It's hard to find growth stocks that can withstand the heat these days.
The sector has taken a beating in 2022 as rising interest rates have compressed valuations, and fears of a recession are weighing on growth rates. However, some companies are still putting up strong growth numbers even in this difficult environment, and these two are primed to deliver impressive long-term returns.
1. Reinventing DevOps
Gitlab (GTLB 0.68%), which went public a little more than a year ago, offers companies a single platform for DevOps -- the tools businesses need to build and deploy software quickly.
It's winning market share in the industry as its offering can replace multiple "point solutions," allowing its customers to work with just one vendor rather than three, four, or even 10. The company is also growing quickly. Its revenue jumped by 74% to $101 million in its fiscal 2023 second quarter, and the number of clients providing it with annual recurring revenues above $5,000 increased by 61% to 5,864.
NASDAQ: GTLB
Key Data Points
While Gitlab is unprofitable, its margins are improving, and its gross margins are among the best in the software industry, with an adjusted gross margin of 89% in its most recently reported quarter, which ended July 31.
Unlike most software companies, which are seeing sales cycles lengthen, Gitalb is actually experiencing the opposite effect.
"The current environment is not slowing down customer decisions, nor elongating our sales cycles," CFO Brian Robbins said on the fiscal Q2 earnings call. "Buying cycles have actually sped up across the business, and we continue to see strong win rates."
Robbins attributes that to the fact that Gitlab helps businesses save money and delivers a high return on investment. In fact, according to market research firm Forrester, Gitlab can deliver a return on investment of 407% over time as customers scale up their use of its services.
Gitlab's stock might seem expensive, trading at a forward price-to-sales ratio of 10 based on next year's estimates, but it's growing fast and bucking the industry headwinds within a $40 billion addressable market. If the company continues to see sales cycles shorten, its stock could be primed to soar even if a recession hits.
2. A cybersecurity winner
Like Gitlab, Crowdstrike (CRWD +0.01%), a provider of cloud-based endpoint cybersecurity solutions, has a long track record of delivering outstanding growth, showing a steadily growing demand for its products, centered around the Falcon platform.
In its fiscal 2023 second quarter, annual recurring revenue jumped by 59% year over year to $2.14 billion, and quarterly revenue was up by 58% to $535.2 million.
Crowdstrike is profitable on an adjusted basis, and generated strong cash flows, with $135.8 million in its fiscal Q2, which ended July 31, and a free cash flow margin of 25%. The company is forecasting a profit for the current quarter, and calling for adjusted earnings per share of $1.31 to $1.33 for the fiscal year.
NASDAQ: CRWD
Key Data Points
With its 100% cloud-based model, the company can scale growth with few incremental costs, and it enjoyed a gross margin of 76% in its most recently reported quarter.
Crowdstrike regularly ranks as the leader in endpoint cybersecurity according to market research firms like Gartner and IDC, and is penetrating an addressable market worth $75 billion. As it expands its product selection, it expects to increase its total addressable market to $158 billion by 2026.
Similar to Gitlab, Crowdstrike's position in cybersecurity also makes it more resistant to a recession than other software companies, as businesses need to protect themselves from security breaches regardless of the state of the economy.
In a challenging time for the tech industry, Crowdstrike offers the right combination of growth, ramping profitability, and recession resistance to deliver results for investors.
