3 Unparalleled Growth Stocks You'll Regret Not Buying During the Nasdaq Stock Correction

In a roughly three-week span, Wall Street has reminded investors that stocks can, indeed, go down just as easily as they can power higher.

Although the benchmark S&P 500 endured its ninth-largest single-session drop on Monday, March 10, the the growth stock-fueled Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQINDEX: ^IXIC) has headlined this pullback. The Nasdaq lost 728 points on Monday, which represents its third-biggest daily point decline since its launch in February 1971. Spanning 13 trading sessions, the Nasdaq Composite has pulled back by almost 13%.

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While fear and uncertainty are common emotions investors experience when stocks move rapidly lower, a stock market correction historically represents an ideal opportunity to put cash to work on Wall Street. With the Nasdaq Composite firmly in a correction and contending with outsized volatility, here are three unparalleled growth stocks you'll regret not buying on the dip.

Image source: Getty Images.

The Trade Desk

The first magnificent growth stock that's been beaten down during the Nasdaq correction but is begging to be bought by opportunistic long-term investors is cloud-based adtech giant The Trade Desk (NASDAQ: TTD). Shares of the company have plunged 57% since hitting an all-time high during the fourth quarter.

The Trade Desk has faced a bit of a double whammy. First and foremost, investors were less-than-thrilled with its fourth-quarter operating results and guidance for the March-ended quarter. Despite 22% sales growth during the fourth quarter, revenue was roughly $17 million lighter than anticipated.

The other concern for The Trade Desk is the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta's GDPNow forecast calling for a 2.4% contraction in U.S. gross domestic product during the first quarter. The advertising industry is highly cyclical and businesses aren't afraid to notably pull back on ad spending at the first hint of trouble. Even if the U.S. economy doesn't fall into a recession, the fear of economic turbulence is often enough to adversely impact ad spending.

While both of these headwinds are tangible and help explain why The Trade Desk stock has been stumbling, neither have altered the company's ideal positioning as a demand-side digital ad platform.

In particular, there's broad adoption of the company's Unified ID 2.0 (UID2) technology, which doesn't use third-party cookies but can target consumers with relevant messages. UID2 is expected to play a key role in helping to target larger audiences on connected TV (CTV). As consumers opt to cut the cord and stream their content, The Trade Desk's technology and demand-side ad platform will become ever-more-relevant.

Additionally, The Trade Desk benefits from the non-linearity of the economic cycle. Though downturns in the U.S. economy and ad spending are inevitable, there's a night-and-day difference between recessions and expansions. Whereas the average recession has lasted just 10 months since the end of World War II, the typical period of economic expansion has stuck around for roughly five years. Wagering on ad spending to increase over time -- especially ad spend on CTV and within the digital arena -- is a seemingly no-brainer bet.

The Trade Desk's valuation is attractive, as well. Losing 57% of its value has lowered its forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio to less than 28. Considering its sustained sales growth rate of around 20%, it's now a bargain.

Image source: Getty Images.

Alphabet

Among the "Magnificent Seven" stocks that have led the Nasdaq Composite decisively lower over the last three weeks, perhaps none stands out as a better value than Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL)(NASDAQ: GOOG). Alphabet is the parent of popular search engine Google, streaming platform YouTube, and cloud service Google Cloud, among other ventures.

Similar to The Trade Desk, Alphabet's stock is being weighed down by the prospect of a weaker U.S. economy. Inclusive of Google, YouTube, and Google Network, 75% of its $96.5 billion in fourth quarter sales trace back to advertising. If businesses become skittish about the U.S. or global economy, it could directly affect Alphabet's core revenue driver.

There's also concern about how the Trump administration will approach regulating big tech companies. The U.S. Department of Justice is calling for a breakup of Alphabet, which would see the company divest its leading search engine, Google.

Once again, while these headwinds are headline-grabbing for the moment, they aren't altering the company's aggregate long-term growth projections.

Alphabet's foundation continues to be its advertising platforms. Even with plenty of competition, Google has maintained an 89% to 93% monthly share of global internet search over the trailing decade. Lengthy periods of economic expansion suggest Google's ad-pricing power will be strong, more often than not.

But what's most exciting about Alphabet is its cloud service infrastructure platform, Google Cloud. Tech firm Canalys estimates Google Cloud has secured an 11% share of worldwide cloud-service spend, as of the fourth quarter. This is excellent news considering businesses are still in the very early stages of ramping up their cloud spending and incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) into the mix. Google Cloud is a significantly higher-margin segment that'll be a key cash-flow driver in the latter-half of the decade.

While the stock market is historically pricey, the recent dip in Alphabet's stock has lowered its forward P/E ratio to just 16. This represents a 28% discount to its average forward-year earnings multiple over the trailing half-decade.

Intuitive Surgical

The third unparalleled growth stock you'll regret not buying during the Nasdaq stock correction is robotic-assisted surgical systems developer Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ: ISRG). Shares of Intuitive Surgical have declined nearly 21% since the Nasdaq plunge kicked into high gear three weeks ago.

Valuation is likely the biggest catalyst that's weighed on the company's stock. Just three weeks ago, its trailing-12-month P/E ratio was around 90. When stock market corrections do occur, companies that trade at premium valuations tend to be among the hardest hit.

The other prevailing worry is President Donald Trump's implementation of tariffs. During the company's fourth-quarter conference call, Chief Financial Officer Jamie Samath noted, "A significant portion of our instruments are currently manufactured in Mexico." With the president placing a 25% tariff on select imports from Mexico, there's the potential for these tariffs to eat into Intuitive Surgical's margins, assuming the company chooses not to increase the price for its da Vinci surgical systems.

Not to sound like a broken record, but these headwinds are short-term in nature and don't offset the company's undeniable competitive advantages.

Intuitive Surgical holds the lion's share of the market when it comes to robotic-assisted surgical systems. The high cost of its da Vinci systems, coupled with the time needed to train surgeons to use these systems, means customers tend to stay with Intuitive Surgical for a long period.

What's arguably even more important for Intuitive Surgical is its revenue mix, which is becoming more margin-friendly over time. Two decades ago, the bulk of its revenue was generated from selling its high-priced, but costly to-build, da Vinci surgical systems. As time has passed, higher-margin channels, such as instruments sold with each procedure and system servicing, now account for most of the company's net sales.

Intuitive Surgical has an extensive runway to grow its market share in thoracic and soft tissue surgeries. With a rock-solid moat and strong pricing power in tow, it offers a sustainable 15% annual growth rate for as far as the eye can see.

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*Stock Advisor returns as of March 10, 2025

Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Sean Williams has positions in Alphabet. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Intuitive Surgical, and The Trade Desk. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.