The first half of 2023 was a blowout for growth stocks. The Vanguard Growth ETF soared nearly 33%.
Growth stocks are back in favor, but there are still a few that have much further to rise. Shares of these stocks are trading at earnings multiples that are surprisingly low. Here's how buying them now and holding them for at least a decade could help you get rich.
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Doximity
Doximity (DOCS 0.97%) is a social media business with a couple of unique features that make it a dream come true for deep-pocketed advertising partners. First, it's exclusive to practicing physicians in the United States. Second, members can comment on the content in their curated feeds but they can't upload their own posts.
America spent $4.3 trillion on healthcare in 2021, and this figure is rising steadily. With prescriptions, referrals, and recommendations, physicians direct the flow of those trillions, and around 80% of them have Doximity accounts.
Doximity doesn't offer physicians a chance to express themselves with memes that advertisers might find problematic. Instead, it keeps healthcare providers engaged with useful productivity tools. Its on-call schedule management service is helping around 200,000 clinicians finally let go of their pagers. Doximity's telehealth tools were used by 380,000 unique providers during the first three months of 2023.
Advertisers afraid of a potential recession made the 12-month period that ended March 31 a generally difficult one for most social media businesses, but not Doximity. During its fiscal year that ended March 31, revenue rose 22% year over year.
Strong growth during an advertising industry downturn suggests profits can soar once advertisers regain confidence. At the moment, though, the stock is trading at around 42 times forward-looking earnings estimates. At this multiple, patient investors could realize huge market-beating gains a decade from now even if growth slows to half its present rate.
Etsy
Etsy's (ETSY 0.34%) two-sided marketplaces are still suffering from a long post-pandemic hangover. First-quarter gross merchandise sales (GMS) fell 5% year over year to $3.1 billion.
Investors nervous about declining GMS have knocked the stock down to just 19.7 times forward-looking earnings estimates. If you look past the headline figure, though, you can see this business is growing at a pace that deserves a much higher earnings multiple.
The GMS figure was affected by a shift toward services revenue, which rose 14% year over year in the first quarter. Total first-quarter revenue rose 10.6% year over year. For the first time since the last quarter of 2021, the number of active buyers on the site increased year over year.
Etsy is already relatively profitable because, unlike most e-commerce businesses, it doesn't need to forecast consumer trends. Its 7.9 million active sellers are happy to accept that risk themselves.
Lovesac
Lovesac (LOVE -0.05%) is another business that's suffering from a post-pandemic hangover. This company makes high-end sofas that are hyper-customizable. With interchangeable bases, backs, armrests, and upholstery, Lovesac makes furniture that can change to fit a customers' needs for the rest of their lives.
Sales growth has slowed down now that pandemic-related lockdowns are a distant memory. Still, comparable sales rose 15% year over year during Lovesac's fiscal first quarter, ended April 30.
Lovesac customers typically spend around $5,000 on a new sectional sofa, and they keep coming back to Lovesac to replace worn-out cushions or update upholstery. Roughly 40% of transactions are repeat customers.
With lots of repeat customers, Lovesac can probably continue growing by a high-single-digit percentage for many years to come. The market isn't as optimistic, though. Right now, the stock is trading for just 12.9 times forward earnings estimates. Patient investors who buy the stock now and hold it for the next decade have an excellent chance to realize market-beating gains.
