Growth stocks are still on the menu for 2025.
The market’s animal spirits were unleashed in the latter half of 2024, sparked by a change in Washington. And as we head into the new year, strategists and investors alike expect the American economy to continue pushing forward—a green flag for growth investors.
“The U.S. will remain the global growth engine with a still-healthy labor market, strong credit fundamentals, ample liquidity in the system, and broadening of AI-related capital spending,” says JPMorgan Global Research in its 2025 outlook.
Growth stocks are a foundational part of any stock market strategy. Targeting companies that demonstrate increasing revenues and profits is the go-to way for many investors to turn a little bit of savings into a much bigger nest egg over the long term. But finding the best growth companies isn’t always easy—companies with expanding sales still might struggle to lift their shares, and sometimes companies with poor growth metrics enjoy price gains regardless.
Today, I’m going to help you find the best growth stocks for 2025—picks that can grow not just their top and bottom lines, but your nest egg, too. Read on as I discuss some of the basic tenets of growth investing, and then I’ll discuss several potential opportunities with growth characteristics.
Disclaimer: This article does not constitute individualized investment advice. These securities appear for your consideration and not as personalized investment recommendations. Act at your own discretion.
Editor’s Note: Tabular data shown in this article are up-to-date as of Dec. 18, 2024.
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Table of Contents
What Is a Growth Stock?
A growth stock is generally viewed as a company that is improving sales and profits with each passing year—typically at a faster clip than the industry average. This should, in theory, result in faster stock price appreciation as other shareholders get wise to this success and decide to buy in themselves.
Growth stocks tend to be viewed in opposition to value stocks, which might not grow as fast but have substantial underlying operations that the market is underappreciating (for now).
So, what metrics do we want to look at?
Growth stocks tend to boast rapid sales. Income matters, too—though it’s more important among more established companies, as smaller growth stocks often burn all their cash on expansion. Expectations matter, too, because if rapid growth still falls short of Street estimates, these supposedly highflying companies might still see their stocks slump.
Similarly, we have to consider the competition. For instance, if an AI company is growing at a 40% rate, that might sound great … but if similar companies are growing at a 50%-plus clip, that AI company could be viewed as a laggard.
In other words: Not all growth stocks are good investments, even if they’re growing … heck, even if they’re growing quickly! That means we have to look past the surface to really find the best growth stocks to buy.
The Best Growth Stocks to Buy Now
The top growth stocks right now are companies expanding faster than the broader market, as well as their peers. That often involves riding a long-term trend that will result in a durable tailwind for years to come.
Nothing is certain on Wall Street, of course, and growth stocks that showed strong revenue trends or stock price appreciation over the past year might still stumble when things change in the months to come. That said, investors who pay attention to growth stock data can often identify companies moving into favor—and share in their success.
Here are a few examples of growth stocks to watch based on recent performance and financial metrics. I’ll also provide each stock’s consensus analyst rating, courtesy of S&P Global Market Intelligence. The consensus rating is the average of all known analyst ratings of the stock, boiled down to a numerical system where
1 = Strong Buy
2 = Buy
3 = Hold
4 = Sell
5 = Strong Sell
In short, the lower the number, the better the overall consensus view on the stock.
7. Eli Lilly
Market cap: $705.5 billion
Long-term earnings growth estimate: 38%
Consensus analyst rating: 1.78 (Buy)
Sector: Health care
After continued growth and innovation in recent years, Big Pharma mainstay Eli Lilly (LLY) has become the largest health care company in the world. And looking forward, analysts believe LLY still has a significant amount of runway left.
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Specifically, following a 2024 in which Eli Lilly was expected to finish with a 33% jump in sales and more than double its profits, Wall Street’s pros still anticipate spectacular jumps on the top and bottom lines—28% and 72%, respectively—for 2025.
