The ASX share market has been through a lot of ups and downs over the past year. I think some of the beaten-up S&P/ASX All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) shares, could be excellent opportunities for a turnaround.
I think that trying to be contrarian can be a dangerous play if investors go for the wrong businesses.
However, I believe that some ASX All Ords shares are primed to rediscover their lost form as better times return, hopefully.
It's worth noting that just because something has fallen doesn't necessarily mean that it's going to quickly recover to the former price. Anchoring past prices can be an ill-advised thought.
With these two names, I believe we're being presented with appealing, temporarily-lower valuations.
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Australian Ethical Investment Ltd (ASX: AEF)
Over the past year, the Australian Ethical share price has declined by around 60%.
The ethically-focused fund manager has seen its valuation sink since November 2021 – it's actually down by around 80% from that high point.
There are some factors that explain the difficulties. Volatility hurt share market returns, which consequently impacted the growth potential of Australian Ethical's organic funds under management (FUM).
In the first half of FY23, it only saw $0.19 billion of positive net inflows, excluding the impact of the Christian Super FUM. But, it's the Christian Super FUM that could help drive earnings higher after a 21% increase in FUM to $8.37 billion.
But, there were costs to taking on the Christian Super members, which hurt profitability in the short term.
However, I think the ASX All Ords share can recover as investment markets start showing signs of a rebound, and the fund manager attracts more members and benefits from regular superannuation contributions.
The company is expecting operating leverage to emerge towards the end of FY24, which I think could assist in a pleasing recovery for the Australian Ethical share price.
Baby Bunting Group Ltd (ASX: BBN)
The Baby Bunting share price has also fallen by around 60% in the past year. The ASX retail share has been going through a tricky period as competitors have been discounting prices and Baby Bunting has been obliged to compete with that.
This led to a 60% decline in underlying net profit after tax (NPAT) to $5.1 million for the All Ords ASX share and a 67% fall in statutory net profit to $2.7 million.
However, the company reported that its gross profit margin was recovering and that it was expecting to make underlying NPAT of between $21.5 million to $24 million.
I believe that a combination of more stores, the Baby Bunting marketplace, the expansion in New Zealand and an improvement in profit margins will enable a recovery of the Baby Bunting share price.
According to Commsec, the Baby Bunting share price is valued at under 9 times FY25's estimated earnings, with a possible grossed-up dividend yield of 11%.
