It's hard to beat the growth potential of cryptocurrencies. Ark Invest founder Cathie Wood, for instance, believes that Bitcoin has more than 2,000% in long-term upside. But some stocks have just as much room for growth. If you're looking for maximum upside, these two stocks are for you.
NASDAQ: NVDA
Key Data Points
This AI stock has been a rocket
No list of stocks with massive upside would be complete without a mention of Nvidia (NVDA 0.49%). Few investments have ever risen as quickly as the chipmaker. A $1,000 investment made five years ago would already be worth more than $26,000. Yet Wall Street analysts still believe there's more than 30% in gains to come in the next 12 months. Given that Nvidia's market cap is now around $2.6 trillion, it can be hard to picture how it would deliver further huge gains in the near term. But there are several reasons for optimism.
NVDA Total Return Level data by YCharts.
The same catalyst that has sent Nvidia stock soaring will not only be in place for the next several decades, but should strengthen significantly over time. In many ways, the story of Nvidia is still very much in its early innings. That's because the company's biggest source of growth is the rapid rise of AI technologies that rely on its high-end graphics processing units (GPUs) to function.
Gone are the days when Nvidia's financial situation was dictated by gaming and small use cases. Today, there's an arms race for the components that enable AI research and innovation -- and Nvidia's got the goods everyone wants.
According to estimates from BIS Research, the AI industry's spending on semiconductors totaled around $15 billion last year. But spending has already picked up dramatically in 2024, providing a tailwind that has more than doubled Nvidia's revenues over the past 12 months.
BIS Research expects that spending to increase by nearly 32% over the next several years, with plenty more growth expected beyond that. Nvidia has an estimated 90% market share in AI GPUs, positioning it to capture the lion's share of this long-term growth trend. Nvidia should also directly benefit from the rise of crypto, as it specifically designs many of its GPUs for cryptocurrency mining.
What's the one category that could outpace the entire value of the crypto industry? AI. And in that arena, Nvidia is the stock to bet on.
Diversify your portfolio with this fintech
Nvidia's market cap will likely prevent it from rising by another 1,000% anytime soon. But there's one fintech stock that has the potential to do so: Nu Holdings (NU +0.04%).
Most investors have never heard of Nu, even though it has a market cap of nearly $70 billion. That's because the bank operates exclusively in Latin America, and the only way to access its services is via smartphones. Its strategy upended Latin America's banking industry a decade ago. Instead of building and operating costly physical branches, Nu offered its services directly to consumers online. This lowered costs, allowing it to compete aggressively on price and offerings.
NYSE: NU
Key Data Points
Moreover, it allows Nu to innovate faster than the competition. When the company launched its Nu Cripto platform -- a service that allows people to buy, sell, and transact in various cryptocurrencies -- it attained 1 million users in a matter of months. Innovations like this help explain how Nu has gone from essentially zero customers a decade ago to more than 100 million today.
But Nu is far from done growing. There are more than 650 million people in Latin America, and Nu has proven its ability to penetrate markets quickly. More than half of all Brazilian adults are now Nu customers, and Nu has been replicating its playbook in new markets like Mexico and Colombia.
Analysts expect sales growth to be around 44% this year, followed by another 30% in 2025, and there's a good chance that Nu will maintain double-digit percentage growth rates through the next decade and beyond. This is a long-term story, but Nu has the potential to match or exceed the performance of most major cryptocurrencies.
