3 Unstoppable Growth Stocks to Buy If There’s a Stock Market Sale

It’s no secret that the major market indices have hit new highs. Investors are feeling upbeat about the recently concluded presidential election amid news of a healthy economy.

However, unexpected bad news could trigger a sharp and sudden selloff. Investors should understand that such selling is normal in the stock market. Instead of feeling surprised, you should take advantage of such scenarios to get solid growth stocks for cheap

It’s worth reiterating that the types of stocks you should aim to buy should at least have a strong business model and competitive moat to help them fend off competition. Ideally, these businesses should grow their revenues and profits and generate positive free cash flow. Most importantly, these growth stocks should have catalysts to help them grow sustainably for years to come.

Here are three stocks that are perfect candidates to buy in the event of a market crash.

1. Oracle

Oracle (ORCL 0.98%) is the market leader in providing cloud infrastructure (Oracle Cloud). It also offers integrated application suites, hardware, and business-related products and services, such as Oracle Database, a relational database management system.

The company has grown its top and bottom line results in tandem with the explosion in demand for artificial intelligence (AI) applications and cloud services. Total revenue grew from $42.4 billion in fiscal 2022 (ended May 31) to $53 billion in fiscal 2024. Net income grew nearly 56% over the past two years, from 6.7 ​billion USD to USD 10.5 billion. Free cash flow also doubled from $5 billion to $11.8 billion over the same period.

Oracle’s strong financial performance continued in the first quarter of the current fiscal year 2025. Total revenue increased 7% year-over-year to $13.3 billion, while operating income increased 21% year-over-year to USD 4 billion. Net income was $2.9 billion, up 21% year over year. The business continued to generate positive free cash flow of $5.1 billion for the quarter.

Oracle’s remaining performance obligations totaled $99 billion, representing a sharp 53 percent year-over-year increase and signaling more business for the company. A quarterly dividend of $0.40 was also declared, providing investors with a passive income stream in addition to capital gains.

The company’s cloud segment still has significant growth potential. At last year’s call with financial analysts, management estimated that the revenue opportunity from Oracle Cloud applications exceeds $115 billion, of which $88 billion represents new incremental opportunities that can be captured.

Multicloud agreements signed with tech giants Microsoft and Google will help the company grow its cloud data center segment. Twenty-four Oracle Cloud regions are being built for Microsoft, while 14 are under construction for Google. Oracle recently signed an agreement with AmazonAmazon Web Services (AWS).

Oracle also grew through choice acquisitions and not just organically. Last year, it bought Next Technik, which provides field service management capabilities for NetSuite customers. In 2022, Oracle acquired Cerner, which deals with electronic health records, and the intellectual property of Newmetrix, which includes its suite of AI building safety products.

2. Palo Alto Networks

Palo Alto Networks (PANW 1.25%) is a cyber security company that uses artificial intelligence to detect threats and improve security efficiency. Over the past few years, there has been an increase in the number of mega-breaches involving billions of dollars. Also, public ransomware extortion activity has increased by more than 50% since 2022. These trends, along with more organizations going digital and moving to the cloud, have created a pressing need for higher levels of online security. Palo Alto Networks has followed these trends to consistently grow its revenue and net income over the years.

Total revenue started at $5.5 billion in fiscal 2022 (ended July 31) and grew to $8 billion by fiscal 2024. The cybersecurity specialist reported a net loss of $267 million for the fiscal year 2022, which reversed into a net profit of $2.6 billion over the same period. . Excluding a $1.6 billion tax credit in fiscal 2024, pretax profit would still have been $988.3 million that year. The company has also seen its free cash flow generation improve over the years, rising from $1.8 billion in fiscal 2022 to $3.1 billion in fiscal 2024.

Palo Alto Networks still has a long growth trajectory. According to Statista, the cybersecurity market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 7.9% to reach $271.9 billion by 2029.

The company’s numbers bode well for this opportunity, with next-generation security annual recurring revenue up 43% year-over-year to $4.2 billion. Remaining performance obligations increased 20% year over year to $12.7 billion.

Management believes that larger existing organizations, such as itself, will be more successful in leveraging AI compared to smaller start-ups. Artificial intelligence will also play a major role in 2025 and beyond, thus benefiting the company, while enterprises will be forced to adopt secure browsers to protect against malware and ransomware.

Palo Alto Networks has set a target of about 90% of its revenue being recurring by fiscal 2030 and is confident it will continue to grow its customer base and spending.

3. Arista Networks

Arista Networks (ANET 1.06%) is a leading provider of cloud networking and AI services to its customers. Like Oracle and Palo Alto Networks, Arista Networks has also enjoyed steady increases in revenue and rising net income over the years as demand for its products and services has grown.

Revenue doubled from $2.9 billion in 2021 to $5.9 billion in 2023, while net income grew nearly 105% from $840 million to $2.1 billion over the same period. The company also saw its free cash flow profile improve from $951 million in 2021 to $2 billion by 2023.

Arista Networks saw that boost in the first nine months of 2024, as its revenue rose 17.4% year over year to $5.1 billion. Operating income and net income rose 32.6% and 39.2% to $2.1 billion and $2 billion, respectively. The business also generated positive free cash flow of $2.7 billion, up nearly 80% year over year.

The company should enjoy healthy prospects with the release of new capabilities for its CloudVision platform, which enables a modern network operating model for its customers. Its network-as-a-service model spans data centers, campuses and extended networks and helps simplify operations so organizations can save on operating expenses.

There is still significant growth opportunity for Arista Networks as the cloud networking market grows rapidly. The company’s total addressable market was $37 billion in 2023 and is expected to grow to $60 billion by 2027.

Management has outlined its vision for “Arista 2.0”, which encompasses three key pillars. These pillars involve investing in its core AI networking business, targeting adjacent markets such as edge-as-a-service, and offering software-as-a-service capabilities by providing Zero Trust networks.

With a clearly defined, long-term strategy and tailwinds, Arista Networks should continue to enjoy growing revenues and profits for many years to come.