The ASX share market is expected to drop heavily today as the world digests the news of a potentially worse COVID-19 variant called Omicron.
It’s possible that this new variant is more transmissible and, potentially, vaccines for the original COVID-19 may be less effective against this strain variant. At this stage it is also unclear whether this variant is more or less likely to cause severe symptoms.
The market often sells off when it comes to potentially big bad news events like this.
I think this can be a buying opportunity, for the right businesses.
Redbubble Ltd (ASX: RBL)
Redbubble is a business in the e-commerce global space. It sells a growing variety of products such as clothes, wall art, bags and phone cases that have cool designs on them that were created by independent artists. One of the main boosters to its FY21 result was the sale of millions of dollars of masks. The ASX share was boosted by more customers doing their shopping online and looking for unique products.
Before today’s movement, the Redbubble share price had dropped 18% over the prior month. That’s already an opportunity in my mind. But if this new variant sets the world back, then it could lead to much more e-commerce buying and even a resurgence of mask purchases.
Even if there wasn’t this worry about the new variant, I like the Redbubble model and I think the ASX share is on track for success over the long-term with growing profit margins.
Pushpay Holdings Ltd (ASX: PPH)
Pushpay is a business that enables US churches to receive digital payments.
As you can imagine, since the onset of COVID-19 there has been a significant increase in the amount of electronic donations as cash became less popular. Pushpay has said that the shift to digital payments by clients seems permanent and the business continues to grow its profit.
The Pushpay share price has fallen 29% over the last month. I think this represents a very attractive long-term opportunity for a business with domination plans and geographical expansion aspirations. Another wave of COVID-19 spread could lead to even more adoption of digital donation and administration with US churches. It could also help accelerate Pushpay’s expansion in the Catholic sector.
I think that Pushpay shares are an attractive long-term opportunity today, so I’d be very willing to use any Omicron ASX share market selloff to buy some shares.
