You don't need tens of thousands of dollars to get started on your investing journey. The market's decline this year might make it seem like a daunting time to get started, but this short-term turbulence also creates the opportunity to start building the foundations of a diversified portfolio of top growth stocks at attractive entry points.
Here are two beaten-down growth stocks I would put $1,000 each into right now.
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1. Palantir Technologies
With $1,000, you can buy 100 shares of Palantir Technologies (PLTR 0.26%), a software company that's using big data to do everything from helping intelligence agencies fight terror to enabling global manufacturers to monitor their supply chains.
Despite Palantir's advanced technology and myriad use cases for data management, shares of the Denver-based company are down 69% from their 52-week high as the market's appetite for growth stocks that aren't yet profitable has diminished. The company recently reported second-quarter earnings, and the stock sold off when the market was expecting the stock to report $0.03 in adjusted earnings per share and it reported a $0.01 loss. Revenue guidance came in slightly lower than expected, attributable to a slowdown in government spending.
But here's the bright side: Palantir serves both government and commercial customers. Total revenue for the quarter grew by 26% year over year to $290 million. Revenue from commercial customers grew by a much higher 46%.
Within the U.S. commercial sector, revenue is growing like a weed. And not just any weed -- I'm talking about one of those weeds where you look outside after a rainstorm and it's climbed halfway up your shed. Revenue from these U.S.-based commercial customers is up an eye-popping 120% year over year.
Co-founder and CEO Alex Karp calls this U.S. commercial business "a new company" within Palantir because the opportunity is so immense. Government contracts give Palantir some steady, reliable cash flow, but there is much more growth ahead in serving large enterprise clients, which should help offset any slowdown in government spending.
The company has a strong balance sheet with no debt and is ramping up hiring at a time when other tech companies are implementing layoffs, so it looks like the company is currently in a strong, stable position. Palantir also has a net retention rate of 119%, meaning that existing customers are spending 19% more per year than they were the previous year. Karp also indicated that some customers who left Palantir to try out other offerings are coming back.
As Palantir continues to expand its commercial business in the United States and abroad, this stock could generate good returns over the next few years. This makes it a good beaten-down growth stock to get started with.
2. Floor & Decor Holdings
On the subject of growing like a weed, take a look at home improvement retailer Floor & Decor Holdings (FND -1.05%), which specializes in hard-surface flooring products like tile, natural stone, wood, and vinyl. While the stock has fallen year to date because of concerns about the housing market, Floor & Decor just keeps chugging along and posting impressive growth numbers quarter after quarter.
During the just-reported second quarter, Floor & Decor grew revenue by an impressive 26.7% year over year. This includes sales from nine new warehouses (with one warehouse closing), but the company is still growing same-store sales growth at a 9.2% rate. This means it's growing both by opening new locations and by getting more sales out of its existing locations -- a great recipe for long-term growth.
This continues impressive trends in which the Atlanta-based company has grown revenue at a 25.5% compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) over the past five years, while nearly doubling its store count over the same time frame. And this store count growth isn't even close to tapped out yet -- Floor & Decor had 160 locations at the end of 2021, but it sees potential for 500 stores in the United States. The company plans to open 32 total stores during fiscal 2022.
What makes this growth even more impressive is that it has been accomplished in a challenging environment. CEO Tom Taylor states that the company achieved these results after posting record numbers last year and while enduring inflation, rising mortgage rates, and falling home sales.
This backdrop is likely why the stock has fallen 35% from its 52-week high, but the company has brushed this off and just keeps executing on its growth plans, meaning that you can buy the stock now and benefit from it rising again when macroeconomic fears ease and when the market comes around to what the company is accomplishing.
These are two beaten-down growth stocks from very different industries that are expanding and growing their top lines at impressive clips. Investing $1,000 into each is a great way to start building a diversified portfolio of growth stocks that should be good investments for years to come.
