3 Stocks to Sell Ahead of the Next Big Rate Hikes

Thomas Niel

Thu, Sep 1, 2022, 4:45 AM 4 min read

Following Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s latest remarks on monetary policy, investors are more concerned with which stocks to sell. The central bank remains committed to continuing hiking interest rates, in its quest to curb inflation. In turn, the market may have a ways to go before truly bottoming out.

This points to more volatility ahead of stocks across-the-board. Worse yet, richly-priced growth stocks in particular could see more declines greater than that of the overall market for two reasons.

First, higher rates will put even more pressure on their premium valuations. Even if they’ve already experienced a round or two of severe multiple compression from the Fed’s initial increases to interest rates.

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Second, higher rates make the chances of a recession in the coming year even greater. A recession will likely result in many companies experiencing a slowing down of revenue and earnings growth.

Downside risk related to these factors is in particular acute with these three stocks to sell. Ahead of a further drop on valuation/slowing growth concerns, consider it a good time to cash out.

ABNB	AirBNB	$113.38
CVNA	Carvana	$33.12
PLTR	Palantir	$7.79

AirBNB (ABNB)

Girl holding smartphone with Airbnb app on screen. City and bay with some boats in the background. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. ABNB Stock.

Source: Diego Thomazini / Shutterstock

After falling nearly 60% during the tech sell-offs earlier this year, shares in vacation rental platform AirBNB (NASDAQ:ABNB) made a meaningful move higher in late July/early August.

This largly was the result of the “relief rally” that occurred at the time, built on hopes that Fed pivot on interest would come sooner than expected.

Of course, this has proven to be the case. With this, growth names like ABNB stock have slid in recent days. This could continue until if/when a Fed pivot does occur, for exactly the reasons I mentioned above when talking about growth stocks in general.

While a premium valuation makes sense, given forecasts calling for double-digit revenue and earnings growth, rising rates could put more pressure on AirBNB’s forward valuation (52.1x).

A recession resulting from rising rates could also bring an end to the “revenge travel” trend that was instrumental in its post-pandemic comeback making ABNB among the stocks to sell on recession fears.

Carvana (CVNA)

Carvana (CVNA stock) logo on white object in foreground as well as a high-rise building in the background

Source: Jonathan Weiss / Shutterstock.com

Already in the stock market junkyard, it may seem as if Carvana (NYSE:CVNA) has little more room to fall from here, let along make a list of the top stocks to sell. The online automotive sales platform is down more than 90% from its high water mark.

Even so, that doesn’t mean it can experience another high double-digit price decline. Higher interest rates will make high-growth-but-unprofitable stocks like CVNA stock even less appealing. The company is expected to report high losses this year ($8.61 per share) and next year ($4.72 per share).

Changing economic conditions have already resulted in the beginning of the end for the used car bubble. It may be just about to pop.

It may be too late to sell into strength, like hedge fund Tiger Global did with its Carvana position earlier this month. Still, you may want to cash out now, as it could re-hit its 52-week low ($19.50 per share).

Palantir (PLTR)

A close-up shot of a hand on a screen with the Palantir (PLTR) logo.

Source: Ascannio / Shutterstock.com

Palantir’s (NYSE:PLTR) meme stock days have long since passed. Shares now sell for a mere fraction of their all-time high, at the height of “meme stock madness.”

Nevertheless, as interest rates continue rising, PLTR stock could continue to slide. At today’s prices, the big data firm sells for 143.5x this year’s estimated earnings. Yes, this extremely high multiple will come down, assuming it delivers earnings of 16 cents per share next year. This would give it a 47.3x earnings multiple.

That said, it may prove tough to maintain such a high valuation. A few weeks ago, the company underwhelmed investors with its revised outlook.

Revenues are expected to hit $1.9 billion this year, an only 23.2% increase from 2021. Falling short of CEO Alex Karp’s past forecasts of 30% annualized growth through 2025, Palantir may be more deserving now of a far lower forward valuation.

On the date of publication, Thomas Niel did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.

Thomas Niel, contributor for InvestorPlace.com, has been writing single-stock analysis for web-based publications since 2016.