Lilly has a stable of blockbuster products, including breast cancer drug Verzenio and type 2 diabetes treatment Trulicity. But most of LLY’s growth hopes rest on the shoulders of diabetes treatment Mounjaro and weight-loss drug Zepbound, which through three quarters had already generated a little more than $11 billion in sales for 2024. And despite a third-quarter miss for both drugs, most of Wall Street remains plenty optimistic.
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“Given the multiple doses of Zepbound that were stocked up by wholesalers, the combination of early launch, cold-chains, and multiple doses (with new patients needing lower doses), meant predicting inventory and utilisation of cold-chain added to the volatility,” say HSBC Global Research analysts Rajesh Kumar and Morten Herholdt, who rate LLY stock a Buy. “Our understanding of the situation is that the underlying momentum remains healthy and the inventory effects are likely to normalise as distributors have better data on the ordering patterns. … We think that the multi-year growth cycle for Lilly is intact, with potential for significant value creation.”
It always pays to look down the pipeline when it comes to Big Pharma, and things look good on that front, too. Lee Brown, Global Sector Lead for Healthcare at global research firm Third Bridge, says his firm is closely following the development of weight-loss drugs retatrutide and orforglipron, as well insulin efsitora alpha, a novel single-chain variant of insulin. “We view all of these pipeline candidates as particularly exciting as each holds significant promise,” Brown says.
Lilly’s varied successes in 2024 led to another big bump to the dividend, which will be raised by a hair more than 15%, to $1.50 per share, starting with the March 2025 payout.
On the whole, analysts are very bullish on Eli Lilly’s future prospects. They collectively have 20 Buy calls on the stock, versus just six Holds and one Sell, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data. And based on the consensus price target, the Street sees 25% upside over the next 12 months from current levels.
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6. First Solar
Market cap: $20.4 billion
Long-term earnings growth estimate: 31%
Consensus analyst rating: 1.73 (Buy)
Sector: Technology
The solar industry can be a bit volatile. But in the age of climate change, there is a durable tailwind for this industry as one of the most popular forms of alternative energy. And among solar stocks, First Solar (FSLR) is near the top of the heap when it comes to both market value and revenue directly attributable to solar arrays.
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Headquartered in Arizona, First Solar provides photovoltaic energy solutions worldwide, from the U.S. to Japan to Europe to Australia. Indeed, it’s America’s largest manufacturer of PV modules, at an estimated market share of 50%.
Of course, what does that mean amidst a new administration that’s expected to be more fossil fuel-friendly? Well, the pros don’t appear to be too deterred—at least not from renewable companies with market-leading positions.
“In attempting to outline a 2025 playbook in the midst of a significant U.S. political transition for a sector where stocks tend to perform based heavily on policy and rates, we find ourselves going back to the basics,” says BMO Capital Markets analyst Ameet Thakkar. “We prioritize companies with solid balance sheets, revenue growth, strong market share, backlog visibility and durability. ‘We are running it back’ with respect to our Outperform-rated names FSLR, GEV and FLNC. We see each of these companies with multi-year revenue growth underpinned by favorable demand and pricing trends underpinned by contracted backlogs.”
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Truist analyst Jordan Levy (Buy) also notes that the Department of Commerce announced preliminary antidumping rates on solar manufacturers in southeast Asia. “In our view, the clearest read-through of the DOC announcement is an incremental positive for First Solar given the company’s unique positioning from a U.S. manufacturing perspective,” he says. “And we believe there is further upside potential on go-forward pricing as the company continues to be selective on bookings with pricing and terms.”
Both are among the 32 names that view First Solar as Buy-worthy, dwarfing the eight Hold calls on the stock. (No analyst has a Sell call on FSLR.) Meanwhile, price estimates for the next 12 months imply 43% upside for this high-growth stock.
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5. Neurocrine Biosciences
Market cap: $13.8 billion
Long-term earnings growth estimate: 59%
Consensus analyst rating: 1.59 (Buy)
Sector: Health care
Any list of the best growth stocks is bound to include a few pharmaceutical and biotechnology names. That’s very much the case here, with Neurocrine Biosciences (NBIX) joining Eli Lilly among the Street’s most favored investments.
