Technology stocks have taken a beating since late last year, as economic uncertainty caused investors to review their priorities. As a result, many ditched stocks with high valuations, regardless of their growth rates. Adding fuel to the fire was rising interest rates, 40-year-high inflation, and the potential for a prolonged recession.
These factors have punished the Nasdaq Composite, sending it down roughly 23% as of this writing from its November 2021 high -- when a decline of 20% or more signals a bear market. Some stocks listed on the storied index have slumped even more.
It's important for investors to remember that not all growth is created equal, resulting in some compelling opportunities for long-term investors. Let's look at two high-growth stocks that investors will regret not buying on the dip.
CrowdStrike
One of the biggest threats to business these days are the hacks, ransomware attacks, and data breaches that make headlines far too often. As a result, companies can no longer skimp on cybersecurity, lest they end up members of this fraternity of victims. That's where CrowdStrike (CRWD -3.94%) comes in. As the leading provider of endpoint security, CrowdStrike's cloud-based system is designed to stop intrusions at the source -- the endpoint devices.
The company's multipronged strategy uses a local "agent" to handle many simpler tasks, while transferring more sophisticated, data-intensive issues to its Threat Graph for analysis and action. CrowdStrike has artificial intelligence at the core of its process, which helps it stop the next attack all the more quickly. In fact, it analyzes trillions of high-value data points each week, allowing CrowdStrike to neutralize breaches, often within minutes or even seconds.
Business is booming. In its fiscal 2023 second quarter, ended July 31, revenue grew 58% year over year, while subscription revenue increased 60%. At the same time, annual recurring revenue jumped 59%. While the company isn't yet profitable, its strong cash flow from operations and free cash flow, both of which roughly doubled year over year, suggest that profitability is merely a matter of time.
CrowdStrike's impressive financial results are fueled by equally compelling customer metrics. The company added a record 1,741 net new customers during the quarter, a 51% year-over-year increase, bringing the total to 19,686. Furthermore, users are expanding their relationship with CrowdStrike, as customers adopting five or more, six or more, and seven or more modules climbed to 59%, 36%, and 20%, respectively.
It's worth noting that this impressive growth comes at a cost. CrowdStrike stock is currently selling for 13 times next year's sales, its lowest rate in years. However, I would argue that the premium is deserved, given its impressive revenue growth -- even in the face of economic headwinds.
Furthermore, the company's strong financial metrics and customer growth suggest that the weakness in CrowdStrike's stock price is the result of macroeconomic uncertainty -- not the company's performance. This further suggests that once the economy regains its footing, CrowdStrike stock is likely to rebound with a vengeance.
Datadog
The digital transformation is ongoing, and more companies than ever before are relying on cloud-based systems. That can be a double-edged sword, however, as downtime can result in lost customers, while wreaking havoc on employee productivity. Diagnosing issues and raising the red flag before these problems reach critical mass is of paramount importance, and Datadog (DDOG -1.82%) is on the hunt.
The company's integrated software monitors cloud systems, servers, databases, tools, services, and apps, using a combination of monitoring services and real-time analytics to not only detect problems but also keep them from recurring. Datadog is so successful at what it does, it's been acknowledged by Gartner'sMagic Quadrant as a leader in application performance monitoring and observability for 2022.
In the second quarter, Datadog generated revenue growth of 74% year over year, accelerating from 67% growth in the year-ago quarter. The company isn't yet profitable, but it generates strong and growing free cash flow. That suggests that losses are the result of noncash items, including depreciation, and profits are on the horizon.
There's more. Datadog's strong financial performance is buttressed by equally impressive customer metrics. While its customer rolls grew by 29% year over year, the number of enterprise customers grew even faster, as those spending $100,000 in annual recurring revenue climbed 54%. Furthermore, existing customers continue to spend more, as seen in Datadog's dollar-based net revenue retention rate, which has been 130%, or higher, for every quarter going back five years.
The digital transformation and the move to cloud computing is no doubt helping fuel Datadog's growth, but, as in the previous example, this strong growth comes with a hefty price tag. Datadog is selling for 13 times next year's sales. While that's Datadog's lowest valuation in years, it's still expensive by traditional standards. However, given its revenue growth, which is well above average, it's deserving of an above-average valuation.
Given its robust financial performance and quickly growing customer metrics, this is another highflier investors will regret not buying before it starts to soar.
Danny Vena has positions in CrowdStrike Holdings and Datadog. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends CrowdStrike Holdings and Datadog. The Motley Fool recommends Gartner. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
