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The stock market makes it easier to achieve long-term financial goals. While any asset can get you closer to your milestones, few opportunities offer the same liquidity and choices as stocks. You can start buying stocks with as little as a dollar and build your portfolio with every paycheck.
Naturally, some stocks do better than others, and it’s possible to double your money within a few years if you pick the right stocks. Investors should look for companies with rising revenue and profit margins. Growth in those metrics can elevate the stock price and give investors more reasons to stick around. A company’s industry, long-term catalysts and valuation also help investors to paint a better picture about a stock’s potential.
The following seven growth stocks show plenty of potential to possibly double your money by 2026. These are the stocks to monitor in the second half of 2024.
Duolingo (DUOL)
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Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) is an educational app that helps people learn new languages through guided verbal and written lessons. The app has also expanded to cover additional subjects like music and math. Although Duolingo stock is down by 10% year-to-date (YTD), it looks like a good candidate to double your money in a few years. That’s because financial growth is booming, and users continue to flock to the platform.
Revenue increased by 45% year-over-year (YOY) in the first quarter. That’s always been a bright spot for the company, but profits are also expanding at a quick rate. Net income came to $27.0 million this quarter compared to a net loss of $2.6 million in the same quarter last year. Rising profits will support a lower P/E ratio which can make the stock more attractive for long-term investors. And, Wall Street analysts are on board with Duolingo’s catalysts. The stock is rated as a moderate buy with a projected 3% upside.
Meta Platforms (META)
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Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) continues to soar as profit margins improve. The stock has more than doubled over the past five years, but it’s still possible for the stock to double again within a few years. Meta Platforms only trades at a 28 P/E ratio while delivering exceptional financials.
Revenue increased by 27% YOY in the first quarter while net income soared by more than 117% YOY. These strong numbers won’t stick around forever. So, if Meta Platforms continues to post impressive numbers for several quarters, it’s possible for the stock to double quickly.
Mark Zuckerberg has emphasized the company’s commitment to efficiency. Workforce has been downsized by 10% YOY to 69,329 employees. The company has grown across all metrics, including daily active users. More than 3.24 billion people use Meta Platforms’ family of apps each day. That’s a 7% YOYO increase for the company’s social media platforms. Meta Platforms remains a leader in the social media industry and should continue to generate billions of dollars from ads every quarter.
Crowdstrike (CRWD)
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Crowdstrike (NASDAQ:CRWD) is a leader in the cybersecurity industry that generates recurring revenue from its subscription model. Corporations and small businesses invest in Crowdstrike’s software to protect themselves from digital attacks. Companies can lose millions of dollars from hacks due to legal costs, lost customer trust and other factors.
Although other cybersecurity stocks have reported decelerating revenue growth, Crowdstrike continues to charge forward. Revenue increased by 33% YOY to reach $921.0 million in the first quarter of fiscal year 2025. Net income came to $42.8 million compared to $0.5 million in the same quarter last year. Also, CRWD’s annual recurring revenue jumped by 33% YOY to reach $3.65 billion.
Currently, Crowdstrike is rated as a strong buy among 31 Wall Street analysts. The average price target suggests an 8% upside from current levels. However, some analysts are more bullish. The highest price target of $440 per share implies that shares can gain an additional 18% from current levels.
Nu Holdings (NU)
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Nu Holdings (NYSE:NU) is another Wall Street favorite that has a 4% upside at the average price target and is rated as a strong buy. Analysts have several reasons to like the digital bank’s prospects. First, the bank recently reached 100 million customers, and most of them are active. The stock also has momentum on its side, based on a 67% YTD gain.
The stock’s momentum is justified based on first quarter results. During that quarter, revenue increased by 69% YOY. Net income jumped from $141.8 million in Q1 of 2023 to $378.8 million in this quarter. That’s a 167% YOY improvement.
Nu Holdings offers customers access to several financial products. It offers loans, credit cards, bank accounts and brokerage accounts. The digital bank primarily serves customers in the growing Latin America region. Rising revenue and profit margins suggest that the stock can outperform the stock market and double in a few years. The Q1 of 2024 net profit margin came in at 29.7%.
Elf Beauty (ELF)
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Elf Beauty (NYSE:ELF) is a cosmetics company that is a big hit among Gen Z consumers. The company uses cruelty-free ingredients in its products and offers various choices. The formula has worked well for investors, as shares are up by 37% YTD. Further, the stock is up by more than a whopping 1,000% over the past five years.
Shares have soared thanks to a series of superb earnings reports, including Q4 FY24 results. The company reported a 71% YOY increase in net sales during that quarter. That growth rate helped Elf Beauty exceed $1 billion in annual sales for the first time. Also, the company provided upbeat guidance for fiscal 2025 that suggests high growth rates will remain.
Therefore, Elf Beauty should continue to gain market share based on guidance, and it shouldn’t surprise long-term investors. The cosmetics firm gained market share for the 5th consecutive year and delivered its 21st consecutive quarter of net sales and market share growth.
Robinhood (HOOD)
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Robinhood (NASDAQ:HOOD) shares have almost doubled YTD. It’s a big turnaround for the company that still remains well removed from its all-time high and IPO price. The fintech firm offers a range of innovative financial products that helped it deliver 40% YOY revenue growth in the first quarter.
Transaction-based revenue is the largest and fastest growing segment. This component of Robinhood’s business grew by 59% YOY to reach $329 million. The significant growth rate is largely attributed to crypto revenue jumping by 232% YOY to reach $126 million. Although Robinhood has more going for its business than crypto, anyone who is bullish on the digital tokens may want to give Robinhood a closer look.
Net income jumped from a net loss of $511 million to a net profit of $157 million YOY. Robinhood Gold subscriptions are also picking up and were a part of the company’s “Other revenues” segment. This part of Robinhood’s business increased by 35% YOY to reach $35 million in revenue.
Semrush (SEMR)
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Semrush (NYSE:SEMR) is on the upswing after a few flat years and an IPO gone bust. Shares are up by 9% YTD, and the search engine marketing tool’s prospects are looking bright. While corporations, small businesses and solopreneurs have regularly used Semrush’s products, it’s becoming a more attractive investment.
Revenue increased by 21% YOY in the first quarter to reach $85.8 million. Two key catalysts drove Semrush’s top-line success. The first catalyst was a 10% YOY increase in the number of paying customers. Semrush has roughly 112,000 paying customers on its platform and an additional 1,125,000 registered free active customers. The latter figure is up by 27% YOY.
Another key component of Semrush’s success is higher prices. SEMR can raise prices on its products and get existing customers to upgrade their accounts. That’s the reason the number of Semrush customers who pay more than $10,000 annually grew by 32% YOY. Also, Semrush is profitable and delivered a $2.1 million net income in the quarter.
On this date of publication, Marc Guberti held long positions in CRWD and ELF. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
On the date of publication, the responsible editor did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article.
Marc Guberti is a finance freelance writer at InvestorPlace.com who hosts the Breakthrough Success Podcast. He has contributed to several publications, including the U.S. News & World Report, Benzinga, and Joy Wallet.
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