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 Feb. 3, 2025.
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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.
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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
1-1.5 = Strong Buy
1.5-2.5 = Buy
2.5-3.5 = Hold
3.5-4.5 = Sell
4.5-5 = Strong Sell
In short, the lower the number, the better the overall consensus view on the stock.
All stocks here are rated at least 2.0 or below, meaning at worst they’re solidly in the Buy camp.
7. Eli Lilly
— Market cap: $740.8 billion
— Long-term earnings growth estimate: 29%
— Consensus analyst rating: 1.64 (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 grew sales by 32% and more than doubled its profits, Wall Street’s pros still anticipate spectacular jumps on the top and bottom lines—31% and 78%, 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 combined to generate roughly $16.5 billion in revenues last year. three quarters had already generated a little more than $11 billion in sales for 2024. And despite a mixed fourth quarter, most of Wall Street remains plenty optimistic.
“Looking ahead we expect the stock to be driven by weekly Mounjaro+Zepbound prescriptions given the 4Q miss, followed by [orforglipron Phase 3] data starting in 2Q,” says Morgan Stanley analyst Terence Flynn, who rates Lilly shares at Overweight (equivalent of Buy). “We continue to see upside to 2025 Zepbound+Mounjaro estimates and LLY company-wide estimates.”
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It always pays to look down the pipeline when it comes to Big Pharma, and things look good on that front, too.
“While investor focus is on Mounjaro/Zepbound, we see growth across the oncology, I&I and neuroscience portfolio, which help drive top-line growth and margin expansion with the recent approvals of Omvoh for Crohn’s disease, Ebglyss in atopic dermatitis, Kisunla in Alzheimer’s disease, and the new OSA indication for Zepbound,” say Truist analysts Srikripa Devarakonda and Nicole Germino, who rate the stock at Buy.
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 23 Buy calls on the stock, versus just four Holds and one Sell, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data. And based on the consensus price target, the Street sees 22% upside over the next 12 months from current levels.
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6. Neurocrine Biosciences
— Market cap: $11.1 billion
— Long-term earnings growth estimate: 35%
— Consensus analyst rating: 1.62 (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).
Shares fell off a cliff in early February amid disappointing fourth-quarter financial results, but Wall Street remains extremely rosy on NBIX shares—currently, 21 pros rate shares a Buy, versus five Holds and zero Sells. And the current consensus price target implies that NBIX has another 47%-plus in upside over the next 12 months.
“Our thesis on the stock centers around: (1) our belief in the blockbuster potential of Neurocrine’s lead asset Ingrezza in Tardive Dyskinesia [TD], (2) cash flows from Elagolix, which we estimate could be worth close to $2 billion, and (3) our view that little is priced in for the rest of the company’s pipeline, which could offer long-term upside,” say Stifel analysts, who rate the stock at Buy.
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Also worth noting: A few months ago, Neurocrine received an early birthday present in the form of FDA approval for Crenessity, also for classic CAH.
“Management expects a “measured” initial launch trajectory of Crenessity before sales accelerate,” say Oppenheimer analysts, who rate the stock at Outperform (equivalent of Buy. “We view the label as broad and favorable by including all patients ages 4+ with no mandates on baseline glucocorticoid doses or specific reductions required.
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5. First Solar
— Market cap: $14.2 billion
— Long-term earnings growth estimate: 33%
— Consensus analyst rating: 1.56 (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? Despite a decline in shares across the first quarter of 2025, the pros don’t appear to be too deterred.
Argus Research analyst John Eade (Buy), for instance, says the recent weakness presents a buying opportunity.
“The company is positioned to benefit from the long-term secular trend toward clean energy producers, though in recent weeks government regulations have become less favorable. That said, First Solar has a history of growth and recent profitability. … Despite the near-term political environment, we believe the company will continue to benefit from the global transition to carbon-free energy over time.”
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Indeed, most analysts point to policy as being a significant risk. Even then, the bull camp is extremely crowded. Thirty-four pros view First Solar as Buy-worthy, dwarfing the five Hold calls on the stock. (No analyst has a Sell call on FSLR.) Meanwhile, price estimates for the next 12 months imply a whopping 84% upside for shares.
“FSLR posted messy 4Q24 results and 2025 guidance as the company navigates ramp challenges, volatile policy, and pipeline rationalization. Despite these headwinds, FSLR is guiding to 50%-plus EPS growth in 2025,” add Oppenheimer analysts (Outperform). “We believe the key question for investors is where FSLR valuation has a floor given U.S. policy risk and upside if U.S. policy is preserved. As we raise estimates, we lower our PT and multiple to reflect increased market and policy risk and note the company’s strong history fixing manufacturing excursions and enforcing its contract rights giving us comfort in 2025 estimates.”
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4. Six Flags Entertainment
— Market capitalization: $3.9 billion
— Long-term earnings growth estimate: 22%
— Consensus analyst rating: 1.54 (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 3.2% dividend without additional tax headaches.
Wall Street is heavily favorable on FUN shares, with 11 Buys versus just one Hold and one Sell. And on average, analysts see 40% upside from current prices.
3. Micron
— Market cap: $114.9 billion
— Long-term earnings growth estimate: 8%
— 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. The Department of Commerce awarded those funds [Dec. 10, 2024]. 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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Micron is about to report earnings for the second quarter of its fiscal Q2, and investor expectations appear modest following mid-quarter updates from the company. Still, Wedbush analyst Matt Bryson (Outperform) says his firm remains “constructive around the future prospects for MU and memory given our belief that conditions most likely improve in the [second half] even though U.S. tariffs (whether a direct impact on device costs or a potential broader macroeconomic headwind) do create some incremental risk to our forecast.”
Currently, analysts have 34 Buys on the stock, against just four Holds and a lone Sell. And their current price targets imply 26% upside over the next 12 months.
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2. Nvidia
— Market cap: $2.9 trillion
— Long-term earnings growth estimate: 33%
— Consensus analyst rating: 1.34 (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 40% annually over the next two years, and long-term earnings growth at a clip of 33%.
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“Despite heavy ASIC competition, we expect NVDA to maintain its leading 80-85% share due to its broad pipeline (distinct benefit in dynamic large language model landscape) across compute/networking, scale, platform-level innovation, developer base, TAM expansion into robotics/autos, workstations and perhaps even AI PC, and incumbency across enterprise and sovereign customers,” add BofA Global Research analysts, who rate shares at Buy.
It would be difficult for any stock to match Nvidia’s 2024, which saw shares deliver a total return (price plus dividends) of 171%. Analysts have more realistic (but still excellent) targets for the next 12 months, with a consensus price target implying 44% returns ahead.
NVDA also has the largest bull camp in our list of 2025’s best growth stocks: It has a whopping 57 Buys versus just five Holds and no Sells.
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1. Astrana Health
— Market capitalization: $1.7 billion
— Long-term earnings growth estimate: 17%
— 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, but has since stabilized in 2025.
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.
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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.
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.
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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.
Long-term financial estimates are good, but not great. The pros see revenues growing by 22% over the next two years, and earnings improving by 17% annually over the long haul. However, price targets imply a more than 70% return within the next 12 months.
“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). “Overall, we view Astrana Health as a leading operator in the advanced primary care (APC) space, consistently delivering strong execution and maintaining its position as the most profitable APC provider in our coverage universe.”
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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 $145 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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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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