Economist around the world are expecting U.S. economic growth to slow in coming quarters, and some are still calling for a mild U.S. recession. It may become increasingly difficult for investors to find reliable growth stocks to buy if interest rates remain at 22-year highs for an extended period. Nevertheless, growth stocks have outperformed value stocks in 2023, and investors are anticipating that trend will continue when the Federal Reserve eventually pivots to rate cuts.
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Here are 10 of CFRA Research analysts’ top growth stocks that have reported steady annual revenue growth over the past three years:
| Stock | Implied upside from Nov. 20 closing price |
| Alphabet Inc. (ticker: GOOGL) | 15.2% |
| Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) | 23.2% |
| Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) | 19% |
| Meta Platforms Inc. (META) | 3% |
| Tesla Inc. (TSLA) | 27.3% |
| Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) | 15.8% |
| Adobe Inc. (ADBE) | 1.2% |
| Chevron Corp. (CVX) | 12.2% |
| Salesforce Inc. (CRM) | 13.7% |
| Netflix Inc. (NFLX) | 2.2% |
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 third quarter, Alphabet reported 11% revenue growth, which included 22% cloud revenue growth. Analyst Angelo Zino says Alphabet has an attractive valuation and generates impressive earnings and cash flow. He is bullish on the company’s artificial intelligence technology, a market in which Google is an early leader. Zino projects Alphabet can maintain annual revenue growth of between 6% and 11% through at least 2025. CFRA has a “buy” rating and $157 price target for GOOGL stock, which closed at $136.25 on Nov. 20.
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 5.7% in the past three years as revenue growth has slowed to just 12.6% in the most recent quarter. While Amazon’s growth may not be what it once was, analyst Arun Sundaram says the company’s third-quarter financial report highlighted its impressive operating profit improvement. Sundaram says Amazon’s fastest growing segments, including Amazon Web Services and third-party fulfillment, are also higher-margin businesses. CFRA has a “buy” rating and $180 price target for AMZN stock, which closed at $146.13 on Nov. 20.
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% year over year in the quarter, while its net income skyrocketed by 843%. Zino says generative AI technology is creating unprecedented demand for Nvidia’s high-end graphics processing units. He projects 36% revenue growth for Nvidia in fiscal 2025. CFRA has a “buy” rating and $600 price target for NVDA stock, which closed at $504.09 on Nov. 20.
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 territory in the first half of 2023 and came in at an impressive 23% in the third quarter. Zino says Meta has an improving margin trajectory, several major growth opportunities and an attractive valuation. He projects 15% full-year revenue growth in 2023 and 13% growth in 2024. CFRA has a “buy” rating and $350 price target for META stock, which closed at $339.97 on Nov. 20.
Tesla Inc. (TSLA)
Tesla is the leading U.S. electric vehicle manufacturer. Tesla’s revenue growth slowed to just 9% in the third quarter. Automotive segment revenue growth was just 5%. Analyst Garrett Nelson says investors shouldn’t worry about the growth slowdown and should instead focus on Tesla’s new factories in Germany and Texas and its imminent rollout of the Cybertruck. Looking ahead, he says the Roadster and Tesla’s next generation platform will serve as additional growth catalysts. Nelson estimates 1.7 million Cybertruck reservations and projects full-year revenue growth of 20%. CFRA has a “buy” rating and $300 price target for TSLA stock, which closed at $235.60 on Nov. 20.
[READ: How Much Would $10,000 Invested in Tesla Stock at IPO Be Worth Today?]
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM)
Exxon Mobil is the largest U.S. oil major. 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. Exxon reported a 19% year-over-year drop in revenue in the third quarter, but revenue was still up about 23% on a two-year basis. Analyst Stewart Glickman says Exxon is benefiting from its development of major oil fields off the coast of Africa and in the U.S. Permian Basin. CFRA has a “buy” rating and $121 price target for XOM stock, which closed at $104.50 on Nov. 20.
Adobe Inc. (ADBE)
Adobe produces creative content software and other applications used for marketing and e-commerce. Adobe reported 10% revenue growth in its fiscal third quarter, including 11% growth in its digital media segment and 10% growth in its digital experience segment. Zino says Adobe has a dominant position in key content creation app markets and has opportunities to leverage AI technology to further monetize its users in the future. He projects Adobe’s revenue growth will accelerate from 10% in 2023 to 11% in 2024 and 13% in 2025. CFRA has a “buy” rating and $620 price target for ADBE stock, which closed at $612.70 on Nov. 20.
Chevron Corp. (CVX)
Chevron is a global oil major that operates exploration and production, refining and marketing, and petrochemical businesses. Much like Exxon, Chevron’s revenue was down 18% from a year ago in the third quarter but was up 22% on a two-year basis. Glickman says Chevron’s planned $58 billion Hess Corp. (HES) acquisition adds long-cycle oil exposure. In addition, he says Australian liquefied natural gas, deepwater Gulf of Mexico drilling, and projects in the Permian Basin, the DJ Basin and Kazakhstan could be future growth catalysts by 2025. CFRA has a “buy” rating and $162 price target for CVX stock, which closed at $144.38 on Nov. 20.
Salesforce Inc. (CRM)
Salesforce is the world’s largest provider of cloud-based customer relationship management software. In addition to its organic growth, Salesforce has grown via a string of acquisitions in recent years, including its 2021 buyout of workplace messaging platform Slack. Salesforce reported 11% revenue growth and a whopping 1,763% net income growth in the second quarter. Zino says Salesforce’s profitability is improving, the stock has an attractive valuation and the company is gaining market share. He projects between 9% and 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 $225.13 on Nov. 20.
Netflix Inc. (NFLX)
Netflix is a market leader in video streaming and has more than 247 million paid subscribers around the world. In the third quarter, Netflix reported 7.8% revenue growth and 10.8% global streaming paid memberships growth, which included a nearly 70% quarterly increase in ad-supported plan memberships. Analyst Kenneth Leon says the ongoing secular shift in TV viewing to streaming platforms will support Netflix’s long-term growth. Leon says Netflix is outshining peers with its diverse revenue streams, including advertising, ad-pay membership plans and paid membership sharing. CFRA has a “strong buy” rating and $485 price target for NFLX stock, which closed at $474.47 on Nov. 20.
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10 Best Growth Stocks to Buy originally appeared on usnews.com
Update 11/21/23: This story was previously published at an earlier date and has been updated with new information.