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Neurocrine discovers and develops treatments for neurological, neuroendocrine, and neuropsychiatric disorders. Its commercial products include Ingrezza (tardive dyskinesia and chorea associated with Huntington’s disease), Alkindi (adrenal insufficiency), Efmody (classic congenital adrenal hyperplasia, or CAH), and Orilissa (endometriosis).
And Neurocrine also received an early birthday present in the form of FDA approval for Crenessity, also for classic CAH—something that has the Street buzzing:
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“The labeled Crenessity indication includes classic CAH patients as young as 4 years of age through adults. With two formulations available (capsule / solution), we see utility in both populations,” say Wedbush analysts Laura Chico and Dylan Shindler, who rate NBIX shares at Outperform (equivalent of Buy). “Our estimates currently assume net pricing of ~$150,000 per patient per year on a blended basis across adult and pediatric CAH patients. The Crenessity approval arrives at an important time to help broaden the NBIX story beyond Ingrezza.”
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Stifel analysts (Buy) also believe NBIX has a potential blockbuster on their hands, adding that “we remain optimistic on the commercial opportunity for crinecerfont in CAH, where we believe there’s a credible case for a $1 billion-plus product at peak.” But their primary optimism still centers around other drugs—specifically Ingrezza, which NBIX explicitly says has “blockbuster potential,” as well as Orlissa, which they believe could be worth close to $2 billion.
The broader analyst community is plenty rosy on Neurocrine Biosciences shares—currently, 23 pros rate shares a Buy, versus four Holds and zero Sells. And the current consensus price target implies that NBIX has another 20%-plus in upside over the next 12 months.
4. Six Flags Entertainment
Market capitalization: $4.8 billion
Long-term earnings growth estimate: 30%
Consensus analyst rating: 1.49 (Strong Buy)
Sector: Consumer discretionary
Six Flags Entertainment (FUN) is the largest amusement park operator in the U.S., courtesy of a 2024 merger with fellow theme-park name Cedar Fair. The combined portfolio includes 42 amusement parks, water parks, and resort properties across 17 states, as well as Canada and Mexico. FUN also boasts intellectual property deals to use DC Comics, Looney Tunes, and Peanuts in their parks.
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While amusement parks are the definition of a cyclical play that will perform well when Americans’ pockets are lined with cash, they do boast more resilience than it might seem. Regional theme parks tend to be a greater value for families than other experiential treats, both in the cost of a ticket itself, as well as their relative proximity, backing out the need for an expensive plane ticket. During times of economic difficulty, lower-end consumers might balk at this kind of discretionary purchase, but that can be offset by higher-end consumers “trading down” to regional parks.
And there are several reasons to like Six Flags specifically, especially following the merger:
“We believe there is considerable upside to the current trading level of FUN shares,” says CFRA analyst Zachary Warring, who calls FUN stock a Buy. “Our view is that the combined entity will greatly benefit from (1) the potential upside from expected synergies, (2) the fact FUN’s MLP structure is removed, (3) the new entity will have a more qualified management team running their operations, (4) we believe is there an opportunity for the new company to shed non-core assets which would help reduce leverage at a quicker pace, and (5) an opportunity to regain a significant amount of lost attendance due to changes in operating strategies.”
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Why is it a positive that FUN no longer has a master limited partnership (MLP) structure? Simply put: MLP “distributions” are similar to dividends but are more complicated from a tax perspective. So now, investors can collect Six Flags’ decent 2.5% dividend without additional tax headaches.
Wall Street is heavily favorable on FUN shares, with 10 Buys versus just one Hold and one Sell. And on average, analysts see 20% upside from current prices.
3. Micron
Market cap: $121.0 billion
Long-term earnings growth estimate: 51%
Consensus analyst rating: 1.46 (Strong Buy)
Sector: Technology
Micron Technology (MU) specializes in memory and storage products, such as dynamic random-access memory (DRAM), NAND flash memory, and solid-state drives (SSDs). It serves a wide variety of markets, including PCs, graphics, networking, automotive, industrial, and consumer.
