This year’s Black Friday isn’t just happening in shopping malls and on e-commerce apps. If you look at the market, quite a few good companies are also trading at “Black Friday” prices after months of volatility, rate worries, and sector rotations. So it makes me think: should we be rushing to buy discounted products, or quietly accumulating discounted stocks instead?
When we talk about discounts on products, it’s very straightforward. A TV is 30% off, a phone is 40% off – but one year later, both are worth less than what we paid. The value is consumed. With stocks, a real discount is different. A good “Black Friday stock” to me is a company where the business is still solid – earnings are growing or at least stable, the competitive advantage is intact, management is still executing – but the share price has been beaten down by short-term fear or sentiment.
We are seeing this in a few areas. Semiconductors like AMD and MU have been volatile because of the cyclical nature of the industry and shifting expectations around AI demand, even though the long-term AI and data-center story is still strong. Some China tech names have been punished heavily over the last few years due to regulation and macro worries, and are now trading at valuations we almost never see for big platforms with real cash flow. Even some quality US names are not exactly “cheap” anymore, but still look attractive compared to their growth, balance sheet strength, and cash generation.
Of course, not every stock that drops is a bargain. A true investment “deal” should pass a few simple tests: the business model still makes sense, there is a clear path to profitability or ongoing cash flow, balance sheet risk is manageable, and there are realistic catalysts in the next 6–24 months. If those boxes are ticked and the market is still pricing the stock as if the company is in permanent trouble, that’s when the discount becomes interesting.
So personally, when I look at my Black Friday spending, I ask myself a simple question: will this money make my life better for a few months, or can it grow for me over the next few years? A new gadget is fun, but it usually starts losing value the moment we buy it. A well-chosen stock can be uncomfortable in the short term, but if the thesis is right, it has a chance to compound quietly in the background while we go on with our lives.
This Black Friday, I’ll still buy some small things I enjoy, but I’m more interested in the “sale” happening in the stock market than the one at the mall. What about you – are you loading up your shopping cart, or building your portfolio with discounted businesses instead? (Not financial advice, just sharing how I’m thinking about it.)
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