Growth stocks aren’t going anywhere. While markets might be trending lower, the major growth stocks that have outperformed in recent years continue to move fast. These growth stocks also take steps to ensure that they continue to grow and expand at a brisk clip. Many of the best-known growth stocks have major catalysts either in the works or looming on the horizon. Of course, technology continues to lead the way when it comes to growth stocks. Artificial intelligence (AI) remains the major driver of the sector. The Nasdaq index, which is chock-a-block with technology names, is up 27% this year. It is also well ahead of both the benchmark Standards and Practices S&P 500 and blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average.
Analysts remain bullish on tech and growth stocks despite equities softening in recent weeks. Once the United Sates Federal Reserve gives clear indications that it is done raising interest rates, technology growth stocks can be expected to explode higher. Investors should take positions now or risk missing the move upwards. Don’t miss the boom. Here are three growth stocks set to explode higher.
Amazon (AMZN)
Now that it appears to have its core e-commerce and cloud computing businesses back on track, Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) is moving aggressively into AI. The mega-cap technology company has just announced that it is investing up to $4 billion in AI start-up company Anthropic. Anthropic is a chief rival of OpenAI, the company behind the ChatGPT and GPT-4 chatbots. Amazon is taking a minority stake in Anthropic and said its cloud customers will be given access to new AI technology through its “Bedrock” business platform.
Going forward, Anthropic will use Amazon Web Services (AWS) to build, train and deploy AI software. Anthropic will also make AWS its primary cloud provider. Going forward, AI could be a big catalyst for Amazon, giving a boost to the company’s cloud computing offerings. While not as well known to the public as other AI firms, Anthropic was founded two years ago by former employees of OpenAI. It’s viewed as a major developer of cutting edge generative AI technologies. AMZN stock has risen 52% so far in 2023.
Alphabet (GOOG)
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG/NASDAQ:GOOGL), the parent company of Google, also continues to push hard into AI. AI remains a potentially massive catalyst for the search engine giant. Most recently, Alphabet announced an expanded version of its Bard chatbot that it says addresses many of the issues that have been experienced with its generative AI platform. Specifically, Alphabet is integrating Bard with Google’s full suite of tools, including YouTube and Google Drive, among other applications.
Going forward, the new version of Bard will help users complete a wider variety of tasks. This includes planning trips and drafting meeting notes. Other new features include the ability to communicate with Bard in different languages and new fact-checking capabilities. Alphabet says the new features are the biggest update to Bard since the chatbot first launched six months ago. Bard will now draw on information from Google’s other services, including Google Maps, Flights and Hotels.
Users can also link their Gmail, Docs and Google Drive to Bard so the tool can help them analyze and manage their information and data. Bard is also launching a “double check” feature that will allow users to evaluate the accuracy of its responses to various queries. GOOGL stock has gained 46% year to date.
Microsoft (MSFT)
Of course, Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) remains a major player in AI thanks to its $10 billion investment in OpenAI and the integration of ChatGPT and GPT-4 into its Bing search engine. However, Microsoft also has an additional catalyst brewing in its Xbox gaming division. It now looks as though Microsoft’s $68 billion acquisition of video game maker Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ:ATVI) is nearing final approval after regulators in the United Kingdom signaled that they are likely to approve the blockbuster deal.
In recent days, the United Kingdom’s Competition and Markets Authority has said that a newly restructured deal submitted by Microsoft satisfactorily addresses the concerns it had about the impact the Activision takeover could have on cloud gaming. The British regulator had blocked the acquisition but now seems ready to acquiesce after Microsoft agreed to sell the non-European streaming rights of some Activision video games to rival Ubisoft (EPA:UBI). The U.K. regulator is expected to officially approve the Activision takeover by October 6.
Once completed, Microsoft will own popular Activision Blizzard video game titles such as “Call of Duty” and “World of Warcraft,” and be able to use the company’s engineers and developers to create new exclusive video game franchises. This is expected to be a huge boost to Microsoft’s Xbox gaming division. MSFT stock is up 32% year to date.
On the date of publication, Joel Baglole held long positions in GOOGL and MSFT. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.