I’m not waiting until the end of the tax year to max out my Stocks and Shares ISA.
Investing earlier in the year means that “you stand to have a bigger ISA pot in the final analysis because your money is at work in the market for longer,” as analysts at AJ Bell recently commented.
With this in mind, here are two dirt-cheap shares I’m looking to buy this month if I have cash to spare.
Iomart Group
A series of impressive tech sector updates makes me believe IT services business Iomart Group (LSE:IOM) could be a top buy.
Why? This Alternative Investment Market (AIM) company is an expert in cloud computing, a segment that is expanding rapidly as remote working becomes increasingly popular.
US internet giant Amazon is the latest tech firm to illustrate the huge potential here. On Thursday it announced a better-than-forecast 16% sales rise at its Amazon Web Services (AWS) division in quarter one.
Okay, sales at AWS are slowing as the global economy cools. Businesses are investing less as a result and this presents a threat to the whole cloud-computing industry.
Yet on balance, Amazon’s numbers aren’t bad in the context of fierce economic headwinds. In fact, business could remain robust as companies try to scale back expenditure on office space.
I also think the threat of a market slowdown is reflected in Iomart’s low share price. Today the business trades on a forward-looking price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 18 times. This is far below the prospective average of around 25 times for the broader IT services sector.
Analysts at Grand View Research expect the global cloud sector to expand rapidly through the rest of the decade. They predict a compound annual growth rate of 14.1% between now and 2030.
And as Iomart builds its headcount and targets acquisitions it could be in great shape to grow sales. Last summer the company purchased Concepta to boost its product ranges and its routes to market.
JD Sports Fashion
I’m also considering going bargain shopping at JD Sports Fashion (LSE:JD) in May. I don’t think a forward P/E ratio of 12.2 times reflects its exceptional growth opportunities.
‘Athleisure’ — or sports casual, as it’s more commonly known — has been one of the hottest fashion trends of the new decade. Yet not even manufacturers or retailers in this area are immune to the pressures on consumer spending right now.
Gloomy sales forecasts from industry giants Adidas and Puma in recent weeks illustrate the pressure companies are under. Still, the long-term outlook for the sports casual market remains extremely bright.
Researchers at Mordor Intelligence, for instance, think the athleisure segment will expand at a compound rate of 6.09% between now and 2028.
I think buying JD Sports shares could be a great way for me to capitalise on opportunity. The FTSE 100 firm has terrific brand power, built in part by the exclusive product ranges it sells from major sportswear labels. And it continues to built its global store network and invest in online to exploit the e-commerce boom.
