The initial shock of Covid-19 and subsequent fears of a long economic downturn has crushed share markets in 2020. That first stock market crash is but a memory, though investor confidence remains extremely fragile. Note the FTSE 100’s descent to multi-week lows earlier this week.
Some UK shares surged in value during the last quarter, though, as buyers have piled in to grab a bargain. But some of these still look dirt-cheap in the aftermath of the late-February and early-March market crash. There’s more than a handful that I’m thinking of buying for my own Stocks and Shares ISA at current prices.
Go for gold
Greatland Gold was one of the stars of the second quarter. Its shares rocketed 155% in value over the period as bullion played its historical role as a popular safe-haven and surged in demand. Prices hit new eight-year highs, and it looks set to become much more expensive as the economic and political fallout of Covid-19 intensifies. Gold hit new multi-year peaks just shy of $1,800 per ounce just yesterday.
I’d buy Greatland Gold for my Stocks and Shares ISA today because of the quality of its Australian gold project. Its Havieron asset in particular provides much to get excited about, and the involvement of Newcrest Mining as a farm-in partner gives extra reason for optimism.
Flying high after the market crash
The value of Wizz Air Holdings’s shares also took off (pun fully intended) during quarter two. After sinking during the broader stock market crash prices of the airline surged 45% between April and June as lockdown measures were gradually eased across Europe, leading to hopes that the Hungarian company can take to the skies before long.
Wizz Air still has a long way to go before passengers reach pre-pandemic levels, of course, even though results released today show that things are starting to improve on this front. But I still reckon the airline is a brilliant buy for ISA investors on account of its long-term profits outlook. Its focus on the emerging markets of Central and Eastern Europe will allow it to ride the rocketing economic growth of these territories.
And Wizz Air remains committed to expanding its hub network and adding new routes to make it one of the continent’s leading low-cost operators, too. This is one of the hottest growth picks in the airline sector, in my opinion. And the recent market crash provides a fresh opportunity to grab this bargain. Today it trades on a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 14 times for the fiscal year ending March 2022.
Code red
I’d also load up on Codemasters Group Holdings following the market crash. The video games developer’s shares jumped 42% in value during quarter two yet they still look cheap today. They trade on a forward price-to-earnings (PEG) ratio of 0.7 times.
Booming game sales during the recent lockdown has helped lift appetite for Codemasters’s shares. Don’t think that demand for its software is heading lower now that people are getting about and again. Indeed, the boffins at IDG reckon gaming is about to overtake television as the world’s most valuable entertainment segment and generate revenues of $230bn by 2023.