After some ups and downs through the first half of the year, the S&P 500 is once again hitting new record highs as of the end of July. The strong performance of the benchmark index has been driven by growth stocks. The S&P 500 Growth Index is up 12.5% year to date versus 8.6% for the index overall.
With growth stocks rising in valuation, you might be hard-pressed to find good opportunities that still have room to run. While many of the biggest stocks in the market look expensive, several smaller companies still present great value relative to their growth opportunities.
An investor just starting out with $100 can still pick up some of these stocks. Or if you simply have $100 to add to your portfolio, these three stocks are great growth options to buy right now.
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1. Marvell Technology
You might not have heard of Marvell Technology (MRVL 2.54%), but you've probably heard of its customers. Marvell makes various chips for use in data centers, working closely with companies like Amazon and Microsoft to develop custom solutions.
There are two main types of chips Marvell designs: networking chips and custom artificial intelligence (AI) accelerators.
Networking chips, found in networking equipment like switches, ensure data moves across the data center efficiently. These cloud providers are paying huge sums of cash for their GPUs and AI accelerators, and they want them working as effectively as possible. Marvell's portfolio of IP across switching, processing, and photonics ensures it can design high-end solutions for big data centers and win contracts with third-party equipment makers for smaller applications.
The other big area of growth for Marvell is in custom AI accelerators. Marvell is behind Amazon's custom Trainium and Inferentia chips. It's also working with Microsoft on a future AI accelerator. These chips are designed specifically for AI training and inference tasks, and they can offer more price-effective alternatives to general-purpose GPUs. Marvell says it's pursuing up to $75 billion in potential revenue from over 10 customers for custom AI accelerators and related chip designs.
Marvell's biggest competitor is Broadcom, which also makes networking chips and AI accelerators. But while Broadcom shares currently trade for a forward P/E of 44, investors can pick up Marvell shares for less than 27 times earnings expectations. At just $75 a share, it looks like one of the best opportunities left to buy into AI chipmakers.
2. DraftKings
DraftKings (DKNG 2.38%) is one of the leading online sportsbooks in the United States. As an early pioneer in the daily fantasy market, it leveraged its brand strength when sports betting became legal in the United States in 2018. It's managed to hold on to that market lead and build on it over time.
As one of the largest sportsbooks in the country, it has access to loads of customer data. That data helps it develop better systems for setting opening lines, create better promotions to drive customer engagement, and improve its product offering with new bet types. It was early to deliver live betting and in-game parlays, two popular types of bets that drive volume.
DraftKings is also able to deploy excess capital in strategic acquisitions to improve its data position, including SimpleBet, SportsIQ, and Mustard Golf. Those acquisitions help it differentiate its product with new bet types and content.
DraftKings does face a couple of big challenges. Prediction markets, like Kalshi, have opened the door for bettors to wager on events outside of traditional or online sports books. These markets are based on futures contracts, so they're currently legal and regulated in all 50 states. As they grow in popularity, they could steal away customers from DraftKings.
The second challenge is a new tax law that reduces deductible gambling losses to 90% of your actual losses. That means some sports bettors could end up paying taxes on gambling even if they lose money, discouraging consumers from participating. It's worth noting, however, that DraftKings makes its money off of recreational bettors, who may be less worried about tax consequences compared to high-volume sharp bettors.
Despite those challenges, DraftKings shares still look attractive at a price around $45. It trades for an enterprise value to forward EBITDA of around 27. Even after lowering EBITDA expectations for the year (due to customer-friendly sports outcomes in the first quarter), management still expects earnings to climb from $181 million last year to $850 million at the midpoint of its outlook. The underlying operating results look strong, and DraftKings' competitive advantages across the industry should help it improve profitability for years to come.
3. Pinterest
Pinterest (PINS 1.99%) has carved out a niche in social media, an industry dominated by Meta Platforms. It's primarily used as a discovery engine for potential purchases, and about two-thirds of its users are women. That makes it an incredibly valuable platform for advertisers.
Since Pinterest users often have high purchase intent, advertisers are willing to spend more on ads on the platform, particularly on lower-in-the-funnel ads where viewers are closer to purchase instead of still researching products. That protects it from other advertising platforms like Meta stealing away customers, since they don't often have express signals from users that they're looking to buy something right now.
As a result, Pinterest has been able to grow both users and its average revenue per user. Monthly active users climbed 10% year over year in the first quarter, while average revenue per user climbed 5%.
Pinterest has also exhibited strong margin expansion over the last few years as it focuses on high-return investments and keeping expenses stable. Its investments in AI have paid off, developing better visual search capabilities and improving ad-serving efficiency. It's also used AI to help developers code more efficiently and automate repetitive tasks. EBITDA margin expanded 300 basis points in the first quarter.
At a share price around $38, investors can buy the stock for a forward P/E of just 21. That's well below the valuation of other social media companies. With strong margin expansion and consistent revenue growth that seems well insulated from competition, Pinterest looks like a great value for growth investors right now.