But perhaps its most important right now is data centers, where AI-driven demand has helped to reinvigorate prices for NAND and DRAM broadly.
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And that’s just one factor helping to prop up Micron’s bull thesis, says Argus analyst Jim Kelleher.
“Favorable industry supply-demand balance, normalization of inventories, and the AI surge are all driving memory prices higher, in time for broad-based demand recovery,” he says, adding that “Micron in mid-2024 signed a nonbinding preliminary memorandum of terms (PMT) with the U.S. government for $6.1 billion in grants under the CHIPS and Science Act. These grants along with state and other incentives support leading-edge memory expansion planned for sites in Idaho and New York.
Indeed, Kelleher says Micron is in the “early stages of broad-based memory demand growth” and has intermediate- and long-term Buy calls on MU shares, though the warns that “MU investors should be aware of the risks of investing in memory technology, where volatile pricing tends to drive big stock swings.”
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Yes, Micron is coming off a brutal earnings report—while the company actually posted a record fiscal Q1 that saw data center revenues top 50% of overall sales for the first time, its forecast for Q2 was well behind analysts’ estimates, which sent shares slumping. But while investors reacted strongly, Wall Street wasn’t caught completely by surprise:
“Our [fiscal second-quarter] estimates reflect modest QQ growth and are below consensus, yet we suspect Micron could guide even more conservatively given seasonal/cyclical headwinds as consumer demand continues to underwhelm,” Stifel analysts, who rate the stock a Buy, said prior to the report. “Yet we view this as a mid-cycle correction, in which Micron can sustain strong margins/profitability.”
Currently, analysts have 35 Buys on the stock, against just three Holds and a lone Sell. And their current price targets imply 35% upside over the next 12 months.
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2. Astrana Health
Market capitalization: $1.9 trillion
Long-term earnings growth estimate: 18%
Consensus analyst rating: 1.33 (Strong Buy)
Sector: Health care
Sometimes, you need an iron stomach to go after high-growth plays, and that very much appears to be the case with Astrana Health (ASTH), a health care management service organization (MSO) that was up as much as 65% year-to-date in 2024 before giving up all those gains and then some late in the year.
Astrana Health helps coordinate care among private and public insurance, more than 12,000 physician providers, and 1.1 million patients in 32 markets. Their business focuses on converting physician groups from traditional fee-based care to “value-based care” (VBC). Within VBC, a variety of health care providers (doctors, hospitals, laboratories, etc.) coordinate to manage a person’s health, and are incentivized for providing high quality and efficient cost of care.
The emerging VBC field has been a font of growth. Astrana has been emblematic of the business opportunity, with revenues up nearly 150% between 2019 and 2023.
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Shares have been a rockier story. ASTH exploded by more than 550% between the start of 2019 and its November 2021 peak, but lost 75% of that worth by the end of 2022. The stock had been improving at a much more sustainable rate since then, until it fell off a cliff during the final few months of 2024.
That plunge was sparked by the announcement that Astrana would buy Prospect Health, an integrated care delivery system that includes a licensed health care service plan, primary care and specialist groups, a pharmacy asset, a hospital, and another MSO. All told, the Prospect network includes 3,000 primary-care providers and 10,000 specialists who provide care to roughly 610,000 members in four states. The deal, for $745 million, will be paid in both cash and a nearly $1.1 billion senior secured bridge. As a result, Astrana says its debt position should grow from $420 million at the end of Q3 to roughly $1.1 billion.
And yet, Wall Street remains overwhelmingly bullish on ASTH shares, believing Astrana’s acquisitive streak—the company just closed on another purchase, of fellow MSO Collaborative Health Systems, in October—will ultimately work out in its favor. Of the dozen analysts covering the stock, 10 call ASTH a Buy, while the remaining pair are sidelined at Hold. And while long-term earnings growth estimates sit at 18% annually—less than most other entries on this list—it sees revenues sprinting ahead by an average of 39% across the next two years.
