Equity markets have been on a crazy rollercoaster ride since the start of the year, with plenty of growth stocks trading at multi-year lows.
The S&P 500 dipped 20% in the year’s first half, its worst performance in over 50 years. However, it snapped back in July, registering a 9.1% gain. Many factors are impacting the global economy at this time, leading to the current volatility.
Investors are likely to feel timid during the current market downturn, but with so many growth stocks trading at incredibly low prices, a more aggressive stance is warranted.
Growth stocks usually have a good chance to soar and jump by hundreds of percentage points. Consequently, scooping them up at record low prices would be a prudent move at this stage.
| AMD | Advanced Micro Devices | $92.72 |
| PYPL | PayPal | $93.58 |
| NFLX | Netflix | $226 |
| AMAT | Applied Materials | $100.84 |
| TTD | The Trade Desk | $64.25 |
| AXP | American Express | $157.60 |
| ADBE | Adobe | $412.15 |
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD)
Tech giant Advanced Micro Devices’s (NASDAQ:AMD) stock is up 20% after posting stellar second-quarter results. The semiconductor firm continues to prove its naysayers wrong with superb quarterly earnings. Its growth is far from being over, and with the shares down nearly 30% for the year and the company having spectacular underlying metrics, AMD remains an excellent bet for the long haul.
In Q2, its revenues grew by a whopping 70% year-over-year to $6.55 billion. The tremendous results were driven by the robust results of its data center and client units.
Additionally, despite the gaming market’s weakness, its gaming segment was able to increase its sales 32% YOY. Moreover, the embedded segment’s sales soared by over 2,000% YOY to more than $1.3 billion. And its gross profit and earnings per share rose by more than 60% versus the same period a year earlier.
So AMD is firing on all cylinders and expects its sales this year to jump 60% YOY to $26.3 billion.
PayPal (PYPL)
Digital payments powerhouse PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) seems to have bottomed out in Q2, both in terms of share price and fundamentals.
In Q1, PYPL stock took a beating because of PayPal’s significant margin contraction. However, that trend was reversed in Q2 as a result of its healthy margin expansion.
The firm expects to reduce its operational expenses by $900 million during the rest of this year and another $1.3 billion for 2023, lifting its operating margin by about 20%.
Additionally, in Q2 PYPL’s free cash flow climbed 22% YOY to a massive $1.3 billion. Also, its capital-light business and consistent return on capital helped it return close to 95% of its free cash flows to its shareholders via stock repurchases.
Despite PayPal’s marvelous operating results, its business has a massive growth runway ahead of it.
Netflix (NFLX)
After Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) recently reported its Q2 results, experts believe that the streaming giant is probably more of a value stock now.
Sure, its revenues aren’t increasing more than 25% anymore each year, but its growth is still at least in-line with the average level of its sector. Moreover, as NFLX continues to invest in new, original content and in its brand equity, it won’t be going anywhere anytime soon. Despite the economic downturn, its revenue rose 9% YOY in Q2, and its net subscriber loss came in at only 1 million.
Though the U.S. streaming market is indeed saturated, there is massive room for NFLX to expand overseas. There are around 1 billion pay-TV households globally, representing an incredibly huge, largely untapped opportunity for Netflix. Furthermore, advertising could potentially be a key growth driver for NFLX.
YouTube, for instance, generated $7.5 billion of ad revenue last quarter.
Applied Materials (AMAT)
Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) specializes in designing and producing advanced chip fabrication equipment. During the height of the semiconductor shortage last year, its revenue jumped about 35% YOY. That was amazingly strong growth for AMAT, as the company’s sales has increased by an average of about 16.8% annually in the last five years.
During its fiscal third quarter, its sales came in at a record $6.5 billion,, comfortably topping analysts’ average estimate of $6.27 billion. That was an impressive performance.
AMAT remains very well-positioned to gain more market share in the semiconductor space, which is poised to become a $1 trillion market.
The Trade Desk (TTD)
The Trade Desk (NYSE:TTD) is a leading provider of solutions for advertisers. It’s also one of the few growth names that continues to be profitable and consistently post above-average sales increases. While its peers reported underwhelming results in recent quarters, TTD, on the flip side, generated incredible revenue growth.
TTD’s exceptionalQ2 results featured a YOY revenue increase of 35%, lifting its sales for the quarter to $377 million,. Moreover, its earnings per share, excluding certain items, climbed 11% YOY to 20 cents. Its top and bottom lines both beat analysts’ average estimates.
The sales of TTD’s product offerings, including its third-party ad-tracking technology and its latest ad-optimization software, can grow tremendously down the road. Moreover, its ad platform, OpenPath, could become a viable alternative to some of the biggest incumbent solutions in the space, including those of Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG,NASDAQ:GOOGL)..
American Express (AXP)
American Express (NYSE:AXP) is the largest credit card issuer in terms of transaction volume, and the company offers its users substantial entertainment and travel benefits. These perks appeal to high-income individuals.
Moreover, AXP continues developing new features and products, enabling it to maintain high barriers to competition. The need for payment systems will only grow over time, and that bodes remarkably well for AXP’s long-run outlook.
AXP has been on quite the run since Q2 of 2021, easily beating analysts’ average earning estimates.
Its bets on tourism and the entertainment sectors have paid off as the spending of AXP’s card users has remained strong. The travel sector is hot, while the entertainment space is also rebounding.
Those factors helped the firm increase its revenue more than 30% YOY in Q2. What’s more, it has raised its full-year guidance and expects to finish the year strongly.
Adobe (ADBE)
Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) is a pioneer in creative software and generates roughly 92% of its sales from subscription products. It boasts multiple competitive advantages, mainly in technology, network effects, high switching costs, and brand equity. Its financials are rock-solid and feature spectacular margins that are bolstered by its subscription business.
It posted robust Q2 results, as its revenue increased 15% YOY to a record $4.39 billion. Its Digital Media and Digital Experiences segments posted double-digit-percentage YOY growth, while the firm’s net income beat analysts’ average estimate, coming in at a healthy $1.18 billion.
Additionally, its levered free cash flow increased 36% versus Q1 to $1.73 billion. Meanwhile, its strong balance sheet, featuring $5.3 billion of cash and just $500 million of short-term debt, puts it in pole position to continue investing a great deal in its expansion.
On the date of publication, Muslim Farooque did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.