3 Super Growth Stocks to Buy Hand Over Fist If the Stock Market Crashes

Is a market crash imminent? No one knows for sure, but on the day that I'm writing this, the S&P 500 has pulled back by more than 4% -- a big move. Will that continue? We can't know. A pullback of some sort, potentially triggering a recession for a while, is likely at some point, though, because crashes and corrections simply happen every few years or so -- and several indicators are pointing to a crash.

You shouldn't keep any short-term money (funds you expect to need within the coming five, if not 10, years) in stocks, and if you're following that guideline, you should plan to just ride out any downturns. Better still, downturns present great buying opportunities. Here are some growth stocks to consider buying the next time the market corrects.

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1. Eli Lilly

Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY), home to popular GLP-1 weight-loss drugs such as Mounjaro and Zepbound, has been a blockbuster performer, averaging annual stock price gains of nearly 40% over the past five years. (It's up some 57% over the past year, too, as of early November.) It's no surprise, then, that the stock seems somewhat overvalued, with a recent price-to-sales (P/S) ratio of 14.7, above the five-year average of 13.3.

You could invest in it now if you plan to hold for many years, but buying after a market pullback will get you in at a lower price and boost your eventual gains.

The company is performing quite well lately, posting a 39% year-over-year increase in revenue for its third quarter while management upped its projections for the full year. It's true that its pricing has gone down a bit, but that was more than made up for by increased volume. Lilly also faces competition, but it remains a major player in the GLP-1 world and is expanding there, too, such as via its oral drug Foundayo.

Of course, Lilly is not solely a GLP-1 specialist. It's also home to Kisunla for Alzheimer's disease, Ebglyss for eczema, and cancer drug Jaypirca, among other medications.

2. Micron Technology

Micron Technology (NASDAQ: MU) is a major semiconductor company specializing in memory and storage chips. It's been posting boffo gains lately, as it supplies memory chips used in artificial intelligence (AI) processing, and AI has been growing briskly. Micron's shares have averaged annual gains of 47% over the past decade, much of that due to outsize gains in recent years. Over the past year, for example, shares are up 265%!

Should you invest in Micron? It's certainly tempting, especially for long-term investors. The shares are even down some 26% over the past month (as of early November). That's due in large part to competition from Chinese company CXMT, as well as worries that the AI and data center build-out might take a breather. But such worries may be overblown, with rival chipmaker SK Hynix seeing a memory shortage persisting through 2030.

Meanwhile, Micron shares seem reasonably valued or a bit undervalued at recent levels, with a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 5, below the five-year average of 11. If you hold out for a market pullback (which may happen this year but could happen later), you'll be getting in at an even more attractive point.

3. Nvidia

Then there's Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA), the semiconductor titan with a recent market value of $4.4 trillion. It actually seems attractively valued right now, with a recent forward P/E ratio of 13, well below the five-year average of 33. So you might buy into it now if you like what you see after further research.

Shares have averaged annual gains of 52% over the past 15 years, and 65% over the past three years. Growth is likely to continue, though possibly at somewhat slower rates. Nvidia is the biggest supplier for AI model training and inference, and it's expanding its scope to include software, networking, and services.

The company will be reporting its third-quarter results on Nov. 17, and Nvidia has guided for revenue to more than double year over year. If it outperforms, shares could get a nice boost, and if it doesn't, well, arguably, its shares are already down in expectation of that.

Take a closer look at any of these stocks that interest you, and as long as you plan to hold for years, you might buy some shares sooner rather than later. Otherwise, add them to your watch list.

Selena Maranjian has positions in Micron Technology, Nvidia, and SK Hynix. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Eli Lilly, Micron Technology, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.