Economists around the world are expecting U.S. economic growth to slow in 2024, and many are calling for at least a mild U.S. recession. It may become increasingly difficult for investors to find reliable growth stocks to buy.
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Nevertheless, growth stocks have outperformed value stocks in 2023, and investors are anticipating that the trend will continue when the Federal Reserve eventually pivots to interest rate cuts. Here are 10 of CFRA Research analysts’ top growth stocks that have reported at least 15% annual revenue growth in the past three years:
| Stock | Implied upside from Sept. 19 close |
| Alphabet Inc. (ticker: GOOGL) | 2.9% |
| Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) | 33% |
| Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) | 37.9% |
| Tesla Inc. (TSLA) | 22% |
| Meta Platforms Inc. (META) | 14.7% |
| Chevron Corp. (CVX) | 7.7% |
| Adobe Inc. (ADBE) | 7.1% |
| Salesforce Inc. (CRM) | 18.7% |
| Pfizer Inc. (PFE) | 26.5% |
| Netflix Inc. (NFLX) | 31.2% |
Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL)
Alphabet is one of the world’s largest online search and advertising companies and is the parent company of Google and YouTube. In the second quarter, Alphabet reported 7% year-over-year revenue growth, which included 28% cloud revenue growth. Analyst Angelo Zino says Alphabet has an attractive valuation and tremendous earnings and free cash flow potential. He projects 11% revenue growth in 2024 and says the company can maintain annual revenue growth of between 6% and 11% through at least 2025. Zino says Google’s artificial intelligence
opportunities are also exciting. CFRA has a “buy” rating and $142 price target for GOOGL stock, which closed at $138.04 on Sept. 19.
Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN)
E-commerce and cloud services giant Amazon has been one of the best-performing growth stocks of all time. Unfortunately, Amazon shares are down 6.8% in the past three years as revenue growth has slowed to just 10.9% year over year in the most recent quarter. Analyst Arun Sundaram says operating profit in Amazon’s e-commerce business improved dramatically in the second quarter, and its advertising business has generated impressive growth. Meanwhile, Sundaram says the cloud computing cycle is troughing, and he projects full-year Amazon Web Services revenue growth of 14%. CFRA has a “buy” rating and $183 price target for AMZN stock, which closed at $137.63 on Sept. 19.
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA)
High-end semiconductor maker Nvidia has been one of the most spectacular growth stories in the entire stock market in the past 15 years. In the second quarter, Nvidia’s growth numbers rebounded in a major way, suggesting a cyclical downturn in the semiconductor market may finally be over. Nvidia’s revenue grew 101.4% year over year in the quarter, while its net income skyrocketed by 843.2%. Zino says generative AI creates unprecedented demand for Nvidia’s graphics processing units, and he projects fiscal 2025 revenue growth of 36%. CFRA has a “buy” rating and $600 price target for NVDA stock, which closed at $435.20 on Sept. 19.
Tesla Inc. (TSLA)
Tesla is the leading U.S. electric vehicle manufacturer. Tesla reported impressive 47.2% year-over-year revenue growth and 19.7% net income growth in the second quarter. Automotive segment revenue was up 46%. Analyst Garrett Nelson says new factories in Texas and Germany and the start of Cybertruck deliveries will usher in the next era of growth for Tesla. In the longer term, Nelson says the launch of the Roadster and the Optimus robot will also be growth catalysts. He projects 24% revenue growth for Tesla in 2023. CFRA has a “buy” rating and $325 price target for TSLA stock, which closed at $266.50 on Sept. 19.
Meta Platforms Inc. (META)
Meta Platforms is a market leader in social media and online advertising and is the owner of Facebook, Instagram and other platforms. After three straight quarters of negative year-over-year revenue growth to close out 2022, Meta’s growth rebounded to positive 11% in the second quarter of 2023. Zino says Meta is attractively valued and has several major growth opportunities, including AI, the metaverse and Reels. He says the company’s margins are trending in the right direction and Meta is on track for 12% revenue growth in 2023. CFRA has a “buy” rating and $350 price target for META stock, which closed at $305.07 on Sept. 19.
Chevron Corp. (CVX)
Chevron is a global oil major that operates exploration and production, refining and marketing, and petrochemical businesses. Oil majors aren’t traditionally considered high-growth stocks, but favorable energy market conditions in recent years have made oil stocks some of the highest-growth companies in the market. Chevron reported a 28% year-over-year drop in revenue in the second quarter, but revenue was still up about 30% on a two-year basis. Analyst Stewart Glickman projects CVX will return to positive revenue and earnings growth in 2024 following its PDC Energy acquisition. CFRA has a “buy” rating and $180 price target for CVX stock, which closed at $167.20 on Sept. 19.
Adobe Inc. (ADBE)
Adobe produces creative content software and other applications used for marketing and e-commerce. Adobe reported record sales and 10% year-over-year revenue growth in the second quarter, including 10% growth in its digital media segment and 12% growth in its digital experience segment. Zino says Adobe has a dominant position in key content creation apps and has potential to leverage AI to increase customer monetization. He says the company’s Firefly generative AI models are already attracting customer attention, and he projects 13% revenue growth in fiscal 2024. CFRA has a “buy” rating and $580 price target for ADBE stock, which closed at $541.69 on Sept. 19.
Salesforce Inc. (CRM)
Salesforce is the world’s largest provider of cloud-based customer relationship management, or CRM, software. Salesforce reported 11% year-over-year revenue growth and a whopping 1,763% net income growth in the second quarter. Zino says Salesforce offers investors a rare combination of market share gains, improving profitability and an attractive valuation. After executing an aggressive acquisition strategy, Zino says Salesforce now has by far the most comprehensive suite of CRM offerings for medium and large businesses. He projects 9% to 11% annual revenue growth through at least fiscal 2026. CFRA has a “strong buy” rating and $256 price target for CRM stock, which closed at $215.70 on Sept. 19.
Pfizer Inc. (PFE)
Pfizer is one of the largest global pharmaceutical companies. In the past two years, Pfizer has generated impressive sales from its COVID-19 vaccine and booster shots. However, the stock is down 33.7% year to date through Sept. 19 as COVID sales have died down. Pfizer’s revenue dropped 54.1% in the second quarter, but the company guided for between 6% and 8% operational revenue growth this year, excluding COVID-19 product sales. Analyst Sel Hardy says Pfizer’s 19 pipeline drug candidates have potential to generate $20 billion in revenues by 2030. CFRA has a “buy” rating and $43 price target for PFE stock, which closed at $33.99 on Sept. 19.
Netflix Inc. (NFLX)
Netflix is a market leader in video streaming and has about 238 million paid subscribers. In the second quarter, Netflix added 5.9 million customers and reported 8% subscription growth and 3% revenue growth. Analyst Kenneth Leon says the ongoing shift from traditional TV viewership to online streaming will continue to be a growth tailwind for Netflix. While streaming competition is fierce, Leon says Netflix’s combination of advertising, ad-pay plans and paid share membership options is the gold standard in streaming. CFRA has a “strong buy” rating and $520 price target for NFLX stock, which closed at $396.20 on Sept. 19.
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10 Best Growth Stocks to Buy for 2023 originally appeared on usnews.com
Update 09/20/23: This story was previously published at an earlier date and has been updated with new information.
