2 Growth Stocks with All-Star Potential and 1 Facing Headwinds

Growth is oxygen. But when it evaporates, the consequences can be severe - ask anyone who bought Cisco in the Dot-Com Bubble or newer investors who lived through the 2020 to 2022 COVID cycle.

Luckily for you, our job at StockStory is to help you avoid short-term fads by pointing you toward high-quality businesses that can generate sustainable long-term growth. On that note, here are two growth stocks where the best is yet to come and one climbing an uphill battle.

One Growth Stock to Sell:

Appian (APPN)

One-Year Revenue Growth: +16%

Powering billions of transactions daily since its founding in 1999, Appian (NASDAQ:APPN) provides a low-code platform that helps businesses automate complex processes and operationalize artificial intelligence without extensive programming knowledge.

Why Are We Cautious About APPN?

1. Annual revenue growth of 14.6% over the last two years was below our standards for the software sector
2. Competitive market means the company must spend more on sales and marketing to stand out even if the return on investment is low
3. Free cash flow margin is forecasted to shrink by 6 percentage points in the coming year, suggesting the company will consume more capital to keep up with its competitors

Appian’s stock price of $26.85 implies a valuation ratio of 2.7x forward price-to-sales. Read our free research report to see why you should think twice about including APPN in your portfolio.

Two Growth Stocks to Buy:

JFrog (FROG)

One-Year Revenue Growth: +22.7%

Named after the amphibian that continuously evolves from egg to tadpole to adult, JFrog (NASDAQ:FROG) provides a platform that helps organizations securely create, store, manage, and distribute software packages across any system.

Why Is FROG a Top Pick?

1. Average billings growth of 22.9% over the last year enhances its liquidity and shows there is steady demand for its products
2. Software platform has product-market fit given the rapid recovery of its customer acquisition costs
3. Robust free cash flow margin of 28% gives it many options for capital deployment

At $55.62 per share, JFrog trades at 10.9x forward price-to-sales. Is now a good time to buy? Find out in our full research report, it’s free.

Lam Research (LRCX)

One-Year Revenue Growth: +26.8%

Founded in 1980 by David Lam, the man who pioneered semiconductor etching technology, Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) is one of the leading providers of wafer fabrication equipment used to make semiconductors.

Why Will LRCX Outperform?

1. Market share has increased this cycle as its 19.8% annual revenue growth over the last two years was exceptional
2. Healthy operating margin of 31.9% shows it’s a well-run company with efficient processes, and it turbocharged its profits by achieving some fixed cost leverage
3. Industry-leading 64.5% return on capital demonstrates management’s skill in finding high-return investments

Lam Research is trading at $239.04 per share, or 38.2x forward P/E. Is now the right time to buy? See for yourself in our in-depth research report, it’s free.

High-Quality Stocks for All Market Conditions

The market’s up big this year - but there’s a catch. Just 4 stocks account for half the S&P 500’s entire gain. That kind of concentration makes investors nervous, and for good reason. While everyone piles into the same crowded names, smart investors are hunting quality where no one’s looking - and paying a fraction of the price. Check out the high-quality names we’ve flagged in our Top 5 Strong Momentum Stocks for this week. This is a curated list of our High Quality stocks that have generated a market-beating return of 244% over the last five years (as of June 30, 2025).

Stocks that made our list in 2020 include now familiar names such as Nvidia (+1,326% between June 2020 and June 2025) as well as under-the-radar businesses like the once-micro-cap company Tecnoglass (+1,754% five-year return). Find your next big winner with StockStory today.