"The best bargains are always found in frightening environments."

-- Howard Marks

Bear markets can be terrifying. Watching helplessly as your life savings disappear is enough to scare even seasoned investors.

But the best investors, such as Oaktree Capital Management co-founder Howard Marks, know that market downturns can create spectacular opportunities to profit.

Fortunately, we have just such an opportunity today. The following companies saw their stock prices plunge during the 2022 bear market. But they're set to enjoy powerful growth catalysts in the coming years. And with their shares now much more reasonably priced, these beaten-down growth stocks are particularly attractive buys.

Etsy

E-commerce sales surged during the early part of the pandemic. Etsy (ETSY -2.17%) experienced explosive growth during this period as more people shopped on its sites for handmade items and craft supplies. But after health restrictions were lifted and shoppers returned to traditional retail stores, Etsy's growth slowed. Impatient traders sold, and its stock price sank 45% last year. 

Yet Etsy's shares have rallied roughly 90% from their 52-week lows because investors have begun to realize that much of the gains the company earned during the pandemic are likely permanent. The number of active buyers on Etsy's platform topped 88 million in Q3, doubling from the third quarter in 2019. Those buyers are also spending more, with sales per active buyer up 33% during that time. All told, Etsy's revenue and operating cash flow for the first nine months of 2022 rose to $1.8 billion and $392 million, respectively, up from $548 million and $128 million in the comparable period in 2019. 

Moreover, Etsy's growth could reaccelerate as e-commerce trends normalize. Online retail sales will approach $7.4 trillion in 2025, up from $5.5 trillion in 2022, according to eMarketer. If Etsy can capture just a small portion of that growth -- and multiple signs suggest it can -- investors who buy its shares at their discounted price today will likely be well rewarded.

Rivian Automotive

Supply chain disruptions made it impossible for Rivian Automotive (RIVN -2.21%) to hit its vehicle production target for 2022. Meanwhile, surging raw material costs led the electric vehicle (EV) upstart's losses to widen. Rivian's stock price, in turn, plunged 82% last year. 

But with its shares trading near record lows, Rivian's stock is now much more reasonably priced. The EV maker ended the third quarter with over $13 billion in cash reserves. That figure is likely lower today due to the company's production expenses. Still, with Rivian's current market cap standing at roughly $15 billion, you can buy its shares at only slightly more than the value of the cash it holds on its balance sheet. Investors are essentially assigning little value to Rivian's operations -- or its potential to generate profits in the future.

Yet Rivian's growth prospects remain intriguing. Sales of fully electric vehicles topped 800,000 in the U.S. in 2022, good for year-over-year growth of over 60%, according to Motor Intelligence. EVs accounted for 5.8% of all vehicles sold last year, up from 3.2% in 2021, as reported by The Wall Street Journal. 

Rivian has captured a small sliver of this rapidly expanding market. Its 20,332 vehicle deliveries in 2022 comprised just 2.6% of total U.S. EV sales. But as of Nov. 7, 2022, Rivian had over 114,000 preorders for its popular R1T pickup truck and R1S SUV. The automaker is ramping up production to meet the booming demand for its EVs.

Rivian also has an order for a whopping 100,000 commercial vans from Amazon that it intends to fulfill by 2025. Notably, the e-commerce giant owns a roughly 17% stake in Rivian, which is currently valued at about $2.6 billion. 

With its bountiful cash reserves, Amazon's backing, and strong consumer demand for its vehicles, Rivian could rebound sharply from its recent lows. Investors who buy the EV maker's shares today stand to earn sizable rewards if Rivian can deliver on its awesome growth potential.