While the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) may be trading close to its record high, not all shares on the benchmark index have fared so well.
Two ASX 200 shares that are trading significantly lower this year are listed below. Could this be a buying opportunity for investors?
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Appen Ltd (ASX: APX)
The Appen share price has been a particularly poor performer in 2021. Since the start of the year, the artificial intelligence (AI) data services company's shares have lost 44% of their value. This has been driven by softening demand for its services during the pandemic from some of its biggest customers.
Management appears confident that demand will rebound strongly and its growth will accelerate again. Particularly given its plan to evolve into a provider of a broad range of AI data annotation products and solutions that unlock growth in new markets.
One leading broker that believes the weakness in the Appen share price is a buying opportunity is Ord Minnett. Last month the broker put a buy rating and $24.75 price target on its shares.
Kogan.com Ltd (ASX: KGN)
The Kogan share price has also been out of form in 2021. And despite a recent and significant rebound by its shares, they are still down by almost a third year to date.
This has been caused by an abrupt end to its impressive growth after consumers started to shop offline again. While slowing sales growth is disappointing, the company's inventory management was even worse. Kogan ended up with far more stock than it could handle, leading to heavy discounting and increased marketing to help shift it.
However, this is only expected to be a short term headwind and the company has been tipped to resume its strong growth again once its inventory levels are balanced out. This may end up happening quicker than anticipated following the lockdown in Sydney.
Credit Suisse is positive on the company and currently has an outperform rating and $17.93 price target on its shares.
