely due to anticipation of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approving Bitcoin ETFs.
But, as British bank Barclays (NYSE:BCS) pointed out, Coinbase could actually be hurt by Bitcoin ETFs because many retail investors will likely use the ETFs rather than COIN’s exchange to gain exposure to Bitcoin.
Additionally, the SEC had been opposed to allowing Bitcoin ETFs, but a court in August rejected the agency’s effort to prevent one company from launching such a fund. However, in an appearance on CNBC on Dec. 14, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler refused to confirm his agency was “taking a new look at [the ETFs] based upon those court rulings.”
Gensler’s evasiveness makes me believe the agency will drag its feet on the move rather than approve it in January. Such a delay would likely cause Bitcoin prices and COIN stock to plunge.
Meanwhile, the SEC charged Coinbase with illegally allowing securities to trade on its exchange without fulfilling the legal requirements for doing so. Next month, the court will hear Coinbase’s arguments on why the case should be dismissed. If, as I expect, the court’s decision goes against Coinbase, its shares should sink.
And if the SEC ultimately wins the case, that will likely force Coinbase to split itself into multiple companies and disclose the names of its customers to the SEC. The latter development I believe, would be ruinous to COIN since many of its customers use crypto because they want to shield their financial transactions from regulation.
The forward price/sales ratio of COIN is now a gigantic 12.82 times, even though analysts, on average, expect its revenue to rise only 9% in 2024. Additionally, COIN remains unprofitable.
On the date of publication, Larry Ramer held a short position in COIN. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.