There are plenty of stocks that are experiencing explosive growth in the current volatile market environment, but growth stocks that are delivering impressive results now and that will continue to be great long-term investments are harder to find.
Three such companies -- Fastly (FSLY 3.19%), NVIDIA (NVDA 3.75%), and Shopify (SHOP 5.47%) -- are growing like weeds right now and will likely help investors build wealth for years to come. Here's why these are three top growth stocks to buy right now.
1. Fastly
Fastly's services help speed up apps, websites, video content, and much more, improving user experiences across the internet. Fastly has received a lot of attention from investors this year as the coronavirus pandemic forced many Americans to spend lots of time at home. That increased internet usage for both work and play, giving Fastly's business a boost.
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Fastly's revenue increased by 42% in the third quarter, and the company continued to grow its customer base and earn more money from them. Total customers increased to 2,047 in the third quarter, up from 1,951 in the previous quarter, and the average enterprise customer now spends about $753,000 with Fastly, up from $716,000 in the second quarter.
And Fastly still has a lot more room to grow. The company is tapping into both the content delivery network (CDN) market and the edge computing market, with CDN estimated to be worth $22 billion by 2024 and edge computing reaching $15.7 billion by 2025.
Fastly already has a great head start in these markets, and as internet usage continues to grow, Fastly looks like a great way to tap into the ever-increasing demand for online content.
2. NVIDIA
NVIDIA isn't new on the tech block, but if you haven't given it a look in a while, now is the time. Let's start with why NVIDIA is receiving so much attention right now. The company's stock is up 121% since the beginning of this year. One of the reasons why is that NVIDIA has entered a $40 billion agreement to buy chip designer Arm Holdings from SoftBank.
Arm's chip designs are found in 90% of smartphones, and the licensing fees the company collects from other companies could be a boon to NVIDIA's top line. The purchase will help NVIDIA diversify its revenue even more and enter the mobile market. With Arm, NVIDIA will build on its current chip dominance and fuel even more growth for years to come.
But even without Arm, NVIDIA is still doing very well. The company's total revenue spiked 50% in the most recent quarter, fueled by data center sales that jumped 167% and an increase in gaming revenue of 26%.
Data centers will continue to become an even more important part of NVIDIA's business as companies utilize its graphics processing units (GPUs) for more data processing and artificial intelligence services. And with NVIDIA holding 80% of the discrete desktop GPU market, the company is still perfectly positioned to continue benefiting from its core business as well.
3. Shopify
Last but certainly not least is Shopify, the e-commerce platform company that helps businesses of all sizes create online shops. Shopify has experienced phenomenal growth this year, with revenue increasing 96% in the most recent quarter and gross merchandise volume (the amount spent on Shopify's platform) jumping 109%.
The reason for that recent growth comes from an increase in demand for online shopping, which spurred businesses to set up new online shops during the pandemic or expand existing ones. COVID-19 has accelerated the e-commerce trend, but retail sales were already moving in that direction and will continue to do so in the coming years.
E-commerce sales accounted for less than 11% of total U.S. retail sales just two years ago, but now that percentage has jumped to 16%. The pandemic has caused faster growth in e-commerce to be sure, but there's no indication that this trend will slow down once things get back to normal. E-commerce was already becoming a mainstay for U.S. shoppers, and any holdouts have likely already been convinced of its benefits as they order from the safety of their homes.
Companies that once considered their online presence to be secondary to their brick-and-mortar stores likely won't keep that same mentality even after the pandemic has faded. And as more companies see the importance of selling goods and services online, Shopify's platform will continue growing.
Don't let short-term volatility scare you
It's worth mentioning that the stock market has been even more unpredictable this year than it usually is. And with Shopify, NVIDIA, and Fastly already seeing their share prices soar this year, some current investors may look to sell their shares and take the gains. If that happens, these stocks could see their share prices take short-term dips. This is why investors should plan on buying these stocks and holding onto them for at least a few years, to ride out any short-term volatility and give these companies time to continue expanding in their markets.
