2 Top Growth Stocks Up 50% and 10% to Buy Whether a 2023 Bull Market Happens or Not

Famed investor Peter Lynch once said: "You get recessions, you have stock market declines. If you don't understand that's going to happen, then you're not ready, you won't do well in the markets." While fears of a recession may not be as elevated as they were a year ago, there is still plenty of uncertainty about the economy for businesses across a wide variety of industries. 

The economy and the stock market are two very different things. But there is a very real dynamic in which both of these elements affect the other. For instance, growing optimism about the avoidance of a recession and the positive strides many businesses are reporting in this environment enabled a generally robust market so far in 2023. 

The definition of a bull market is generally agreed to be a condition of a financial market in which stock prices are generally rising or are expected to rise. What isn't agreed on is when a bull market officially begins. Regardless of whether a bull market is officially underway in 2023, there are plenty of great businesses ripe for the picking at the moment. Here are two such companies to consider adding to your portfolio the next time you go shopping for stocks.

1. Amazon

Amazon (AMZN 3.43%) is a prime example of a company that redefines its growth trajectory with the changing tide of time and consumer trends, all while remaining true to its core business model. Amazon share prices are up about 50% since the start of 2023, after a rough 2022 that was rather cruel to so many growth stocks. 

Amazon's rapid about-face came with the help of some layoffs as well as a renewed focus on operational efficiency. It also helped that the market enthusiasm for artificial intelligence-related stocks included Amazon.

Amazon has diversified its operations over the years. Along with its flagship e-commerce platform, it has a cloud computing division, a digital advertising division, as well as entertainment, grocery, and healthcare segments. Out of its net sales of $134 billion in the second quarter, $53 billion was from its online store, $32 billion came from fees charged through third-party seller services, and $22 billion came from Amazon Web Services (AWS).  

Amazon's improved financials were evident in its most recent quarter as it reported profits of $6.7 billion. That's a stark improvement from the $2 billion net loss it reported in Q2 of 2022. Over the last year, Amazon generated $62 billion in operating cash flow and free cash flow of $8 billion.  

Amazon's share of global e-commerce gross merchandise volume is 13%. In the U.S., Amazon's share of all e-commerce transactions is about 38%. AWS controls roughly 32% of all cloud computing revenue. Amazon controls about 12% of the digial ad market in the U.S.

The company is also looking to position itself for a future heavily influenced by the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) across a range of industries. It's not only working on its own generative AI applications, but also developing its own AI chips in-house. Amazon also just announced a multi-billion-dollar investment in generative AI start-up Anthropic. 

The continued demand for Amazon's core services, and its ability to fine-tune its offerings to meet the needs of its customers now while anticipating their needs in the future, is one of the reasons why this business remains so compelling to many investors. It's just another reason the tech giant looks like an intriguing buying opportunity in any market environment. 

2. Intuitive Surgical 

Intuitive Surgical's (ISRG 0.59%) share prices climb are up about 10% since the start of the year, just slightly below the S&P 500's ascent of roughly 11.3%. However, shares are trading up by more than 50% over the past year. Part of the volatility can be attributed to fluctuating procedure volumes over the last few years due to pandemic resurgences in core markets like Asia, but these trends appear to be leveling out. The company has still remained habitually profitable while consistently growing the top line. 

In the most recent quarter, Intuitive Surgical generated revenue of $1.8 billion and turned that into profits of $421 million. Those two figures are increases of 15% and 37%, respectively, from the same quarter in 2022. Compared to four years ago, before the pandemic, those figures represent increases of 64% and 32%, respectively.  

Intuitive Surgical makes the lion's share of profits and revenue from its flagship da Vinci Surgical System, which is approved for use in a range of minimally invasive procedures including thoracic, gynecologic, and cardiac surgeries. It also has a system approved for minimally invasive lung biopsies called the Ion. 

Intuitive Surgical's business model isn't reliant on sales of systems only. In fact, most of its top and bottom line comes down to recurring revenue from sources like accompanying software, customer support services, instruments, accessories, and replacement heads for surgical systems. 

The average selling price of a single da Vinci Surgical System to a customer, such as a hospital, is anywhere from $500,000 to $2.5 million. But, Intuitive Surgical makes anywhere from $600 to $3,500 per da Vinci procedure from the instruments and accessories that go with these systems, which must be replaced regularly. More than 1.8 million procedures were performed using the company's surgical systems in 2022 alone. Intuitive Surgical also makes anywhere from $80,000 to $190,000 annually per installed da Vinci system for services the company provides to customers that purchase or lease these surgical suites.

The company's revenue model lends a strong measure of resilience in a wide range of environments. Its chokehold on the global surgical robotics market (around 80%) allows it to benefit from the lion's share of the growth realized in this space in the years ahead. As adoption of surgical robotic systems widens, Intuitive Surgical has plenty of room left to run.