7 High-Quality S&P 500 Stocks to Buy on the Dip

There are still bargains to be found in the stock market. While the major indices are up on the year, the current rally has been uneven and largely driven by technology stocks. Many other sectors, from banks to retailers, are lagging behind. Quality companies with strong brands are seeing their share prices languish at or near 52-week lows despite posting robust earnings and providing bullish guidance to Wall Street analysts. While frustrating, the current uneven market offers buying opportunities for investors who know where to look. Long-term investors who pick-up stocks now on the cheap are sure to be rewarded when the market recovers more and we once again enter a broad-based rally that leads to a full-blown bull market. Here are seven high-quality S&P 500 stocks to buy on the dip.

S&P 500 Stocks: Target (TGT)

Discount retailer Target (NYSE:TGT) just announced its latest earnings, and things are looking up. The company managed to beat Wall Street forecasts on both the top and bottom lines despite seeing declining consumer spending in the first quarter of this year. Earnings per share came in at $2.05, which was well ahead of analysts expectations for $1.76. Revenue in the quarter rose 1% from $25.17 billion, slightly above analysts’ forecasts.

Target maintained its previous full-year guidance, saying it expects comparable sales will range from a low single-digit decline to a low single-digit increase this year. While the company acknowledged it is seeing consumers buy fewer discretionary items, it is still managing to draw people to its stores with groceries. Target also reported that its inventory level declined 16% year-over-year at the end of the quarter, driven by a 25% reduction in discretionary merchandise. TGT stock rose on the earnings beat but remains down 25% from a year ago.

S&P 500 Stocks: Shopify (SHOP)

For a technology stock that is on a comeback, look to e-commerce company Shopify (NYSE:SHOP). To date, Shopify has gained 70%, making it a top performer on the year. SHOP also still remains nearly 10% below its 52-week high and is trading 65% below its all-time high reached in Nov. 2021 during the peak of the Covid-19 trade.

The company’s share price recently jumped 23% in a single trading session after it announced better-than-expected earnings and said that it is cutting 20% of its workforce. Shopify’s revenue in Q1 of this year rose 25% year-over-year to $1.51 billion. The company also announced EPS of 5 cents when analysts who cover the company were forecasting a loss of 4 cents. The new layoffs announced at the same time as the earnings mark the second round of job cuts at Shopify. Last summer, the company cut 10% of its workforce. Shopify said it is making the cuts so that it can focus on its core business of creating tools for companies to sell products online.

S&P 500 Stocks: Barrick Gold (GOLD)

The price of gold is hovering near $2,000 an ounce and has been nearing all-time highs this year. With economic uncertainty and fears of a recession growing, investors have been piling into gold, making now a good time to buy a stock like Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD). Even better, investors can buy GOLD, which is currently on sale after dipping on missed earnings expectations.

While Barrick Gold announced that its profit in Q1 came in 73% lower than a year earlier at $120 million, the poor showing was due to the miner running into issues with its overseas operations. As a result, revenue in Q1 slipped 7% to $2.64 billion. However, Barrick Gold is benefitting from the rising price of the gold that it mines. The company’s average realized gold price during Q1 rose to $1,902 per ounce, up from $1,876 in the previous year. Should the price of gold trend upwards, GOLD stock could rebound strongly.

S&P 500 Stocks: Airbnb (ABNB)

We can also look to home-sharing and rental company Airbnb (NASDAQ:ABNB). The stock plunged 14% on May 9 after the company issued weaker-than-expected forward guidance. Unfortunately, that weak guidance overshadowed the fact that Airbnb delivered Q1 results that beat Wall Street forecasts on the top and bottom lines, with EPS of 18 cents, double the expected EPS of just nine cents.

Even better, the latest results swung Airbnb to a net profit of $117 million from a net loss of $19 million a year earlier. However, investors seemed to panic when Airbnb warned that second-quarter comparisons would be difficult and lowered its revenue projections. The company added that its average daily rates were flat in Q1 compared to a year ago at $168. This news sent ABNB stock into a tailspin. As a result, the share price is now 7% below where it was trading at 12 months ago. Investors should view it as a buying opportunity.

Coinbase (COIN)

For another beaten down stock that is on the mend, there is Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN). The cryptocurrency exchange was pummeled last year by the twin forces of the “tech wreck” and “crypto winter.” However, COIN stock has staged an impressive rally ytd, rising 80% since January. But even with that massive gain, the stock is still sitting 14% lower than where it was 12 months ago, is 48% below its 52-week high, and is down 83% for its all-time high. There’s still time to buy the dip in this leading crypto name.

COIN stock got a 9% boost in early May after the company reported that its Q1 revenue rose 23% from a year ago to $773 million. Coinbase also reported an adjusted loss of 34 cents per share, which was much better than the loss of $1.45 a share that analysts had anticipated. Trading volume on the crypto exchange totaled $145 billion during Q1 as the crypto winter thawed. Coinbase said it continues to focus on international expansion, having recently started new operations in Canada, Bermuda, Brazil and Singapore.

Ford Motor (F)

Ford Motor (NYSE:F) also appears to have turned a page this year. The Detroit automaker recently reported a Q1 profit of $1.8 billion as sales of its vehicles increased following supply chain issues experienced last year. The profit in Q1 of this year compares to a net loss of $3.1 billion in the year earlier quarter. Revenue during Q1 totaled $39.09 billion compared to $36.08 billion that was called for on Wall Street. Looking ahead, Ford maintained its previous guidance, saying it expects between $9 billion and $11 billion in earnings this year.

While strong, the Q1 print has done little to help F stock. This year, the company’s share price is down 1%. In the last 12 months, the stock has slumped 15%. This presents a great buy-the-dip opportunity. Investors who take a position in F stock now are likely to benefit as the company executes on its electric vehicle strategy, which aims have 40% of its global sales be electric vehicles by 2030. To that end, the company is spending more than $30 billion on electric vehicle development, including batteries, by decade’s end.

Ralph Lauren (RL)

Clothing retailer Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) is in the early stages of recovery. RL stock is up 2% on the year but down 3% over the last five years. The shares are trading 13% below their 52-week high. Higher interest rates and slowing consumer spending on clothing and other discretionary items has hurt sentiment related to the company and its stock. However, Ralph Lauren has demonstrated its resiliency, posting better-than-expected earnings that have made many investors give the stock a second look.

EPS in its most recent quarter came in at $3.35, beating the consensus forecast of $2.91. Ralph Lauren has beat analyst estimates in four consecutive quarters now. The outperformance has led to numerous upgrades of RL stock. The company also continues to buy back its own stock, taking its share count down to 69 million from 75 million last year. Plus, Ralph Lauren pays a decent quarterly dividend that yields 2.68%, which equates to a payment of 75 cents a share.

On the date of publication, Joel Baglole 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.