In this piece, we will take a look at the 13 most promising growth stocks according to analysts. If you want to skip our coverage of the latest stock market news, then you can take a look at the 5 Most Promising Growth Stocks According to Analysts.
The primary reason most folks are attracted to the stock market is growth. If bets are timed right, then investment can double or even triple in value over a short period of time depending on the market conditions. This phenomenon is so integral to the stock market that we don’t even have to look too far back in its history to see its illustration. This is because 2023 has been the year of artificial intelligence when it comes to stocks. San Francisco, California based OpenAI took the world by storm this year when it first introduced ChatGPT – the world’s first chat bot based on generative AI – and then followed up GPT-4, one of the most advanced A.I. models on the planet.
This created a feverish stock buying frenzy that saw investors flock to A.I. companies to profit from their shares. One of the biggest beneficiaries of the rush to A.I. was the Santa Clara, California based semiconductor designer NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA). NVIDIA designs graphics processing units (GPUs), chips that are essential to training and operating advanced A.I. models. So how does NVIDIA tie into our narrative of the stock market being one of the biggest deliverers of investment growth? Well, NVIDIA’s potential to dominate the global A.I. conversation has led its shares to gain a whopping 249% year to date. What this means is that if you have invested $1,000 into its shares at the start of this year, then your investment would be worth $3,490 right now, leaving you with more than three times what you had in January.
While NVIDIA is one of the biggest growth stories of this year, as a whole, investors have some tools up their sleeves when it comes to classifying growth stocks. One of these is the price to earnings (P/E) ratio. A P/E ratio evaluates the premium that investors are willing to pay for a firm’s shares over its earnings. Generally, the higher the P/E ratio is w.r.t the industry multiple, the stronger the ‘growth sentiment’ about a company is. This is because investors are ‘pricing in’ future earnings growth through the share price by paying a higher price now with the hope that earnings will increase in the future.
However, growth is not an absolute principle for the stock market. The market’s ability to deliver principal growth is quite dependent on the broader economic environment. Once again, since 2022 and 2023 have been some of the most historic years for the market, we don’t have to look too far back to see how this works. 2022 was marked by record high inflation fueled by the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the low interest rates during the pandemic era. To bring inflation down, the Federal Reserve aggressively jacked up interest rates, which isn’t great for either the market or growth stocks. Higher interest rates mean that money flows into high rate securities since they are essentially risk free. This made the stock market lose, and for growth stocks, this was compounded by inflation. Inflation isn’t great for growth stocks, and not only for their market performance. Higher inflation means firms can not comfortably invest in the future, the demand for their products drops, and they have to tighten their belts to maintain stability.
Yet, with 2023 coming to an end, the tides of the stock market appear to be shifting. This is because there is a growing consensus among investors that the Federal Reserve has finished hiking rates, making them adjust their investments accordingly. This made us think about making a list of the top growth stocks that analysts believe are promising. Within this list, some top picks are Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL), NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA), and ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP).
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Our Methodology
To make our list of the growth stocks that analysts believe are promising, we ranked the top 30 constituents of the iShares S&P 500 Growth ETF by their average analyst share price target upside. Out of these, the stocks with the highest upside were the most promising. You may be surprised by some of the companies that made this list (we are too). This tells us that we should not rely on ETFs too much for our investment decisions and do our homework.
13 Most Promising Growth Stocks According to Analysts
13. PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)
Average Analyst Share Price Upside: 2%
PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) is the iconic carbonated beverages company headquartered in Purchase, New York. The firm’s investors were in for some bad news in December 2023 as JPMorgan downgraded the shares to Neutral from Buy and cut the share price target to $176 from $185.
By the end of this year’s third quarter, 65 out of the 910 hedge funds surveyed by Insider Monkey had held a stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP). Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management was the firm’s largest shareholder as it owned 7.9 million shares that are worth $1.3 billion.
Along with NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA), Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL), and ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP), PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) is a promising growth stock according to analysts.
12. Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)
Average Analyst Share Price Upside: 2%
Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) is an information technology company that enables companies to digitally transform their business operations. The firm has beaten analyst EPS estimates in all four of its latest quarters and its shares are rated Buy on average with an average share price target of $348.86.
During Q3 2023, 55 out of the 910 hedge funds covered by Insider Monkey’s research were the firm’s investors. Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)’s biggest investor is Guardian Capital’s GuardCap Asset Management as it owns $544 million worth of shares.
11. AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)
Average Analyst Share Price Upside: 2%
AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) is a healthcare company that makes and sells medicines for serious diseases. Its investors were in for some great news in December 2023 when Goldman Sachs upgraded the shares to Buy from Neutral and kept the share price target at $173.
Insider Monkey scoured through 910 hedge fund portfolios for their September quarter of 2023 shareholdings and found 73 AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) shareholders. Paul Marshall and Ian Wace’s Marshall Wace LLP was the largest shareholder courtesy of its $582 million stake.
10. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)
Average Analyst Share Price Upside: 3%
UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) is one of the biggest healthcare plans and coverage providers in the U.S. Capitalizing on the current hype surrounding weight loss drugs, the firm announced a weight management program for its customers.
As of September 2023 end, 104 out of the 910 hedge funds part of Insider Monkey’s database had held a stake in the company. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)’s biggest hedge fund investor is Rajiv Jain’s GQG Partners due to its $1.6 billion investment.
9. The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)
Average Analyst Share Price Upside: 4%
The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) is an American consumer goods company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was out with some great news for investors during its first quarter earnings in October 2023 when management shared that The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) is aiming to beat the high end of its annual revenue and profit forecasts on the back of high prices.
For their third quarter of 2023 shareholdings, 75 hedge funds among the 910 tracked by Insider Monkey were The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)’s shareholders. Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management was the largest investor as it owned a $1.4 billion stake.
8. Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)
Average Analyst Share Price Upside: 4%
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) is the world’s biggest eCommerce retailer and a household name. It is also one of the highest rated stocks on our list, as analysts have set an average share rating of Strong Buy and an average share price target of $160.66.
During this year’s September quarter, 286 out of the 910 hedge funds part of Insider Monkey’s database had invested in the company. Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) biggest hedge fund shareholder is Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management through its $5.2 billion investment.
7. Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)
Average Analyst Share Price Upside: 6%
Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) is a British industrial grade raw materials firm that sells different gasses such as oxygen and nitrogen. Amidst the interest in hydrogen as a clean fuel, the firm announced in December 2023 that its hydrogen facility in Alabama can now produce up to 30 tons daily.
Insider Monkey dug through 910 hedge funds for their third quarter of 2023 shareholdings to find 71 Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) shareholders. Alexander Mitchell’s Scopus Asset Management was the largest investor as it owned $19.3 million worth of shares.
6. Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)
Average Analyst Share Price Upside: 8%
Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) is a global pharmaceutical company that sells medicines for human and animal use. It scored a win in December 2023 when the European Union’s regulator approved its Keytruda drug for treating cancers.
As of Q3 2023 end, 85 out of the 910 hedge funds profiled by Insider Monkey had invested in the company. Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)’s biggest shareholder is Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management due to its $1.3 billion stake.
Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK), NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA), and ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) are some top analyst growth stocks.
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Disclosure: None. 13 Most Promising Growth Stocks According to Analysts is originally published on Insider Monkey.