Bank Of America has named this week a number of stocks that are rated as buys, and which it believes to be significantly undervalued given the current market conditions. The firm found that many investors were overlooking several stocks, even though the market is tumbling lower. CNBC Pro looked at recent Bank of America research and found stocks it said were underappreciated. Kenvue is one of them, as are First Solar, ResMed, ESAB, and ASML. Sherif El Sabahy, an analyst at Sherif Securities, gave ESAB a neutral rating in the beginning of this year. Earlier this month, however, the rating was raised to buy by the bank, stating that ESAB’s attractiveness made it impossible to ignore. El-Sabbahy believes that ESAB is executing well and has a diverse portfolio. The firm also says that the consensus expectations for ESAB are too low. El-Sabbahy stated that “ESAB’s track record has been consistent since its IPO”. BofA says that with so many “underappreciated” growth vectors and multiple long-term benefits, now is the time to purchase shares. El-Sabbahy wrote: “In our opinion, ESAB’s mispriced assets and discount to peers will likely narrow as a result of the upcoming Investor Day [December],” which is expected to act as a catalyst. The bank stated that shares are up by 47% so far this year, with more room for growth. First Solar analyst Julien Dumoulin Smith is becoming more bullish about the shares of this solar company. Dumoulin Smith, an analyst at First Solar who attended a recent analyst day, said that investors’ concerns are exaggerated. He wrote, “In our opinion the stock should focus on earnings revisions only but management has also addressed a perception that their technology is behind peers.” BofA admitted that the analyst’s day was short on details, including earnings per-share guidance. However, it said that there were plenty of plans for spending and technological developments to ease investor concerns. Dumoulin Smith said that while this may appear to be a disappointment to investors, the company has in fact confirmed lofty expectations for earnings potential. We expect further upward revisions of consensus going forward. Dumoulin Smith reminded clients of First Solar’s major benefit from the Inflation Reduction Act. Dumoulin Smith said, “We repeat Buy with multiple checks of valuation. Now including FSLR Management’s view that is driving a dislocation which is simply too attractive to overlook.” The shares are down more than 14% in the last month. Analyst Didier Scemama said in a note that ASML should stay calm and purchase shares of the Dutch company. The bank stated that ASML was the leader in the market for lithography equipment necessary to manufacture semiconductors. He said that ASML has a close to 90% market share, which is the monopoly for next-generation EUV lithography. Scemama acknowledged that the short-term may be bumpy. He says that ASML’s targets for 2025-2030 are in danger, because the macroeconomic environment is uncertain. Stocks may be affected by a slowing recovery in the smartphone and PC markets and a memory decline that is longer than expected. BofA still says that investors should buy at the low price and take advantage of this underperformance. The analyst stated, “Given the attractive FY25 valuation we reiterate our Buy Rating as we believe the long-term story of growth remains intact.” The stock has fallen 16% during the third quarter. ESAB: “ESAB has performed better than expected. (Leverage is falling, margins are expanding, and growth is outperforming).” We have a renewed appreciation for its portfolio. ESAB’s track record has been consistent since its IPO. … growth vectors that are underappreciated. … In our opinion, ESAB has been mispriced and we expect the discount to other peers to decrease with the upcoming Investor Day on [December]. First Solar: “In our opinion, the stock should focus on earnings revisions only but mgmt addressed a growing belief that its technology is behind peers. … We believe that while this may appear to be a disappointment to investors, the company has in fact confirmed lofty expectations for earnings potential. We expect further upward revisions of consensus going forward. … We reiterate buy with multiple checks on the valuation, including FSLR’s management’s view that driving a dislocation is simply too attractive to overlook.” ASML: “Given the attractive FY25 valuation we reiterate our Buy ratings as we believe that the long-term story of growth remains intact.” ASML leads the industry in lithography, which is a crucial part of semiconductor manufacturing and enables Moore’s Law. ASML has a near-monopoly on the market for next generation EUV Lithography. Kenvue – “Stock weakness provides an attractive opportunity to buy.” We value KVUE at 16.5x CY24e – a higher multiple than its current 12x valuation, and slightly above the average [household product company] peer group (CHD CL CLX PG). KVUE’s capital allocation is prioritized with: 1) investing into brands, 2) returning money to shareholders as dividends starting Q3, 3) deleveraging and 4) evaluating possible tuck in acquisitions.” ResMed: “RMD has been oversold in terms of GLP-1 risks. RMD shares have fallen 56% since January 22. The three-scenario model indicates that GLP-1 (Glucagon-like peptide 1) will have a negative impact on RMD shares. This is significantly less than the fall in share prices. RMD is oversold, and we believe that this presents a great opportunity to buy. The current price is 20x P/E. “