In an appearance on CNBC on January 10, Josh Brown stated that, even if interest rates stay at their current levels, stocks can continue to go up. He noted that, in the past, equities have indeed climbed even as rates stay at their current levels. “In the 1990s, they were raising rates during a bull market ad guess what? Nothing fell out of the sky. It was OK,” he said.
I agree with Brown’s thesis. More specifically, I believe that, because stocks rose during the era of extremely low rates from 2009-2020 and they jumped again during the Fed’s Covid-era easy money policies. Many on the Street have erroneously adopted the idea that stocks can only climb when rates are extremely low and/or falling. But that idea was proven incorrect not only in the 1990s, but in 2023 as well.
Therefore, even if the Fed decides not to cut rates this year due to inflation staying north of 3%, I believe that many growth stocks will perform quite well due to the resilient U.S. economy. Here are three growth stocks that can surge tremendously in 2024 and beyond, eventually making many investors into millionaires, even if rates stay at their current levels in 2024. These millionaire-maker stocks also are leveraged to huge trends that should only accelerate going forward.
Super Micro (SMCI)
Super Micro (NASDAQ:SMCI) develops and markets servers that facilitate the deployment of artificial intelligence chips.
A recent note from Citi analysts rejuvenated the stock market’s enthusiasm for AI stocks, including SMCI. Specifically, the bank wrote that the outlook for “memory chipmakers” was positive due to the continued proliferation of AI.
Although Super Micro sells servers, not chips, it will also get a big boost from the growth of AI. Citi’s note appears to have caused the Street to internalize that idea, as SMCI stock had gained 19% in its previous five days of trading as of the afternoon of January 11. Also noteworthy is that the name has a maximum Relative Strength rating of 99, showing that investors have been extremely bullish about it in the last 12 months.
Despite the stock’s recent gains, it still has a rather low, attractive forward price-earnings ratio of 17.6. And analysts, on average, expect its earnings per share to jump to $17.28 this year from $11.81 in 2023.
Celsius Holdings (CELH)
Energy beverage maker Celsius Holdings (NASDAQ:CELH) continues to deliver extremely impressive growth. Specifically, its revenue soared 105% in the four-week period that ended on December 30, Nielsen reported.
Moreover, the company recently entered Canada and plans to expand to many more countries, including the UK, Germany and Australia, in the long term.
CELH has a distribution deal with Pepsi (NASDAQ:PEP), which also owns an 8.5% stake in CELH. I believe there’s a good chance that Pepsi will eventually acquire Celsius.
CELH has a high Relative Strength score of 94, showing that investors have been very bullish about the stock over the last year. Given its rapid growth and plans to expand to more markets overseas, CELH could become one of history’s millionaire maker stocks.
XP (XP)
On Dec. 5, JPMorgan upgraded Brazilian brokerage firm XP (NASDAQ:XP) to “overweight” from “neutral.” JPMorgan expects the company to benefit from a strong rebound of Brazilian stocks, along with reduced interest rates and a more “risk-on” approach when it comes to Brazilian equities.
Indeed, the country’s stock market jumped 22% in 2023. And with the market’s valuation historically low and its central bank cutting rates, Brazilian equities are likely to perform very well again this year.
Investor’s Business Daily gives XP an extremely high Composite Rating of 97, with an Accumulation/Distribution rating of B+ which suggests that large investors have been buying the stock at a fairly rapid pace in “the last 13 weeks.” The name’s Relative Strength score of 92 indicates that it has been very popular over the last year.
XP stock has a rather low forward price-earnings ratio of 13.8, while analysts, on average, expect its earnings per share to surge to $1.90 in 2024 from $1.52 in 2023.
Brazil’s economy has tremendous potential over the long term, so XP can indeed become one of the millionaire maker stocks in the future.
On the date of publication, Larry Ramer held a long position in SMCI. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.