As Coronavirus spreads and paralyzes investors around the world, some investors think it might be a good opportunity!
Chinese stocks might actually be close to bottoming out even as the disease spreads to other countries, sparking global pandemic and market correction fears.
However, some investors are betting on a big comeback for Chinese companies -- despite worries about the Chinese economy being in paralysis due to the coronavirus.
"The coronavirus will wind up being the bottom for China. I realize this sounds like it's coming out of left field. But this outbreak could be occurring at the end of the Chinese bear market," said Mark Galasiewski, chief strategist of the Asia-Pacific region for Elliott Wave International.
The Shanghai Composite and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index are both down this year and might be due for a comeback, especially since valuations for Chinese stocks are not as high as they are for US companies in the S&P 500.
"It's hard to make the case that an investor should dive further into parts of the global stock market that are overextended. Over the next five to 10 years, China and other emerging markets look more attractive than developed markets," said Michael Sheldon, chief investment officer at RDM Financial Group at Hightower.
Galasiewski also pointed out that some Chinese stocks are already starting to awaken from their slumber. The Shenzhen Composite, kind of like the Nasdaq of China since it is home to many startup tech firms, is up nearly 10% this year.
Galasiewski thinks that top Chinese tech firms -- companies like Baidu (BIDU), Alibaba (BABA) and Tencent (TCEHY) -- are good values that have held up relatively well during the coronavirus sell-off.
He argues that this trio, which traders have dubbed the BAT stocks, are better bargains than the US high tech FAANG stocks -- Facebook (FB), Amazon (AMZN), Apple (AAPL), Netflix (NFLX) and Google owner Alphabet (GOOGL).
The coronavrius outbreak may also give a boost to homegrown Chinese drugmakers, according to Brad Loncar, CEO of Loncar Investments and creator of the Loncar China BioPharma ETF (CHNA).
"Before the coronavirus outbreak, China is starting to have a biotech boom. Government officials want to upgrade the economy to higher-value sectors like pharmaceuticals and not just focus on generic drugs," Loncar said in an interview with CNN Business.
"Now China needs to modernize medicine even further and there will be a bigger focus on that which will accelerate because of the coronavirus," Loncar added.
Loncar pointed to three top Chinese drug stocks he likes that trade in the United States.
Zai Lab (ZLAB) is a leader in licensing drugs in China. BeiGene (BGNE) has developed a cancer drug that has gotten approval by the US Food and Drug Administration. It is also benefiting from a big investment from biotech giant Amgen (AMGN), which owns more than 20% of BeiGene. And Hutchison China MediTech (HCM) has a cancer drug that was the first to be entirely invented, developed and approved for use in China.