3 No-Brainer Growth Stocks to Buy With $100 Right Now

Key Points

• Growth stocks have led the stock market higher over the last three years.

• These three stocks still offer great value for the growth they're expected to produce.

• You can buy their shares with just $100.

• 10 stocks we like better than Block ›

The last three years have been nothing short of spectacular for stock investors. The S&P 500 has produced a cumulative total return of 87% since hitting its bear market low in October 2022. If you invested in growth stocks, your returns have been even better, with the S&P 500 Growth index more than doubling in that same period.

Growth stocks have been the driving force behind the gains in the index. But as growth stocks have climbed in price, it's left fewer options for investors looking for good value. And if you're just getting started or trying to invest your next $100, a good growth opportunity is hard to come by in this market.

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But looking past the biggest companies can still reveal many great opportunities to buy stocks in businesses with excellent growth prospects ahead of them. Here are three options all trading for prices below $100 per share.

Image source: Getty Images.

1. Block

Block (NYSE: XYZ) is the company behind Cash App and Square. The merchant side, Square, was the original growth driver for the company, but the momentum has shifted to its consumer app, Cash App.

That's not to say Square is struggling. Gross payment volume climbed 10% last quarter, and it's seeing even stronger demand in its international markets, which still represent a great growth opportunity for the business. It continues to see gross profit margin expand as it moves upmarket to larger merchants.

But Cash App could be an even bigger growth driver for Block going forward. That's why the stock fell hard after the segment's profit growth underperformed in the first quarter. But management quickly course corrected, with gross profit growth accelerating in the second quarter, and management's confident it can continue climbing in the current quarter.

Cash App's acceleration came as a result of improving monetization of its users by increasing the number of services used. That includes a slight bump in its Cash App Card monthly users and its newly released Cash App Borrow service.

But management sees a long-term opportunity to grow Cash App's user base by focusing on younger consumers. To that end, it's seen strong engagement among younger users, with users under the age of 25 exhibiting higher rates of paycheck deposits and Cash App Card usage. As those younger users increase their earning and spending power, Cash App could see strong gross profit growth.

With the stock trading around $75 per share at the time of this writing, investors are paying about 29 times forward earnings estimates. With accelerating profit growth, and long-term potential for user growth, that's a fair price to pay for the fintech company.

2. DraftKings

DraftKings (NASDAQ: DKNG) is one of the biggest sports betting companies in North America. The company has used its scale and technology platform to remain ahead of the competition in offering new products and scaling them. For example, it was one of the first U.S. sportsbooks offering live betting and in-game parlays.

As a result, DraftKings continues to grow despite a step up in competition. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) accelerated in the second quarter, climbing 37% year over year. That was helped by sportsbook-friendly outcomes, a reversion from the first quarter (when all four No. 1 seeds reached the Final Four in the NCAA Basketball Championship Tournament).

That success comes in the face of stepped up competition. ESPN launched its own sports betting brand in late 2023, not only adding a huge brand name to the competition, but removing a potential marketing partner at the same time. More recently, prediction markets using CFTC-authorized futures contracts have gained popularity as legal alternatives in states where sports betting is still illegal.

The latter represents a big threat to DraftKings, especially as the new tax code goes into effect next year. The new tax law limits gamblers to deducting just 90% of their losses against their winnings. Prediction markets, using financial vehicles, face no such limitations. DraftKings is exploring opportunities in the space, which could expand its product offerings.

In the meantime, the new tax code could reduce the number of professional gamblers on the platform, which could ultimately increase margins at the expense of a lower sportsbook handle. And if it continues to push its live-betting platform, it could offer betting opportunities unavailable on prediction markets.

With the stock trading around $48 per share, it sports an enterprise value to EBITDA ratio of about 29, based on the midpoint of management's 2025 outlook. For a company that's growing its EBITDA at a mid-30% rate, that's an excellent price for the stock, and you could pick up a couple of shares with your $100.

3. Roku

Roku (NASDAQ: ROKU) is the leading connected-TV platform in North America with a growing presence around the world. The company received a huge boost amid the pandemic in 2020 and 2021, with millions of customers flocking to its platform and using it to find entertainment. However, inflation, macroeconomic uncertainty, and more recently, tariffs, have weighed on its results since.

After the strong growth of its streaming platform in the early part of the decade, Roku became more willing to sell its devices at a loss. Device gross margin fell to negative 29% in the fourth quarter last year amid big holiday sales. Last quarter, Roku managed to sell its devices at cost, on average, but many expect tariffs will weigh on device gross margin going forward.

That's made up for in the booming growth of its platform. Platform gross margin remains in the low-50% range, even as it scales its advertising business and relies on third-party demand-side platforms to fill inventory. And with the platform business now six times the size of its device sales, the overall business is growing steadily more profitable.

In fact, management is pushing toward GAAP profitability with expectations for it to eke out a small profit for the full year. Profits could soar significantly over the coming years as it scales and manages significant operating leverage. If you look at its reported adjusted EBITDA, management said it grew the metric 79% year over year in the most recent quarter. That earnings growth is supported by continued improvements in platform sales, which is driven by higher viewer engagement and the secular shift of ad budgets from linear TV to streaming video. Those trends aren't changing, which provides a long runway of revenue growth for Roku's platform.

With the stock trading just below $100, the company has an enterprise value to EBITDA ratio of about 33, based on managements outlook for 2025. With the company exhibiting a ton of operating leverage and benefiting from secular trends in advertising, it's worth your $100 to add it to your portfolio.

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Adam Levy has positions in Roku. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Block and Roku. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.