After a year in which rising interest rates reminded markets that a dollar today outweighs a promise tomorrow, growth stocks suffered their deepest wounds since the financial crisis. Yet even as 2022 closed, analysts were already scanning the wreckage for companies whose long-term structural stories remained intact — identifying thirteen names, from electric vehicle infrastructure to cloud security to e-commerce, that they believed could double in value once the macroeconomic tide turned. It is an old rhythm in markets: the very moment of maximum discouragement is often where the next chapter
Analysts' Top Growth Picks for 2023 Include EV Chargers Despite Market Turmoil
Growth stocks became attractive again when the Fed paused raising rates
Mark
Why would analysts be bullish on growth stocks right now, when the whole category just had its worst year since the financial crisis?
Mimi
Because they're thinking about what comes next, not what just happened. The Fed has been raising rates aggressively, which punishes companies that don't make money today. But if inflation starts to cool and the Fed pauses or cuts, that entire calculus flips. Growth stocks become attractive again.
Mark
But that's a big if. What if the economy slides into recession?
Mimi
That's the real risk, and the analysts acknowledge it. JPMorgan specifically mentions that a weakening economy could dampen demand and delay the energy transition. But they're making a bet that even in a downturn, certain secular trends—like the shift to electric vehicles and cloud computing—keep moving forward.
Mark
So they're not saying these stocks will definitely double. They're saying they could, if conditions align.
Mimi
Exactly. And they're looking for companies with enough analyst support and enough structural tailwinds that the odds seem reasonable. ChargePoint and Plug Power lost half their value in 2022, so they're starting from a lower base. That makes the math easier.
Mark
Is there a pattern to which companies made the list?
Mimi
They tend to be in spaces where long-term trends are still intact—cloud computing, advertising, cybersecurity, transportation. The analysts are essentially saying: yes, 2022 was brutal, but the reasons we liked these companies haven't changed. The timing just got better.
Der Puls
- Growth stocks lost nearly a third of their value in 2022 as the Federal Reserve's rate hikes made future earnings feel like a distant and uncertain promise.
- Companies like ChargePoint, Plug Power, Uber, and Amazon shed between 40% and 50% of their market value, leaving investors to question whether the secular growth thesis had permanently broken down.
- Wall Street analysts pushed back, running a disciplined screen of the Russell 1000 Growth ETF to surface thirteen stocks with strong buy consensus, deep analyst coverage, and projected upside of 60% or more.
- EV charging networks ChargePoint and Plug Power lead the recovery candidates despite their steep 2022 losses, with JPMorgan citing durable structural momentum in clean transport even amid near-term economic softness.
- The entire recovery thesis rests on a single pivot point: whether the Federal Reserve will relent on rate hikes and whether the broader economy can avoid a hard landing in 2023.
After a year in which rising interest rates reminded markets that a dollar today outweighs a promise tomorrow, growth stocks suffered their deepest wounds since the financial crisis. Yet even as 2022 closed, analysts were already scanning the wreckage for companies whose long-term structural stories remained intact — identifying thirteen names, from electric vehicle infrastructure to cloud security to e-commerce, that they believed could double in value once the macroeconomic tide turned. It is an old rhythm in markets: the very moment of maximum discouragement is often where the next chapter quietly begins.
Growth stocks endured their worst year since 2008 in 2022, with the iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF falling 30% as the Federal Reserve raised interest rates to fight inflation. The logic was unforgiving: higher rates make today's profits more valuable than tomorrow's promises, and investors abandoned companies priced on the expectation of explosive future earnings.
Even so, Wall Street analysts were already looking past the wreckage. CNBC Pro screened the growth ETF for companies with market caps above $2 billion, buy ratings from at least 60% of covering analysts, projected upside of 60% or more, and a minimum of 15 analysts on the stock. Thirteen companies cleared the bar.
Among the most prominent were ChargePoint and Plug Power, two electric vehicle charging networks that had each lost more than half their value in 2022. Analysts remained broadly bullish on both, with consensus targets implying the stocks could double. JPMorgan named them top picks, acknowledging economic headwinds but maintaining that the structural case for clean transport remained intact.