“We continue to view ASTH as a core healthcare growth stock, as we believe the primary care model is set for material disruption over the coming years,” say William Blair analysts Ryan Daniels and Jack Senft, who rate the stock at Outperform (equivalent of Buy). “We note that the company is also the most profitable entity in our value-based care coverage universe, and recent M&A and partnership activity should only augment the company’s near- and longer-term growth outlook, in our view.
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1. Nvidia
Market cap: $3.3 trillion
Long-term earnings growth estimate: 38%
Consensus analyst rating: 1.31 (Strong Buy)
Sector: Technology
Nvidia (NVDA) is another high-flying tech stock whose market capitalization is now measured in trillions, thanks to its dominance in semiconductors that are used in cutting-edge technologies. Applications for this firm’s hardware include self-driving cars, cryptocurrency mining, and other in-demand and growth-oriented areas of the 21st century economy.
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But No. 1 with a bullet is the artificial intelligence market.
“NVDA remains *the* AI company owing to its culture of innovation, ecosystem of incumbency, and massive investment in software, pre-trained models, and services,” says Truist analyst William Stein (Buy). “We see NVDA’s leadership as driven less by the raw performance of its chips, and more by its culture of innovation, ecosystem of incumbency, and massive investment in software, AI models, and services, that we believe makes its chips a default choice for most engineers building AI systems.”
This specialization has resulted in red-hot growth at Nvidia—a fire that’s only expected to continue burning. Analysts see revenue growth averaging 79% annually over the next two years, and long-term earnings growth at a clip of 38%.
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It would be difficult for any stock to match NVDA’s 2024—through mid-December shares had exploded by more than 170%. Analysts have more realistic (but still excellent) targets for the next 12 months, with a consensus price target implying 31% returns ahead.
NVDA is also the highest-rated name in our list of 2025’s best growth stocks: It has a whopping 60 Buys versus just four Holds and no Sells.
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Should I Buy Growth Stocks or a Growth Exchange-Traded Fund?
Growth-oriented investing strategies are always in-demand, so there are a host of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) out there that own growth stocks. The largest, the Vanguard Growth ETF (VUG), commands more than $90 billion in assets as proof of the popularity of this approach.
ETFs allow for easy diversification as you invest tactically in growth stocks. But keep in mind that by spreading your money around and reducing your risk, you also limit your upside. Many growth investors are enamored with the idea of a stock that doubles in short order—and that’s almost impossible with an ETF that holds hundreds of different components.
In short: Whether you buy growth stocks or an ETF depends on your personal risk tolerance.
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Stock recommendation services are popular shortcuts that help millions of investors make educated decisions without having to spend hours of time doing research. But just like, say, a driving shortcut, the quality of stock recommendations can vary widely—and who you’re willing to listen to largely boils down to track record and trust.
The natural question, then, is “Which services are worth a shot?” We explore some of the best (and best-known) stock recommendation services.
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We look into these seven companies’ dividend profiles and why analysts think their stocks are well worth holding in your income portfolio.
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As even novice investors probably know, funds—whether they’re mutual funds or exchange-traded funds (ETFs)—are the simplest and easiest ways to invest in the stock market. But the best long-term stocks also offer many investors a way to stay “invested” intellectually—by following companies they believe in. They also provide investors with the potential for outperformance.
So if you’re looking for a starting point for your own portfolio, look no further. Check out our list of the best long-term stocks for buy-and-hold investors.
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The vast majority of American dividend stocks pay regular, reliable payouts—and they do so at a more frequent clip (quarterly) than dividend stocks in most other countries (typically every six months or year).
Still, if you’ve ever thought to yourself, “it’d sure be nice to collect these dividends more often,” you don’t have to look far. While they’re not terribly common, American exchanges boast dozens of monthly dividend stocks.
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