Recession fears caused a stock market meltdown in 2022, and the technology sector was hit especially hard. Notably, shares of DigitalOcean Holdings (DOCN 10.22%) and Zscaler (ZS 1.55%) have plunged 82% and 72%, respectively, leaving both stocks near a 52-week low. But some Wall Street analysts believe that meltdown has created a tremendous buying opportunity.

Wamsi Mohan of Bank of America has a price target of $60 per share on DigitalOcean, which implies 157% upside from its 52-week low. Similarly, Trevor Walsh of JMP Securities has a price target of $225 per share on Zscaler, which implies 113% upside from its 52-week low.

Is it time to buy these growth stocks?

DigitalOcean: Cloud computing for small businesses

DigitalOcean provides cloud services to small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). Its portfolio includes infrastructure services like compute, storage, and networking, and platform services like managed databases and application development tools. Notably, its platform is engineered for simplicity. An intuitive user interface with click-and-go options allows SMBs to deploy cloud services within minutes, without specialized training or robust IT support.

That differentiates DigitalOcean from cloud vendors like Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure. To be clear, AWS and Azure provide a broader range of more sophisticated cloud services, but their products are designed for larger enterprises with plenty of technical support. DigitalOcean democratizes cloud computing for SMBs.

In the third quarter, revenue increased 37% to $152 million -- outpacing AWS and Azure -- and the company reported a GAAP profit of $0.10 per share, up from a loss of $0.02 per share in the prior year. Better yet, shareholders have good reason to believe that momentum will continue. Management puts its addressable market at $145 billion by 2025, and DigitalOcean is expanding its product offering at a steady pace, which should allow it to support more complex use cases down the road.

For instance, the company debuted its serverless platform (DigitalOcean Functions) in early 2022. Serverless computing is a pay-as-you-go model that eliminates the need to maintain idle servers, meaning clients only pay for servers when they are actually running. DigitalOcean also acquired managed hosting specialist Cloudways, a company that simplifies cloud computing for SMBs by handling server configuration and support, allowing clients to build e-commerce websites without worrying about the underlying infrastructure.

Currently, shares trade at 4.7 times sales, the cheapest valuation since DigitalOcean went public in 2021. That does indeed create a good opportunity for investors to buy this growth stock. However, the triple-digit returns implied by Mohan's 12-month price target are probably too optimistic in the current market environment. Investors that buy this stock should be prepared to hold for at least three to five years.

Zscaler: Network security for modern enterprises

Zscaler runs the largest network security cloud in the world. Its security service edge (SSE) platform modernizes traditional corporate networks by handling content inspection and policy enforcement in the cloud. That eliminates the need for costly on-premise security appliances, and it allows users to quickly and securely access corporate resources from anywhere, on any device.

Zscaler handles over 250 billion requests and captures more than 300 trillion security signals on a daily basis, and every data point makes its artificial intelligence engine better at identifying threats. That unrivaled scale means Zscaler can secure corporate networks more effectively than other vendors, and that advantage has propelled the company to the top of SSE industry. In fact, research company Gartner has recognized Zscaler as a leader for 11 consecutive years.

Not surprisingly, that has translated into strong demand. In fact, 40% of the Fortune 500 uses at least one Zscaler product, and the company has kept its net retention rate above 125% for eight consecutive quarters, meaning customers are consistently spending about 25% more each year. Fueled by that momentum, revenue rose 54% to $356 million in the most recent quarter, and cash from operations increased 39% to $129 million.

Turning to the future, shareholders have good reason to be optimistic. Zscaler supplements its core user protection products with solutions for cloud workload protection and digital experience monitoring. Collectively, that brings its addressable market to $72 billion, but management says the long-term opportunity is even bigger, citing room to expand with commercial organizations (i.e., fewer than 2,000 employees) and Internet of Things devices.

Also noteworthy, Gartner recently said enterprise penetration of SSE platforms would reach 80% by 2025, up substantially from 20% in 2021. That means modernizing the corporate network and implementing zero trust cybersecurity is a key priority for many organizations, and Zscaler is well positioned to benefit from that secular tailwind.

Currently, shares trade at 12.6 times sales, a bargain compared to the historical average of 32.1 times sales. That creates an excellent buying opportunity for patient investors. That said, Zscaler is best viewed as a long-term investment. The stock could certainly double in value (or more), but it will likely take a few years for that price appreciation to happen.