Growth investors have been able to breathe a sigh of relief this year. There’s still ground to make up but many growth stocks on the TSX are up double digits in 2023, largely crushing the broader market’s return year to date.
Following the COVID-19 market crash in early 2020, growth stocks went on a somewhat surprisingly strong bull run that lasted close to 18 months. During that year and a half, it felt like every growth stock was poised to be a market beater for years to come. The gains finally dried up in late 2021, and growth investors spent the following year licking their wounds.
Buying growth stocks in today’s volatile market
The S&P/TSX Composite Index is close to flat on the year, but there’s no shortage of growth stocks up far more than that. After the disappointing performance in 2022, growth stocks have rallied in 2023, giving investors confidence that the worst may be behind us.
With that in mind, I’ve reviewed three top growth stocks that continue to trade at significant discounts. Even better, investors can own this entire basket of companies for less than $300 today.
If you’ve got some cash to spare and can handle the volatility, here are three high-growth companies to add to your watch list today.
Growth stock #1: Shopify
Shares of Canada’s largest tech company are up more than 80% year to date. Still, Shopify (TSX:SHOP) continues to trade more than 50% below all-time highs that were set in late 2021. That goes to show the magnitude of both the bull run from early 2020 to late 2021 and the selloff in 2022.
As a major player in the growing e-commerce space, Shopify understandably has a lot of expectations to keep revenue growth soaring. As a result, I wouldn’t bank on volatility slowing down anytime soon.
Investors who are willing to be patient won’t want to miss their chance to load up on Shopify at a discount like this.
Growth stock #2: Lightspeed Commerce
Albeit a much smaller company, Lightspeed Commerce (TSX:LSPD) has experienced similar ups and downs as Shopify since early 2020. However, Lightspeed hasn’t been able to rebound as well as Shopify this year.
The tech stock is up about 15% year to date but remains more than 80% below all-time highs. Shares are now trading at roughly the same place as when Lightspeed joined the TSX in 2019.
Similarly to Shopify, there’s a lot of growth potential to be bullish about with Lightspeed. And with the stock trading at such a discount, there’s lots of long-term upside to taking advantage of today’s cheap price.
Growth stock #3: goeasy
The last pick on my list, goeasy (TSX:GSY), is as far from a tech stock as you can get. The $2 billion company is a consumer-facing financial services provider, offering Canadians across the country a variety of financial loans to choose from.
Shares may be down 40% from all-time highs but are still up a market-crushing 140% over the past five years.
There’s no question that the high interest rate environment has taken a short-term hit on demand for goeasy. For long-term investors, a short-term headwind could be a perfect opportunity to start a long-term position.
If you’re looking to add some growth potential to your portfolio but hoping to minimize risk, goeasy is an excellent option.
