Growth is oxygen. But when it evaporates, the consequences can be severe - ask anyone who bought Cisco in the Dot-Com Bubble or newer investors who lived through the 2020 to 2022 COVID cycle.
Luckily for you, our job at StockStory is to help you avoid short-term fads by pointing you toward high-quality businesses that can generate sustainable long-term growth. On that note, here are two growth stocks where the best is yet to come and one climbing an uphill battle.
One Growth Stock to Sell:
Appian (APPN)
One-Year Revenue Growth: +16%
Powering billions of transactions daily since its founding in 1999, Appian (NASDAQ: APPN) provides a low-code platform that helps businesses automate complex processes and operationalize artificial intelligence without extensive programming knowledge.
Why Are We Cautious About APPN?
- Annual revenue growth of 14.6% over the last two years was below our standards for the software sector
- Competitive market means the company must spend more on sales and marketing to stand out even if the return on investment is low
- Free cash flow margin is forecasted to shrink by 6 percentage points in the coming year, suggesting the company will consume more capital to keep up with its competitors
Appian’s stock price of $26.85 implies a valuation ratio of 2.7x forward price-to-sales. Read our free research report to see why you should think twice about including APPN in your portfolio.
Two Growth Stocks to Buy:
JFrog (FROG)
One-Year Revenue Growth: +22.7%
Named after the amphibian that continuously evolves from egg to tadpole to adult, JFrog (NASDAQ: FROG) provides a platform that helps organizations securely create, store, manage, and distribute software packages across any system.
Why Is FROG a Top Pick?
- Average billings growth of 22.9% over the last year enhances its liquidity and shows there is steady demand for its products
- Software platform has product-market fit given the rapid recovery of its customer acquisition costs
- Robust free cash flow margin of 28% gives it many options for capital deployment
At $55.62 per share, JFrog trades at 10.9x forward price-to-sales. Is now a good time to buy? Find out in our full research report, it’s free.
Lam Research (LRCX)
One-Year Revenue Growth: +26.8%
Founded in 1980 by David Lam, the man who pioneered semiconductor etching technology, Lam Research (NASDAQ: LRCX) is one of the leading providers of wafer fabrication equipment used to make semiconductors.
Why Will LRCX Outperform?
- Market share has increased this cycle as its 19.8% annual revenue growth over the last two years was exceptional
- Healthy operating margin of 31.9% shows it’s a well-run company with efficient processes, and it turbocharged its profits by achieving some fixed cost leverage
- Industry-leading 64.5% return on capital demonstrates management’s skill in finding high-return investments
Lam Research is trading at $239.04 per share, or 38.2x forward P/E. Is now the right time to buy? See for yourself in our in-depth research report, it’s free.
High-Quality Stocks for All Market Conditions
The market’s up big this year - but there’s a catch. Just 4 stocks account for half the S&P 500’s entire gain. That kind of concentration makes investors nervous, and for good reason. While everyone piles into the same crowded names, smart investors are hunting quality where no one’s looking - and paying a fraction of the price. Check out the high-quality names we’ve flagged in our Top 5 Strong Momentum Stocks for this week. This is a curated list of our High Quality stocks that have generated a market-beating return of 244% over the last five years (as of June 30, 2025).
Stocks that made our list in 2020 include now familiar names such as Nvidia (+1,326% between June 2020 and June 2025) as well as under-the-radar businesses like the once-micro-cap company Tecnoglass (+1,754% five-year return). Find your next big winner with StockStory today.
