E-commerce giant Amazon (AMZN +1.10%) has undoubtedly been one of the best investments to own over the past 10 years. Even counting this recent downturn in the markets, the stock is sill up 816%. By comparison, the S&P 500 has generated returns of just 151% over the same stretch.
But at a $1.2 trillion valuation today, I'm not optimistic that Amazon can deliver a repeat performance over the next decade. It may still outperform the S&P by a wide margin, but a couple of stocks that I think can do even better than the tech giant are Cresco Labs (CRLBF +5.63%) and Intuitive Surgical (ISRG +0.83%).
1. Cresco Labs
Cresco Labs is a stock that I'm bullish on because it's in a rapidly growing industry with good management at the helm. It's the only marijuana producer I've ever invested in -- and I've been writing about cannabis stocks for five years.
OTC: CRLBF
Key Data Points
What stands out to me about the company is its CEO, Charlie Bachtell. Unlike some executives in the industry, you won't see outrageous predictions being thrown about from him. While other CEOs may talk up ridiculous growth targets or make unrealistic predictions about legalization, Bachtell remains more modest. And that is also evident through the company's strategic approach to the U.S. cannabis industry. Rather than aggressively growing into every market possible, Cresco Labs has been focusing on the most attractive opportunities and investments.
By 2025, the company projects its footprint will span 18 states and be in all of the top cannabis markets in the country, including Florida, California, Illinois, New York, and New Jersey. And by next year, the business will be diversified with eight different states generating in excess of $100 million in revenue.
The company's pending acquisition of multi-state operator Columbia Care is key to a lot of that growth. That deal is expected to complete before the end of the year, and when it does, Cresco Labs will be the industry leader in terms of revenue (the companies combined for $347 million in revenue for the period ending June 30). Cresco also generates a great bottom line, averaging an adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) margin of 23% (Columbia Care's average is a bit lower at around 11%).
In a global cannabis market that analysts from Fortune Business Insights expect will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 32% until 2028, Cresco Labs is in an excellent position to tap into those possibilities. Investors may be down on the cannabis industry today, with the Horizons Marijuana Life Sciences ETF plummeting 50% year to date (Cresco's down by a comparable amount), but there's going to be a ton more growth here over the next decade than there will be in tech or e-commerce.
2. Intuitive Surgical
Robotic-assisted surgery is another industry that growth investors should target. Fortune Business Insights projects that the global surgical robots market will grow at a CAGR of 21.4% until 2026, and even then, it will still be worth less than $7 billion (by comparison, the cannabis market was worth over $28 billion in 2021).
NASDAQ: ISRG
Key Data Points
This is an early time to be getting into this industry but that's also why it may be ideal to do so. Intuitive Surgical's da Vinci surgical systems are steadily rising in adoption. As of the end of June, its install base totaled 7,135 systems. That's an increase of 35% from the 5,270 that was installed three years earlier.
Last quarter, for the period ended June 30, the company reported that there was a 14% increase in procedures for worldwide da Vinci systems from the prior-year period. And over a three-year stretch, the CAGR is 16%. Strong and consistent usage numbers are a good sign that customers are seeing value in these robotic surgical systems.
What takes some of the risk out of this investment is that Intuitive Surgical is already a profitable company, reporting net income of $1.7 billion last year on revenue of $5.7 billion. That makes for an incredible profit margin of 30%. As the company continues to grow, it's in an excellent position with these types of margins to significantly accelerate its top line; from 2018 to 2021, its bottom line rose by 51%.
Investors have nonetheless been bearish on Intuitive's stock this year as its shares are down 48%. However, the company's solid fundamentals and potential growth opportunities make it another stock that I'm confident can outperform Amazon over the next decade.
