Unfortunately for investors, there's no guarantee that today's market darlings will remain in favour with investors in the future.
When companies go through difficult periods, many investors will sell off their holdings and move on to something else.
This is exactly what has happened to a few former market darlings, which have just dropped to 52-week lows on Friday.
The question, though, is are they cheap ASX shares now? Let's find out if these fallen stars are buys:
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Bega Cheese Ltd (ASX: BGA)
The Bega Cheese share price has dropped to a 52-week low (and decade low) of $2.85 today.
This means that all the gains the diversified food company's shares made after almost doubling in value from late 2019 to mid-2021 are gone.
And while some brokers appear to see value emerging, none are willing to recommend Bega Cheese as a buy just yet.
For example, Morgans has a hold rating and a $3.45 price target on its shares at present.
Treasury Wine Estates Ltd (ASX: TWE)
The Treasury Wine share price hit a 52-week low of $11.17 this morning. This means the wine giant's shares are now down 14% since the start of the year.
However, on this occasion, several brokers believe that Treasury Wine is a cheap ASX share to buy.
Goldman Sachs, for example, recently put a buy rating and $14.20 price target on the company's shares. It notes that "TWE is now re-entering a growth phase with a 12% EPS CAGR and PEG of <2x which is attractive vs the rest of our consumer coverage."
Zip Co Ltd (ASX: ZIP)
The Zip share price touched a 52-week low of 40.5 cents on Friday. This stretched the buy now pay later (BNPL) provider's year to date decline to almost 30%.
While the majority of the broker community isn't overly positive on the company, one broker is and believes it is a very cheap ASX share at current levels.
A recent note out of Shaw and Partners reveals that its analysts have a buy rating and a $1.87 price target on its shares. This suggests a potential upside of approximately 350%. It commented:
Importantly over time we expect recognition to emerge that ZIP can control yields, credit (BDD) and cost base better than the market is currently giving credit towards. Furthermore, ZIP's product construct is attractive to strategic acquirers in our view with Australia leading the way towards BNPL moving towards credit legislation.
