In 2021, hypergrowth stocks were all the rage, and investors couldn't get enough of them. Unfortunately, 2022 was a completely different story, with this stock market segment suffering dramatically. Admittedly, some of this sell-off was deserved, as many of these stocks were overhyped. However, not every stock that suffered should stay down forever.
In fact, the downturn has led many of these stocks to sell at investible levels. Here are two growth stocks that could make great buys today:
1. Snowflake's growth opportunity remains intact
Snowflake (SNOW -0.26%) may have garnered one of the highest valuations in 2021. After topping out at more than 150 times sales during its IPO in late 2020, it spent most of 2021 valued around 100 times sales. It's hard to deny that the stock was overvalued, but it looks more investible at 31 times sales.
Snowflake's software allows its clients to store and process mountains of data on cloud servers. It can also funnel this data into various models, allowing businesses to make real-time decisions on the most up-to-date data. Clients find this solution incredibly useful, which is why they are rapidly expanding their usage of Snowflake's product, spending $171 this quarter for every $100 they spent last year.
This helped power product revenue growth of 83% to $466 million, an impressive rate. Still, 28 times sales -- what Snowflake trades at today -- is an expensive price tag for the business. That's especially true given that it's one that isn't generating any profits. However, Snowflake's massive $248 billion market opportunity in the cloud computing space by 2026 certainly leaves a lot of room for it to grow. As a result, I think Snowflake's stock makes a great buy, but investors need to be aware of the risk its valuation presents.
2. Datadog
With all of the various software programs companies utilize today (like Snowflake), it's critical to see that they are functioning correctly and that the data that flows into the programs are uninterrupted and secure. Datadog's (DDOG 1.19%) software allows IT teams to monitor the health of these programs while also providing security. As a testament to Datadog's offering, it was named a leader in the application performance monitoring and observability category while scoring the highest on its ability to execute by Gartner.
Its business is also growing rapidly, with revenue rising 61% year over year to $437 million in the third quarter. Like Snowflake, Datadog is also unprofitable, although its operating loss was only $31.3 million. Datadog is still expanding its reach, adding around 4,700 customers over the past 12 months to reach 22,200.
With that growth, it should be no surprise that Datadog's stock is highly valued, as the stock trades for 17 times sales. However, Datadog is in the early stages of its expansion, as only 16% of its customer base uses six or more products versus the 80% that use two or more. I think the stock is a strong buy here, as the growth over the next year will bring the stock to a more reasonable level.
Rapidly growing companies will almost always be highly valued. So the question becomes: "Is the company too richly valued to be a worthy investment?" While this requires a deep dive into a business's financials, growth rate, and market opportunity, the first step is finding companies that meet the rapid growth criteria. I think these two growth stocks are a great place to start, and they will likely remain top growth companies for many years.
