4 Extraordinary Growth Stocks You’ll Regret Not Buying in the New Nasdaq Bull

Over long periods, Wall Street has demonstrated that it’s a wealth-building machine. But over shorter timelines, it’s also proven to be unpredictable and quite volatile. Over the previous four years, Wall Street’s major stock indexes have alternated between bear and bull markets in successive years. These swings have been especially noticeable for the growth stock-driven Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQINDEX: ^IXIC).

During the 2022 bear market, the Nasdaq Composite shed a third of its value. But since the start of 2023, it’s been nothing but green pastures for growth stocks, with the Nasdaq Composite gaining a blistering 54% and reaching an all-time high. There’s absolutely no question that Wall Street and the Nasdaq are in the midst of a new bull market.

But just because the Nasdaq Composite has soared, it doesn’t mean amazing deals can’t be found. With the “Magnificent Seven” accounting for an outsized percentage of the Nasdaq’s ascent, deals remain for opportunistic investors willing to seek them out.

What follows are four extraordinary growth stocks you’ll regret not buying in the new Nasdaq bull market.

PayPal Holdings

The first phenomenal growth stock that could have investors kicking themselves for not taking the plunge — even with the Nasdaq hitting new highs — is fintech leader PayPal Holdings (NASDAQ: PYPL). Despite concerns about increased competition in the digital payments space, PayPal’s operating results suggest it maintains a competitive edge.

Before digging into the specifics, understand that fintech should be a sustained double-digit growth opportunity throughout the remainder of the decade, if not well beyond. The adoption rate for digital payments is still ramping up, which should produce a hearty growth runway for PayPal.

What’s really stood out about PayPal has been the sheer volume of payments traversing its network, which includes Venmo. Last year, total payment volume surged 12% to $1.53 trillion on a currency-neutral basis.

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More importantly, active accounts are completing a greater number of transactions over time. When 2020 came to a close, active PayPal accounts averaged just shy of 41 transactions over the trailing-12-month (TTM) period. As of the close of 2023, payment transactions per active account had risen to 58.7 on a TTM basis.

PayPal is predominantly a fee-driven business. If transactions per active accounts continues to climb, PayPal’s gross profit should rise, too.

Investors would also be wise not to overlook the importance of new CEO Alex Chriss’s plans to improve upon existing product offerings and launch new services, all while keeping the company’s costs under control. Prior to joining PayPal in late September, Chriss was one of the leading figures at Intuit‘s Small Business division. He has a keen understanding of what smaller businesses want, as well as how to keep costs in check.

The cherry on top is that PayPal shares can be scooped up for a little north of 11 times forward-year earnings, which is historically cheap for this fintech innovator.

Fiverr International

A second extraordinary growth stock you’ll regret not adding to your portfolio with the Nasdaq Composite decisively entering a bull market is online-services marketplace Fiverr International (NYSE: FVRR). In spite of persistent concerns that artificial intelligence (AI) could hamper its freelancer-fueled operating model, Fiverr’s abundance of competitive advantages suggests it’s nothing short of a bargain.

On a macro basis, Fiverr has benefited handsomely from a shift in the labor market following the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic. While some people have returned to the office, a considerably higher percentage of workers are now remote. This is excellent news for a company that aims to connect freelancers with businesses that need their services.

Fiverr’s online marketplace is another reason for its success. Whereas many of its competitors allow freelancers to list their services at an hourly rate, Fiverr freelancers are pricing their jobs as completed tasks. This provides unparalleled price transparency, which has steadily increased spending per buyer on the platform.

To add to this, Fiverr’s investments in AI have driven gross merchandise value higher. While the returns have been modest, thus far, AI looks to be a help, not a hindrance, to this top-notch gig economy stock.

However, the single greatest reason to trust in Fiverr, from an investment standpoint, is the company’s take rate. The “take rate” describes the percentage of each deal negotiated on its platform, including fees, it gets to keep. While most of its peers have take rates in the mid-to-high teens, Fiverr’s expanded to 31.8% in the December-ended quarter. It’s taking a bigger piece of the pie and seeing active buyers spend more each quarter. This is a recipe that should generate a superior operating margin within its industry.

BioMarin Pharmaceutical

The third marvelous…