If you've been paying attention to the stock market for at least a few years, you may have noticed that when prices fall, they fall relatively fast. Bull markets, on the other hand, hand tend to run much longer.
Over the past 40 years, there have been just five bull markets, with an average length of about seven years. The gains they produce tend to outweigh losses incurred during bearish downturns. The benchmark S&P 500 index rose an average of 285% during the last five bull markets.
Image source: Getty Images.
We don't know exactly when the next bull market will begin, but it's close. The S&P 500 index is just 6.9% below the all-time high it set in January 2022.
Right now looks like a great time to buy some shares of these three exceptional growth stocks to hold all the way through the upcoming bull market.
1. SoFi Technologies
Did you know some of the big banks are still offering savers a measly 0.01% annual percentage yield on standard savings account deposits? Right now, SoFi Technologies (SOFI 3.69%) offers 4.5%. This means the typical Bank of America customer can earn an extra $44.90 over the next year just by shifting $1,000 to a new SoFi savings account, which comes with the same FDIC insurance protections.
In addition to high-yield savings accounts, SoFi offers a full suite of consumer lending products. As you can imagine, SoFi's membership roster is growing by leaps and bounds, as well as its deposit base. The company ended June with 6.2 million members, a 44% gain year over year. Total deposits grew 26% year over year to $12.7 billion.
SoFi looks like a great growth stock to buy and hold, but investors should understand the risks. The consumer-focused digital bank reported a second-quarter net loss, according to generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), that narrowed to just $47.5 million from $98.8 million a year earlier.
With plenty of savers still parking their cash at low-interest-paying institutions, SoFi still has lots of room to grow. Buying some shares now to hold all the way through the coming bull market looks like a great idea.
2. ShockWave Medical
Shockwave Medical (SWAV 0.31%) may be the best thing that ever happened for folks with calcified arteries. Its intravenous lithotripsy (IVL) devices are tiny catheters that use sonic pulses to soften arterial walls that have been hardened by calcium deposits.
Softening arterial walls before expanding them with an angioplasty balloon makes reestablishing blood flow with a stent much safer. As a result, hospital purchasing departments are buying Shockwave's IVL devices left and right.
Second-quarter sales soared 49% year over year to $180 million, driven by demand in the U.S. and abroad. GAAP profits rose 13% year over year to $28.9 million, which works out to a healthy profit margin of 16% of top-line revenue.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services recently created new IVL-specific payment system codes. As the only company with approved IVL devices, Shockwave Medical will be the main beneficiary of the technology's increasing popularity for many years to come.
3. Duolingo
Language learners the world over can't seem to get enough of Duolingo (DUOL 3.64%) and its smartphone application of the same name. The number of daily active users during the second quarter bounded 62% higher year over year.
Duolingo's business is booming, but with just 21.4 million daily active users at the end of June, there's still a lot of room to grow. Estimates vary, but there are roughly 1 billion non-native English language learners around the world -- and those people could be served by just one of the courses the company offers.
Over the past year, revenue has risen more than twice as fast as sales and marketing expenses. Savvy social media marketing is driving brand recognition for pennies on the dollar compared to traditional marketing methods. For example, the company's TikTok channel has over 7 million followers.
Advertising with free memes versus paid advertisements helped Duolingo turn its second-quarter loss of $15 million last year into a $3.7 million gain this year. With an endless supply of English language learners, there could be many years of rapid profit growth ahead. This means buying some shares of this stock now to hold over the long run looks like the right move.
