As recovery stories circulate, FTSE100 star Rolls-Royce (LSE: RR.) was amazing.

There was a time – not long after the global pandemic began – when no one approached the company. It seemed logical at the time. In addition to being drowned in debt, the engineer’s prospects were dire, given that air travel had virtually ceased to contain Covid-19.

Of course, hindsight is a wonderful thing. We already know that this was exactly the time to top up the stock. Within a few years, CEO Tufan Erginbilgiç managed to turn the company around through a combination of cost cutting and improvements. The share price responded appropriately. And then some!

The question I ask is: what stock will be the next great top-flight turnaround for the UK market?

The FTSE 100 lags behind

One of the potential candidates may be an automotive supplier Car salesman (LSE: AUTO).

Yes, it’s true that it is in many ways a completely different entity from Rolls-Royce. Rolls-Royce makes money from engine production and maintenance, and has a global reach. Auto Trader connects UK buyers with vehicle sellers and does it all online.

However, the latter is currently hated by the market, just like Rolls-Royce was in 2020. Indeed, it ranks high on the list of stocks where investors have the most miniature positions. In other words, many are betting that its price – down almost 40% in 12 months – will fall even further.

They may be right. Recently, more and more investors have begun to doubt whether such companies can withstand an artificial intelligence attack.

Elsewhere, the company has faced resistance from dealers to novel initiatives. Even the UK’s competition regulator is currently investigating Auto Trader as part of its crackdown on fraudulent reviews.

It never rains, but it pours.

Auto Trader is not broken

On a more hopeful note, I think there’s quite a lot to like here.

The £4 billion cap still has a virtual monopoly on what it does. It still achieves incredible margins that would make most companies green with envy. Debt levels are also currently negligible thanks to the asset-based business model.

Then comes the valuation. The projected price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 14 practically screams “bargain” if – and that’s a huge “if” – relationships with dealers can be repaired and the mentioned artificial intelligence threat turns out to be exaggerated (it is worth noting that the company is already integrating its own artificial intelligence-based tools with the website).

It’s worth taking a closer look

Regardless, I definitely don’t expect a Rolls-Royce-like economic recovery (if it happens). The latter’s recovery has been impressive, accompanied by a recovery in aviation and an boost in defense spending. It’s challenging to imagine how Auto Trader could ever achieve the same level of revenue growth.

Still, I think it may merit attention from long-term investors with opposing views, especially if the share price continues at its current levels. With expectations so low, any glimmers of lightweight in the next set of full-year numbers – scheduled for May 21 – could be the catalyst value seekers have been waiting for.

But I wish some director would buy it sooner. What’s worse, there hasn’t been anything like this for many years (and it sold an awful lot!).