3 Fantastic (but Overlooked) Growth Stocks to Invest $1,000 in Right Now

Key Points

• Don’t let your lack of familiarity with Nu Holdings deter you. Where it does business, it’s doing great.

• The next chapter of artificial intelligence’s (AI) growth story is likely to be written by companies like C3.ai.

• Cybercrime is as rampant as it ever was. That’s eventually going to light a fire under Palo Alto’s stock.

• 10 stocks we like better than Palo Alto Networks ›

Got a little extra money you're ready to put to work, but don't want to own any more of the market's obvious picks, like Nvidia or Apple? You're not alone. And you're not crazy. Too many of the market's most popular stocks have turned into very crowded (and expensive) trades.

With that as the backdrop, here's a rundown of three great growth stocks that aren't on most investors' radars, but arguably should be in more investors' portfolios. If you have $1,000 that isn't needed for monthly bills or to pay down short-term debt, you might want to consider putting it to work by buying stocks in any (or all) of these growth stocks.

Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Learn More »

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1. Nu Holdings

If the name Nu Holdings (NYSE: NU) doesn't ring a bell, there's a reason. That is, it doesn't do business in the United States. Nu Holdings is the parent of online bank Nubank, which only serves consumers in Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia.

There's never been a more opportune time to set up shop in these markets, however, than right now.

Simply put, where North America's mobile phone -- and mobile broadband in particular -- business was about 20 years ago is where South America's is now. Market research outfit GSMA Intelligence predicts the number of different mobile subscribers in Latin America is set to grow from 456 million as of last year to 531 million by 2030, with the number of mobile internet users likely to swell from 413 million to 496 million during this same six-year stretch. In this vein, the proportion of these customers who own smartphones will likely grow from 81% to 93% during this time.

Much like their North American counterparts, these consumers are quickly embracing all the convenient choices that mobile broadband connectivity offers. Yes, this means e-commerce, but it also means mobile banking. To this end, Nu Holdings' customer head count has grown from 53.9 million as of the end of 2021 to over 107 million as of the end of June.

This still only scratches the surface of its opportunity, though. An outlook from Technavio suggests Latin America's banking-as-a-service industry is set to grow at an average pace of more than 19% at least through 2028. It's likely to grow firmly for far longer, though, driven by the fact that so many consumers in this region remain underbanked, if not outright unbanked. See, Nu is built from the ground up to serve these consumers via an app, many of whom primarily -- if not only -- access the worldwide web via their smartphone.

2. C3.ai

To date, Palantir Technologies has been investors' favorite artificial intelligence (AI) software stock. And understandably so. Not only is it the biggest name in the decision-making platform business, but in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, it won some high-profile contracts with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as well as with the Centers for Disease Control to help these agencies curb the spread of the contagion. That's a pretty big deal.

As the AI revolution continues to evolve, though, would-be users are realizing that hyperpowerful decision-making software like Palantir's Gotham, Apollo, or Foundry is overkill for the way most businesses actually want to utilize AI.

Enter C3.ai (NYSE: AI).

It's only a fraction of Palantir's size in terms of market cap as well as revenue. That's changing, though. Last fiscal year's top line of $389 million was up 25% year over year, and analysts expect similar growth this year and next.

The key to this growth is the way its solutions are packaged and sold. Rather than one all-encompassing platform that might be overwhelming to users, C3.ai offers over 130 unique enterprise-level apps, each with its own specific purpose. For instance, utility company Con Edison is using C3.ai's tech to manage its smart-meter infrastructure, while oilfield services outfit Baker Hughes relies on C3.ai to help it improve the efficiency and production of several of its locations.

This distinguishing detail matters simply because most businesses are interested in utilizing AI, yet have been slow to adopt it. As the Motley Fool's own in-house research arm points out, only about one out of every 10 U.S. companies currently uses AI. Why? It's just difficult to know where or even how to begin implementing it. But, this is changing to be sure. Precedence Research believes the worldwide decision-intelligence software market is poised to grow at an average rate of nearly 16% per year through 2034, assisted by easier-to-use tech like C3.ai's.

C3 is also likely to swing to a profit well before the end of that 10-year time frame, by the way, which of course could prove very catalytic for its stock.

3. Palo Alto Networks

Finally, add cybersecurity name Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ: PANW) to your list of fantastic but overlooked growth stocks to buy if you've got $1,000 (or any other amount) you're ready to deploy.

There's no denying that AI and electric vehicles have been the stock market's biggest stories for the past couple of years. Make no mistake, though. Computer hacking, cyberattacks, ransomware, identity theft, and digital fraud are still going strong. The Federal Bureau of Investigation reports collecting nearly 860,000 complaints of internet crime last year alone, costing its victims more than $16 billion. That's up 33% from 2023's figure. And those are just the incidents reported to the FBI. There are plenty of others -- at least attempted, if not successful -- you never hear about.

This is why Precedence Research believes the global cybersecurity industry is poised to grow from a little over $300 billion this year to almost $880 billion by 2034, with the advent of AI equipping cybercriminals at least as much as it does cybersecurity service providers.

There are several worthy stocks in this space, for the record, including Fortinet, Check Point, and CrowdStrike.

The biggest name in the business is also arguably the best investment, though. That's Palo Alto. This size means it's got a deeper existing penetration of the market itself, as well as the financial wherewithal to buy any technological solutions it needs to add to its portfolio of products. For instance, in July, the company announced plans to acquire identity security specialist CyberArk. The deal is a particularly important one at this time just because CyberArk's solutions can create secure connections with autonomous AI-powered customer service agents -- another one of artificial intelligence's current hot buttons.

Just don't tarry if you want in. Palo Alto Networks shares haven't made any net progress since their early 2024 peak. This window of opportunity may be closing, though. The bulls have been increasingly testing that high, with each quarterly earnings report showing the encouraging growth that investors are hoping to see. One of these reports is eventually going to trigger the stock, pushing it firmly toward analysts' consensus price target of nearly $215 per share. In this vein, the vast majority of the analyst community currently considers Palo Alto's stock a strong buy.

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James Brumley has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Apple, Check Point Software Technologies, CrowdStrike, Fortinet, Nvidia, and Palantir Technologies. The Motley Fool recommends C3.ai, Nu Holdings, and Palo Alto Networks. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.