Uber also made the list, with 80% of analysts rating it a buy and average price targets suggesting 90% upside. Despite a 40% decline in 2022, observers like Josh Brown of Ritholtz Wealth Management argued Uber was consolidating dominance in its space the way Google once did in search. Amazon, down nearly 50% on the year, rounded out the headline names — rated a buy by 75% of analysts, with Truist's Youssef Squali pointing to Prime, AWS, and a growing advertising business as durable advantages that short-term macro pain could not erase.
The remaining eight names — including CrowdStrike, Zscaler, SentinelOne, and Match Group — met the same rigorous criteria. Whether any of them would deliver depended on the same variable that had punished them all: the Federal Reserve's willingness to ease, and the economy's ability to absorb the damage already done.
Growth stocks got hammered in 2022. The iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF fell 30% for the year, marking its worst performance since 2008, when it dropped 39%. For the first time since 2016, growth stocks underperformed value stocks as the Federal Reserve and central banks worldwide raised interest rates to combat inflation. The logic was brutal and simple: when rates rise, money available today becomes more valuable than money promised tomorrow. Investors abandoned growth companies that had been priced on the assumption of explosive future earnings, and fled toward stocks that were already profitable right now.
Yet even as 2022 wound down, Wall Street analysts were already looking ahead. CNBC Pro conducted a systematic screen of the growth ETF, hunting for companies that met a specific set of conditions: a market capitalization of at least $2 billion, buy ratings from at least 60% of analysts covering the stock, projected upside of at least 60% based on average price targets, and a minimum of 15 analysts tracking the company. Thirteen stocks cleared the bar.
Two of them were electric vehicle charging networks. ChargePoint and Plug Power both appeared on the list despite having lost more than half their value in 2022. Analysts covering ChargePoint were more than three-quarters bullish on the stock, while nearly two-thirds of Plug Power's analyst base held buy ratings. The consensus view was that both companies could double or better over the next twelve months. JPMorgan, which named both as top picks for the year ahead, acknowledged the headwinds: a weakening economy could slow demand for charging infrastructure and delay the broader energy transition. But the bank's analysts believed the structural case remained intact. "We still anticipate significant growth and inflection points and/or initial adoption across clean transport sub-sectors," they wrote.
Uber Technologies also made the cut, with 80% of analysts rating it a buy and an average price target suggesting 90% upside from where the stock was trading. The ride-sharing company had fallen more than 40% in 2022, but Josh Brown, CEO of Ritholtz Wealth Management, saw something different. "It's becoming apparent Uber is becoming the one company that's going to dominate this space, similar to what Google eventually was able to do in search," he said.
Amazon rounded out the most prominent names on the list. The e-commerce and cloud computing giant was rated a buy by 75% of analysts, with average price targets implying 60% upside. Amazon shares had cratered 49% in 2022, on pace for the second-worst year in the company's history. Youssef Squali, an analyst at Truist, nonetheless named it a top pick for 2023. He framed the company's current struggles—macro headwinds, productivity losses from the pandemic—as temporary obstacles. What mattered more was Amazon's structural advantages: the Prime membership ecosystem, dominance in cloud services through AWS, and a rapidly expanding advertising business. "We view AMZN as best positioned to ride these multiple secular growth trends," Squali said.
The full list of thirteen also included AppLovin, Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical, Coherent, SentinelOne, Zscaler, CrowdStrike, Match Group, ZoomInfo Technologies, and RingCentral. All met the same rigorous criteria: enough analyst coverage, enough bullish sentiment, and enough projected upside to suggest that 2023 might finally be the year growth stocks caught a break. Whether that optimism would prove justified depended largely on whether the Federal Reserve would ease up on rate hikes and whether the broader economy could avoid a severe downturn. The analysts were betting it would.
Bemerkenswerte Zitate
It's becoming apparent Uber is becoming the one company that's going to dominate this space, similar to what Google eventually was able to do in search.— Josh Brown, CEO of Ritholtz Wealth Management
We still anticipate significant growth and inflection points and/or initial adoption across clean transport sub-sectors.— JPMorgan analysts on ChargePoint and Plug Power
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