3 Brilliant Growth Stocks to Buy Now and Hold for the Long Term

The market is still near record highs, and as such, valuations remain sky-high. That doesn't necessarily mean every ticker is priced out of reach, however. If you're willing to dig deep enough, you can find growth stocks still worth stepping into.

To this end, here's a closer look at three brilliant long-term growth stocks you can buy right now, and actually feel good about doing so.

Image source: Getty Images.

1. Chewy

Online pet supply retailer Chewy's (NYSE: CHWY) shareholders can't seem to catch a break. Just when it looked like the stock might finally be snapping out of its post-pandemic pullback, in the latter half of last year, shares started slumping again. Blame the economic backdrop, mostly, which has only worsened since then.

Now take a closer look at its results, and in particular, last quarter's numbers. Chewy's revenue improved 7.7% year over year, pumping up per-share profits from $0.15 to $0.23, both of which topped analysts' estimates. Profit margins widened, too, while the portion of sales coming from autoship customers -- customers who have automated regular, recurring shipments of their pets' supplies -- expanded again, from 82.2% to 84.4%. The company's doing everything it's supposed to be doing.

Sure, guidance disappointed. The company dialed back its full-year revenue outlook from an expected range of $13.6 billion to $13.75 billion to a new range of only $13.4 billion to $13.55 billion. Just don't lose perspective on the updated figures. That's still 7% better than last year's top line, at the midpoint of this year's expected sales. Not bad. It's also arguable the company is just making sure it's able to top expectations.

This might help you muster the confidence to step into this falling stock: Despite the ticker's continued selling, analysts aren't deterred. The majority of them still rate Chewy shares a strong buy, with a consensus price target of $30.82. That's more than 60% above the stock's present price. Clearly, they're seeing something most investors aren't, although it might be more accurate to say the analyst community is looking past all the noise that's distracting investors.

2. DraftKings

It's not exactly a secret why DraftKings (NASDAQ: DKNG) shares have been struggling since early last year. Already facing slowing growth due to its sheer size, the online sports-betting brand has seen new competition enter the market. Namely, prediction market platform Kalshi began tiptoeing onto its turf in January 2025, with Polymarket moving into the same arena by the end of the year. Investors understandably panicked.

Now that the dust has settled, though, it's becoming clear that these rivals aren't quite the threat to DraftKings they were first feared to be. Last quarter's revenue grew 17% year over year to $1.65 billion, creating scale that produced a much bigger improvement in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA).

Credit the brand name, mostly. While Polymarket and Kalshi may offer sports-based wagering, DraftKings is a long-established name that's well known among sports fans. This has allowed it to create team-specific partnerships like its recently unveiled affiliation with the St. Louis Blues hockey team, as well as partnerships with high-profile entertainment brands like NBCUniversal and ESPN. Although we've seen some, these aren't agreements that most such outfits are likely interested in making with Kalshi or Polymarket, as they don't bring their own sports-focused crowd to the table.

That being said, while it's unlikely that Polymarket and Kalshi will establish themselves as sports-wagering destinations (both platforms are facing fresh regulatory scrutiny, in fact), know that DraftKings has tiptoed into their turf by acquiring prediction market platform Railbird, launching a stand-alone prediction market mobile app in December. It's still building this business into what it will ultimately be, however, with key developments like the launch of a proprietary exchange and an upgrade to a super-app slated for later this year.

The market's somewhat starting to believe again, sending DraftKings shares up more than 30% from their late-March low. This only scratches the surface, however, of the ground that's been lost since the latter half of last year.

3. Rocket Lab

Finally, add Rocket Lab (NASDAQ: RKLB) to your list of growth stocks to buy right now, while shares are down almost 30% from last month's peak. That may be all the discount you're going to see here for a while.

Whether or not the Space Exploration Technologies IPO was positive or negative for Rocket Lab is up for debate. The high-profile public offering certainly put the entire space-launch industry on investors' radars. But it also fomented the idea that SpaceX, which the company is commonly called, is in a position to dominate the business.

On balance, however, it's more of a win than not for Rocket Lab simply because it highlights the sheer scope of the orbital launch business, which has plenty of room for other players to thrive. SpaceX's IPO prospectus indicates that the space industry itself will eventually be worth $370 billion per year. Although SpaceX will certainly be winning a large portion of this market, it's not necessarily competing head-to-head with Rocket Lab.

See, SpaceX's launch focus has been and remains putting the heaviest of payloads into orbit (its biggest rocket is called "Falcon Heavy"). Rocket Lab is best known for its smaller -- and reusable -- Electron rocket capable of putting 660 pounds' worth of payload into low-Earth orbit. It's also successfully developed a medium-lift rocket called Neutron that can ferry more than 28,000 pounds' worth of equipment into orbit, and is testing this launch vehicle right now. These two launch options are not only affordable, but in many cases just more practical for organizations that only need to put a relatively small satellite into space. It matters because, according to an outlook from Global Market Insights, medium lift launches will account for more than half of the future launch market, as will low-Earth-orbit launches.

Also bear in mind that while Rocket Lab's smaller rockets are impressive, most of its revenue comes from providing the technology found within satellites. This may be the much bigger and more predictable business.

James Brumley has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Chewy and Rocket Lab. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.