The looming fear of a potential recession for the global economy has been more than a little damaging to growth stocks of all descriptions. The Nasdaq Composite index is down more than 28% from the peak it set all the way back in 2021.
Despite a difficult market, investment bank analysts on Wall Street have identified a handful of top stocks with much more potential than their present-day prices suggest. Read on to see why consensus expectations suggest these three can climb between 28.3% and 40.6% higher.
Global-e Online
Global-e Online's (GLBE -2.15%) shares are down about 64% from the peak they set back in 2021. Analysts up and down Wall Street are expecting a rebound. This stock's average price target currently represents a 30.3% premium.
E-commerce has come a long way in recent years, but cross-border selling is still a lot more complicated than it could be. Global-e helps its customers overcome those complications and expand their businesses to international markets.
Global-e's platform integrates with Salesforce, PayPal, and DHL to help merchants manage their customer relationships, payments, and fulfillment services. It also assists with crucial localization services so, for instance, merchants in France don't need to hire Japanese speakers to access that market.
Global-e's differentiated services are resonating with international merchants. The company reported gross merchandise value (GMV) that rose 69% in 2022, and this could be another big year. Management is already projecting a GMV gain of around 40% in 2023.
ShockWave Medical
Shares of ShockWave Medical (SWAV 0.04%) are down around 40% from the peak they reached last year. Wall Street analysts think it can begin bouncing back. The consensus target on ShockWave is 28.3% above the stock's recent closing price.
ShockWave develops and markets intravenous lithotripsy (IVL) catheters that apply high-pressure sound waves to the walls of arteries hardened by calcium deposits. Analysts are highly encouraged by ShockWave's performance. Last year, sales soared 107%, but operating expenses came in just 53% higher.
Reestablishing blood flow through a blocked artery generally involves stretching the artery with an angioplasty balloon, followed by inserting a stent. Softening hardened arteries with ShockWave's IVL devices greatly reduces the risk of dangerous complications.
ShockWave's IVL devices boost the success rate of commonly performed procedures, so sales could continue soaring for years to come. Since this is the only company with approved IVL devices on the market, buying the stock now and patiently holding on looks like a smart move to make.
Amazon
Amazon (AMZN -1.65%) stock is down around 49% from the high-water mark it set during the lockdown phase of the pandemic. Wall Street analysts think it can recover much of those losses in a short time span. Its consensus price target implies a 40.6% gain up ahead.
Amazon shares fell dramatically because the company made enormous investments in 2020 and 2021 that doubled the size of its fulfillment network. When pandemic-fueled demand for online shopping returned to normal, the company began posting frightening losses.
Amazon's e-commerce business stumbled, but its cloud computing segment, Amazon Web Services (AWS), hasn't missed a beat. Operating income from AWS climbed 23% last year to $22.8 billion. That makes it easily the world's leading cloud infrastructure provider, with roughly one-third of the market. Spending on cloud computing reached an estimated $484 billion in 2022 and is expected to reach $1.55 trillion in 2030, according to Grand View Research.
Amazon's consumer-facing business has been in tight spots in the past, and its long-term investors came out on top. These days, it also has enormous cash flows from a market-leading cloud services segment. Because this is a diverse operation that can produce overall profits in good times and bad, buying this stock now and holding it over the long run looks like a smart move.