Many investors love to get a chance to invest in the top growth stocks. Unfortunately, a lot of these companies have seen their stocks appreciate to the point where certain investors may not be able to afford shares of the company. In this article, I will discuss two companies that have outstanding growth potential while not having extraordinarily high stock prices.
The fintech space is heating up
As the world becomes more digital, companies will need to adapt or be left behind. Nuvei (TSX:NVEI) provides a cloud-based payments platform to merchants in North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Latin America. In a very competitive landscape, this company has been able to secure a strong foothold in the payments space.
Over the past year, Nuvei’s merchants have processed a total annual volume of $35 billion. Of this, 71% was involved in an e-commerce-related sale, demonstrating the potential of Nuvei’s business. As e-commerce continues to grow, so too will the usage of its platform. Nuvei accepts 450 payment methods in about 150 currencies across more than 200 global markets.
The company has three forms of payments technology, that allow merchants to complete transactions. Its payments software can be used in-app, in e-commerce via an API, or in-store using hardware devices. The latter is what Nuvei identifies as its advantage over its competitors. While other companies rely on contactless purchases (think online shopping), Nuvei is able to add in-person payment options.
The company just recently started trading on the public market, after its initial public offering (IPO) in mid-September. Nuvei saw its stock hit a high of $58.88 before declining nearly 15% at the time of this writing. The current market weakness provides investors with an excellent opportunity to enter a position in the company.
Another payments-focused company can also be had for cheap
The second company that investors can buy under $100 is Lightspeed (TSX:LSPD)(NYSE:LSPD). This company has drawn comparisons to an early Shopify for its rapid growth and incredible potential. The fact that the two companies share overlaps in the same market may also give a reason for such comparisons. Lightspeed provides a cloud-based ecommerce enabling Software-as-a-Service platform to small- and medium-sized businesses.
The company’s customers are mainly restaurants and retailers. However, it has been working on diversifying into other industries. One of its most recent acquisitions has opened its doors to the market of golf course operators. Like Nuvei, Lightspeed’s customer base is largely international. More than 100 countries around the world use Lightspeed’s platform to operate their business. The company reported a $22.3 billion gross transaction volume in fiscal year 2020.
Lightspeed stock was crushed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, as investors expected small- and medium-sized businesses to feel the effects of global shutdowns the hardest. However, because of quick thinking by company management, Lightspeed actually saw an increase in customers over the year. As of Q1 2021, (Lightspeed’s fiscal year ends March 31) the company had 77,000 customers. This is a 51% increase over Q1 2020. Evidently, Lightspeed is still very much in the high-growth phase.
Foolish takeaway
You don’t need to look at the most expensive stocks to find companies with excellent growth. Nuvei and Lightspeed are both companies that have very long growth runways ahead, and they both trade under $100 at the time of this writing. This will allow smaller investors to get in on the companies, and also have more control on the size of the position in their portfolio.
