2 Top Growth Stocks Near a 52-Week Low to Buy Now and Hold Forever

Recession fears fueled by runaway inflation and rising interest rates caused the stock market to plunge this year. The Nasdaq Composite is about 35% off its peak, which means the tech-heavy index has traveled deep into bear market territory. Many individual stocks have fallen much further. For instance, Shopify (SHOP -1.28%) and DigitalOcean Holdings (DOCN 4.59%) have lost roughly 85% and 74% of their value, respectively, putting both stocks near a 52-week low.

Losses of that magnitude can be terrifying, but the investment theses behind Shopify and DigitalOcean remain firmly intact. That makes the ongoing sell-off a buying opportunity for patient investors. Here's why.

1. Shopify: Gaining market share in U.S. retail

Shopify is the market leader in e-commerce software, outranking all rivals in both market presence and user satisfaction, according to G2 Grid. That success stems from the simplicity and scope of its platform. It allows merchants to manage sales across physical and digital storefronts, including online marketplaces, social media, and direct-to-consumer websites.

Shopify also provides adjacent services like payment processing, financing, and money management accounts. Few (if any) other vendors have such a comprehensive offering.

Of course, high inflation has been a headwind for the retail industry, and Shopify delivered somewhat disappointing financial results over the past year. Revenue was up just 30% to $5 billion, a significant deceleration from 85% growth in the prior year, and free cash flow fell 88% to $59 million. But investors need to look beyond the temporary headwinds -- the future still looks bright for Shopify.

Last year, Shopify accounted for 10.3% of retail e-commerce sales in the U.S. Only Amazon held more market share. That leaves Shopify well positioned for future growth, as retail e-commerce sales in the U.S. are expected to increase at 12% per year to reach $1.7 trillion by 2026.

But the company is also gaining traction in physical retail settings. In fact, Shopify continued to gain market share in U.S. retail (both online and offline) in the first and second quarters of 2022, in spite of disappointing financial results. And the fulfillment network the company is currently building could reinforce that trend in the coming years.

Additionally, Shopify recently added new business-to-business (B2B) tools to Shopify Plus, its commerce platform for larger businesses. That could be a big growth driver for two reasons.

First, management estimates more than half of existing Plus merchants could utilize B2B tools. Second, global B2B e-commerce sales will approach $8 trillion in 2022, and that figure will grow at 20% annually to reach $33 trillion by 2030, according to Grand View Research.

In short, Shopify sits in front of a big market opportunity, and it is executing on a sound growth strategy. With shares trading at 6.3 times sales -- a bargain compared to the three-year average of 36.6 times sales -- this growth stock is worth buying today.

2. DigitalOcean: Bringing cloud computing services to small businesses

Cloud providers like Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services dominate the industry and offer an extensive range of infrastructure and platform services. However, those products are tailored to the needs of large enterprises -- the kinds of companies with plenty of IT support. But what about small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) that lack those resources?

DigitalOcean simplifies cloud computing for SMBs and individual developers. Its portfolio may not be as extensive, but its platform features an intuitive deployment interface with click-and-go options that allow customers to provision cloud services in minutes, without specialized training.

DigitalOcean also provides round-the-clock customer service and technical support to all clients, regardless of size. Additionally, the company built a sizable learning ecosystem for its customers, which features thousands of developer tutorials and tens of thousands of community-generated questions and answers.

Those qualities distinguish DigitalOcean from other cloud vendors, and that edge fueled strong growth. DigitalOcean now has 105,400 customers that spend more than $50 per month, up 16% from the prior year, and its net dollar retention rate currently sits at 112%, meaning the average customer spent 12% more over the past year.

In turn, revenue climbed 34% to $492 million, and the company generated positive free cash flow of $32 million over the past year, up from a loss of $5 million in the prior year.

Turning to the future, DigitalOcean puts its addressable market at $145 billion by 2025, and the company is working to capitalize on that through consistent product innovation. For instance, it recently introduced serverless computing solution DigitalOcean Functions. "Serverless" is a somewhat misleading term, as servers are still involved, but they are managed by the cloud vendor instead of the customer. That means SMBs can build and scale applications without worrying about the underlying infrastructure.

Currently, shares trade at 7.1 times sales, a discount compared to the historical average of 13.1 times sales. That creates an attractive buying opportunity, and investors may regret passing on this growth stock.