The current bear market hasn't exactly been kind to young and fast-growing businesses, especially those that are unprofitable. And while many of these are still high-risk investments, there are some that look rather attractive from a risk-reward perspective. Here are two in particular that aren't in any financial danger and could potentially grow to many times their current size if management can execute.
The future of banking
SoFi (SOFI -0.28%) hasn't exactly been a top-performing stock. A product of the special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) boom, SoFi has been beaten down along with most other growth stocks and even more lately due to investor concerns about the banking industry after several high-profile failures.
However, SoFi could be an incredible bargain hiding in plain sight for long-term investors. Even in this challenging environment, the company continues to grow at an impressive pace. Its membership base is up 46% year over year with 433,000 new members added in the first quarter alone. Its financial services products (bank accounts, brokerage, and credit cards) grew by 51% year over year. While SoFi isn't profitable on the basis of generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) yet, it generated its highest quarterly adjusted revenue and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) to date.
SoFi's traction has been impressive, especially considering that the company only got a banking license at the beginning of last year. Since that point, it has grown its deposit base from zero to more than $10 billion, and as this source of low-cost funding continues to grow, profitability should follow.
Speaking of profitability, SoFi expects to generate positive net income by the end of this year, and given its recent growth, there's no reason to doubt this. With shares trading for about 15% below book value and fantastic growth, SoFi investors could be handsomely rewarded for their patience in this tough environment for banks.
Best-in-breed user growth and plenty of runway to monetize
When most investors think of social media stocks, they think of companies like Meta (NASDAQ: META) or Pinterest (NYSE: PINS). But it might be wise to get smaller player Nextdoor (KIND 1.54%) on your radar as well.
If you aren't familiar, Nextdoor is the neighborhood-focused social network that aims to connect people with their neighbors. It went public in 2021 and is led by CEO Sarah Friar, who was formerly CFO at Square (now Block (NYSE: SQ)) and was a major force behind the success and monetization of Cash App.
To be sure, Nextdoor's monetization is lower than that of its peers. It's been trending downward when it comes to average revenue per user (ARPU) due to weakness in the advertising market caused by economic uncertainty. But what is most impressive is that Nextdoor is growing its user base faster than the competition. There are now 42.4 million weekly active users on Nextdoor's platform, representing 16% year-over-year growth. If the company can continue to build its user base, it will be in an excellent position once the ad market turns around.
Nextdoor isn't profitable yet, but it can afford to be patient with monetization. Its adjusted EBITDA over the past four quarters has been negative $77 million, but with $575 million in cash and investments on the balance sheet, it has plenty of runway to continue to grow its users and set itself up for future profitability.
Only for risk-tolerant investors
Both of these stocks have massive potential if things go well, but that's admittedly a big "if." After all, if it were easy to build the next big bank or the next massive social media platform, everyone would do it.
Not only are both of these companies unprofitable, but there is tremendous execution risk involved with their businesses, as well as several factors beyond their control. For example, SoFi has no control over the interest-rate environment and whether the federal student-loan pause will actually end later this year, and Nextdoor has no control over the overall weakness in the advertising market, which could potentially last longer than expected.
Finally, even if these two stocks become future all-stars, it's important to expect a turbulent ride on the way. The bottom line is that these are not low-risk investments in any sense of the word, so invest accordingly.
