Investing in the stock market and keeping a long-term perspective on the companies you invest in can help you build lasting wealth. The challenge is to know what companies are set up for explosive growth.
To assist you in your search, three Motley Fool contributors recently examined Shopify (SHOP -0.22%), Lyft (LYFT -3.99%), and Roblox (RBLX -1.90%).
Here's why these growth stocks are poised to deliver excellent returns in the coming years.
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Moving from e-commerce to full commerce
Jennifer Saibil (Shopify): Shopify stock has doubled over the past year, and as the leading U.S. e-commerce platform, it still has plenty of growth opportunities. That starts with robust organic growth potential as e-commerce continues to increase as a percentage of retail sales. As the largest e-commerce sales platform in the U.S., it's one of the prime beneficiaries of that trend.
It's also moving away from having solely an e-commerce model to embracing commerce as a whole, supporting physical stores and omnichannel businesses.
It offers a full range of services, from full e-commerce-enabled websites to point-of-sale devices for storefronts, and its expansion from full solutions to offering single components has enlarged its addressable market. In addition to the small businesses that rely on its full packages, it now serves high-profile brands like Starbucks and Mattel.
It also has partnerships with other tech giants like Amazon, PayPal, and Meta Platforms, and it works with millions of merchants in 175 countries.
Shopify has been delivering phenomenal results for shareholders. Revenue increased 31% year over year in the second quarter, and operating income increased 21%. Free cash flow was up 27% at a 16% margin.
It already has more than 12% of U.S. e-commerce market share, and it's expecting that to increase. It's constantly launching new tools and services that take commerce up a notch, like its Shop Pay service that provides a quick and smooth shopping experience. Shop Pay increased 65% over last year in Q2. There are multiple other growth drivers. Revenue cohorts get stronger over time, providing more organic growth opportunities, and millions of small businesses organize annually in the U.S. These are Shopify's bread and butter.
Shopify has overcome many obstacles over the past few years and is in fine shape today. The market is excited about what's coming next for this top commerce stock.
A ridesharing recovery
Jeremy Bowman (Lyft): Lyft has long been a dog in the ridesharing race, trailing behind rival Uber, and it's still down sharply from its IPO price.
However, in recent months, Lyft has shown the real makings of a turnaround, delivering steady growth, profitability, and innovative new features like Lyft Silver, which makes it easier for seniors to use ridesharing.
That and some other news items have helped drive the stock up 42% in just the last month. On Sept. 17, the stock jumped by double digits after the company announced a new partnership with Waymo to bring a fully autonomous ride-hailing service to Nashville in 2026.
Waymo has also partnered with Uber on ride-sharing, but the decision to team up with Lyft in Nashville shows that Lyft is gaining in autonomous ridesharing. Additionally, Lyft is partnering with May Mobility to launch an autonomous ridesharing service in Atlanta.
Lyft is also taking other steps to expand its addressable market. It acquired European ride-sharing service Freenow in a deal that closed in July, and it's tapping into advertising through Lyft Media.
The upside potential for the stock is still considerable, and even after the recent rally, Lyft still looks affordable. The company generated nearly $1 billion in free cash flow over the last four quarters, meaning the stock trades at roughly 9 times free cash flow.
Between the Waymo deal, the European expansion, and new products like Lyft Silver, there's still a lot of growth opportunity for Lyft ahead.
A disruptive entertainment giant in the making
John Ballard (Roblox): Roblox is gaining tremendous popularity in 2025. Its user-created content strategy is allowing it to release a steady stream of on-trend gaming content that is driving strong growth in daily active users.
Following a stretch of underperformance a few years ago, the stock is up 125% year to date. But Roblox is still looking at a huge opportunity as it integrates artificial intelligence (AI) across its platform.
Roblox saw its daily active users reach nearly 112 million in Q2, up 41% year over year. It benefited from the release of Grow a Garden in March, which also carried over to high interest in other gaming experiences on the platform.
The company is effectively monetizing its users with paid content and advertising. Revenue totaled $1.1 billion last quarter, representing a 21% year-over-year increase.
One reason it's not too late to buy the stock is how Roblox can benefit from AI. The company is rolling out new AI tools that are making it easier for content developers to create new games, which could lead to more frequent releases that attract more users.
AI is also used to translate languages used by players on the platform in real time. This makes Roblox a globally connected social media platform, which could be beneficial to its growth.
AI has the potential to bring a lot of enhancements to the platform, and this could ultimately help drive higher revenues. Roblox is already very profitable on a free cash flow basis. The consensus analyst estimate anticipates that the company's free cash flow will grow from $1.1 billion in 2025 to $3.8 billion by 2029. That should support market-beating returns for investors.
