Growth stocks are companies that have potentially significant expansion opportunities ahead of them. Because of their future potential, investors expect that their share prices will rise much more quickly than the market average.
Growth shares are usually junior companies with a fair bit of buzz about them – perhaps they're developing some revolutionary new product or service, or maybe they're closely aligned with emerging global trends, like Artificial Intelligence (AI) or decarbonisation.
Many ASX growth shares are tech companies. Rapid advances in technology mean products and services that weren't even conceivable a few decades ago are now practically ubiquitous (think smartphones, streaming services, and cryptocurrency). This extreme pace of innovation means new tech start-ups can occasionally take off overnight, making their investors rich and striking FOMO into everyone else.
However, growth stocks don't have to be tech shares – it's not unusual to see a junior mining stock's price skyrocket if it uncovers a significant new resource, and even the odd retail stock can make quick gains if it launches into a potentially lucrative new market.
But remember – growth shares are riskier than other types of shares. They are often speculative plays, and not every gamble will pay off. So, only risk what you can afford to lose.
Despite the risk – or perhaps because of it – growth stocks can be very exciting to invest in. And, luckily for us ASX investors, there are plenty of options available for us to choose from. Here are 3 I'd consider buying if I had a spare $5,000.
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Audinate Group Ltd (ASX: AD8)
Audinate shares have been on a tear recently. Over the past 12 months, its share price has skyrocketed over 65% – and that's despite a 30% drop from the 52-week high price of $23.51 it hit back in March.
The rise in its share price has come on the back of its strong financial performance. In its 1H24 results – covering the six months ending 31 December 2023 – Audinate's revenues jumped almost 48% versus 1H23 to US$30.4 million. And, after recording a net loss of US$0.4 million in 1H23, Audinate's net profit after tax in 1H24 was US$4.7 million – a pretty impressive turnaround.
Audinate specialises in audiovisual (AV) technology. Its flagship product is called Dante, which replaces old-school analogue cable AV connections with a digital computer network. It has a large variety of applications, from corporate office buildings, broadcast media, and even churches and other places of worship.
Light & Wonder Inc. CDI (ASX: LNW)
Headquartered in Las Vegas, Light & Wonder is a gaming company specialising in poker machines, online casino games, and what it calls 'social games' – essentially mobile and web casino games where you don't play for real money or prizes.
Its share price has soared over 50% higher in the past 12 months – significantly more than established rival Aristocrat Leisure Limited (ASX: ALL) – on the back of strong earnings growth. Quarterly revenue for the 3 months ended 31 March 2024 was up 13% versus the prior comparative period to US$756 million. This revenue uplift – combined with lower depreciation and amortisation expenses – led to a staggering 273% jump in net profit (to US$82 million for the quarter).
Nextdc Ltd (ASX: NXT)
Although Nextdc is quite an established ASX technology company, it still has significant growth potential ahead of it, which makes it a worthy addition to this list.
Nextdc operates data centres all across Australia, as well as internationally in New Zealand, Japan and Malaysia. This is already a growth sector, given how much of our time nowadays is spent online. All that data we create has to be stored somewhere.
However, rapid advancements in AI could supercharge Nextdc's growth in the next few years. AI, like ChatGPT and other machine learning programs, need enormous amounts of data to function, which could drive up demand for data centres even further. And the company knows it. In April, it launched a capital raise seeking an eyewatering $1.3 billion from investors to help finance its growth pipeline.
