Economic uncertainty dragged the S&P 500 into a bear market in 2022. The broad-based index is down 21% year to date, meaning more than $8 trillion went up in smoke. But many Wall Street analysts view that downturn as a buying opportunity. In some cases, analysts are even forecasting triple-digit returns in the next 12 months, meaning shareholders could double their money before the end of 2023.
For instance, Phil Winslow of Credit Suisse put a price target of $275 per share on Zscaler (ZS +5.41%), which implies a 127% upside from its current share price. And Keith Weiss of Morgan Stanley has a 12-month price target of $375 per share on Atlassian (TEAM +8.21%), which implies a 203% upside from its current price.
Of course, price targets should never be taken too seriously. Even the smartest investors cannot predict the future, and triple-digit returns in the current economic environment may be a little too optimistic. That said, both of these growth stocks look like rewarding long-term investments.
Here's why.
1. Zscaler: The largest network security cloud in the world
Zscaler specializes in network security and cloud protection. Its secure access service edge (SASE) platform employs artificial intelligence to inspect web traffic and identify threats in the cloud, rather than corporate data centers. That creates a faster and more secure environment for users and cloud workloads while eliminating the need for costly on-premise hardware.
Research company Gartner recognized Zscaler as an industry leader for the last 11 years. That competitive differentiation stems from scale and innovation. Zscaler operates the largest security cloud in the world, allowing its AI engine to learn from 300 trillion security signals each day. CEO Jay Chaudhry says that "enables Zscaler to deliver better threat protection than other vendors."
That advantage translated into strong demand. The company increased its customer count by 20% over the past year, and the average customer increased spend by more than 25%. In turn, revenue rose 61% year over year to $318 million in the fourth fiscal quarter of 2022 (ended July 31), and free cash flow (FCF) soared 170% to $75 million.
Looking ahead, investors have great reason to be bullish on this cybersecurity company. Zscaler currently pegs its addressable market at $72 billion, but management sees room to expand into commercial (smaller) businesses and Internet-of-Things workloads. More importantly, trends like cloud computing and software-as-a-service created a need for SASE platforms. In fact, Gartner estimates that 80% of enterprises will have a strategy to adopt SASE architecture by 2025, up from 20% in 2021. That should be a significant tailwind for Zscaler.
On that note, shares currently trade at 15.6 times sales, a sizable discount to the three-year average of 37.2 times sales. That's why this growth stock is worth buying today, though investors shouldn't bank on triple-digit returns in the next year.
2. Atlassian: A leader in business collaboration and productivity software
Atlassian specializes in team collaboration and productivity software. Its most widely adopted products are Jira and Confluence. The former is a market-leading tool for product management and bug tracking, and the latter is the gold standard in knowledge sharing. Atlassian also achieved a strong presence in other end markets, including enterprise planning and IT service management software.
Atlassian owes that success to its efficient go-to-market strategy. It primarily sells its products online, without a direct sales team, which keeps its sales and marketing costs low. That reduces friction for potential customers while enabling the company to spend more on product development than its competitors.
Unfortunately, Atlassian felt the impact of economic uncertainty in the first fiscal quarter of 2023 (ended Sept. 30). Quarterly revenue climbed 31% year over year to $807 million and its net loss improved to $0.05 per diluted share, but those results fell short of Wall Street's estimates and management delivered disappointing guidance. That weakness sparked a selling frenzy that sent Atlassian's share price tumbling more than 20% in the hours after it released its report.
Investors need to step back and look at the big picture. Atlassian is a provider of mission-critical collaboration and productivity solutions, and it has a strong market presence in several software verticals. Management puts its addressable market at $29 billion, and that figure is growing at about 14% annually. That means Atlassian still outpaced the broader industry in the most recent quarter, and the company still has plenty of room to grow.
Currently, shares trade at 11.2 times sales -- the cheapest valuation in the last five years. That creates an attractive buying opportunity for long-term investors.
