2 Monster Growth Stocks to Buy in This Bear Market and Hold Forever

Recession fears have sent stocks tumbling this year. The broad-based S&P 500 is currently 25% off its high, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite is down 35%. That puts both indexes in a bear market. Many individual tech stocks have fared even worse. Cybersecurity companies like CrowdStrike Holdings (CRWD 2.03%) and Zscaler (ZS 1.28%) have stocks trading down 47.5% and 60%, respectively, from highs set within the last year. And these drops come despite delivering monster financial results.

The cybersecurity industry is poised to see strong growth in the coming years, as hackers are becoming increasingly sophisticated and data breaches are becoming increasingly costly. In fact, nearly 70% of businesses plan to increase their cybersecurity budgets in the future, according to a survey from PricewaterhouseCoopers. That should be a powerful tailwind for cybersecurity leaders like CrowdStrike and Zscaler.

Here is why these two monster growth stocks are worth buying today.

1. CrowdStrike: The gold standard in endpoint security and managed services

CrowdStrike is a rising star in cybersecurity. Its platform contains 22 software products, several of which have become the gold standard in their respective verticals. For instance, CrowdStrike led the endpoint security market last year with a 14.2% share, up four percentage points from the prior year. The company also ranked first in managed detection and response, a service that allows businesses to offload responsibilities like monitoring and incident response to highly trained security experts.

CrowdStrike's broad software portfolio gives it an edge over other vendors, allowing customers to replace many-point solutions with a single platform. Its leadership in endpoint security and managed services is also a big advantage. It allows CrowdStrike to crowdsource security signals on an unmatched scale, and that makes its artificial intelligence (AI) models uniquely effective in preventing threats.

That reputation for industry-leading efficacy has translated into strong demand. Its customer count climbed 51% in the last year, while the average customer increased spend by more than 20%. In turn, revenue soared 61% to $1.8 billion and free cash flow soared 49% to $543 million. But CrowdStrike has only scratched the surface of the company it could become.

Management estimates its addressable market will reach $75 billion by 2023, but its product pipeline could push that figure to $158 billion by 2026. For instance, CrowdStrike recently introduced LogScale, a product that provides real-time visibility into application and infrastructure performance. That move extends its platform into the observability market, and that type of innovation should keep the company growing quickly.

Currently, shares trade at 19.6 times sales, a discount compared to the three-year average of 36.6 times. At that price, this monster growth stock is worth buying.

2. Zscaler: The gold standard in network security

Zscaler specializes in network security. Its platform (known as a secure access service edge, or SASE) inspects network traffic and enforces zero-trust policies in the cloud, leaning on AI to prevent threats and connect users with corporate resources from any device or location. That eliminates the cost and complexity of on-site network security appliances for customers, but it also results in a better user experience.

Digital transformation has created a need for SASE networks. Today, sensitive data and applications often live in the cloud, and employees frequently work outside the office, so it no longer makes sense to route traffic through a single corporate data center. Zscaler addresses that problem with its globally distributed platform. In fact, it operates the largest network security cloud in the world, and that scale makes its AI engine more effective in preventing cyberattacks.

Financially, Zscaler is growing like wildfire. Its customer count increased 20% in the past year, and the average customer increased spend by more than 25%. In turn, revenue soared 62%, surpassing $1 billion, and free cash flow climbed 60% to $231 million. Better yet, Zscaler is well positioned to maintain that momentum in the coming years.

Management puts its market opportunity at $72 billion, and research company Gartner estimates that 80% of enterprises will transition to SASE architecture by 2025, up from 20% in 2021. Gartner has also recognized Zscaler as an industry leader for 11 consecutive years. That makes the company a key player in a quickly growing vertical of the cybersecurity industry, and with shares trading at 19.2 times sales -- much cheaper than the three-year average of 37.7 times sales -- this growth stock is worth buying today.