Although there is no hard-and-fast rule about what constitutes a blue-chip stock, they all tend to have certain qualities. They are large, financially stable companies that have been through numerous business and economic cycles that proved their worth in the end.
The upper echelon of the S&P 500 are the sort of stocks that comprise blue-chip stocks. Yet investors need to be careful because “blue-chip” doesn’t always mean the same thing to everyone. The T. Rowe Price Blue Chip Growth ETF (NYSEARCA:TCHP), for example, includes Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) that are easily recognizable blue-chip stocks. Yet the exchange-traded fund (ETF) also includes some head-scratchers like Carvana (NASDAQ:CVNA).
What follows are three blue-chip growth stocks that most investors would agree fit the definition and offer significant opportunities for substantial wealth creation.
Unveiling the Potential: Uber Technologies (UBER)
Although some might put Uber Technologies (NYSE:UBER) in the same category as Carvana, the ride-share leader is a solid, financially sound business that continues growing. Its brand is known globally and it’s name has become a verb for people wanting a ride somewhere, even when they are using competing services.
First-quarter revenue jumped 15% to $10.3 billion as gross bookings surged 20% to 37.6 billion. Adjusted EBITDA rocketed 82% higher for the period, hitting nearly $1.4 billion as Uber generated almost $1.4 billion in free cash flow.
Having expanded beyond just simple ride-hailing services, Uber Technologies now also delivers food, groceries, packages and even freight. It is also investing heavily into driverless vehicles and the nascent electric vehicle takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft industry. The self-driving car initiative would dramatically boost revenue and profits as the company would no longer need to split fares with drivers.
With Uber Technologies stock down 22% from recent highs and earnings expected to grow 47% annually for the next five years, the ride-share leader is a blue-chip growth stock with a bright future.
Powering Ahead: Marvell Technology (MRVL)
It doesn’t garner the kinds of headlines as Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) but chipmaker Marvell Technologies (NASDAQ:MRVL) is carving out a new path for itself in artificial intelligence (AI). Best known as a maker of semiconductors for the fiber optics industry, the chipmaker is applying its electro-optical expertise to develop AI chips for data centers.
Marvell is racking up wins with hyperscalers and recently announced its third hyperscale cloud customer for its custom chip business. Wall Street analysts think the chipmaker has already won over the likes of Amazon, Microsoft and Google as customers. It shows how Marvell’s pivot to new verticals like data center infrastructure provides a new foundation for long-term growth. The data center industry is positioned for significant expansion and Marvell Technology will be riding the wave higher.
Innovating the Future: Eli Lilly (LLY)
Drugmaker Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY) already caught its own wave of opportunity, as treatments for diabetes and obesity created a tsunami of epic proportions. Mounjaro and Zepbound use terzepatide as a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) agonist to treat the conditions. The response has been phenomenal.
Global Mounjaro sales more than tripled to $1.8 billion in the first quarter following U.S. approval, while Zepbound drew in $517 million in sales in its first full quarter after approval. The twin therapies helped Eli Lilly raise its 2024 guidance by $2 billion to a range of $42.4 billion to $43.6 billion.
The pharmaceutical stock also has a portfolio of existing treatments and a pipeline of drugs in clinical trials. Eli Lilly is also willing to buy what it needs to plug any holes. Last year it bought radiopharmaceutical company Point Biopharma for $1.4 billion and just announced it will invest $60 million into Atkis Oncology to gain access to its miniprotein platform to develop anticancer radiopharmaceuticals. Radiopharmaceuticals are a new class of cancer drugs containing radioactive isotopes to deliver radiation therapy directly to cancer cells.
Eli Lilly struck gold with Mounjaro and Zepbound but that’s not the only place the drugmaker is panning for riches.
On the date of publication, Rich Duprey did not hold (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
Rich Duprey has written about stocks and investing for the past 20 years. His articles have appeared on Nasdaq.com, The Motley Fool, and Yahoo! Finance, and he has been referenced by U.S. and international publications, including MarketWatch, Financial Times, Forbes, Fast Company, USA Today, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Cheddar News, The Boston Globe, L’Express, and numerous other news outlets.
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