Software has been one of the best industries to invest in. As Thoma Bravo states, the combination of high recurring revenues and profit margins makes it the best business in the world. The market recognizes this, and high-potential SaaS stocks always trade at a premium. However, there are attractive top SaaS stocks to buy that will likely continue their accelerated growth.
In an increasingly competitive and dynamic world, identifying potential winners is challenging. However, picking stocks in specific industries with secular tailwinds increases the odds of success. For instance, cybersecurity is a strong candidate as Chief Technology Officers (CTOs) continue to boost their cyber defenses. According to McKinsey, a $2 trillion addressable market in cyber security exists.
Another sector winner could be players in the gig economy. Ride-hailing and food delivery have become ubiquitous in today’s economy. While mobility applications had a massive setback from the Covid-19 lockdowns, demand has roared back.
In this article, I focus on industries with substantial growth runways due to secular tailwinds. Then, select the likely stock winners. Buy these SaaS stocks to participate in the massive growth opportunities in mobility and delivery, cloud, and cybersecurity.
Uber Technologies (UBER)
Since Dara Khosrowshahi became CEO in August 2017, Uber Technologies (NYSE:UBER) has had a remarkable turnaround. Before that, the company was plagued by scandals and operating missteps. Due to these challenges, operating losses widened to $8.5 billion in 2019.
Slowly but surely, the tide is now turning. The scandal-plagued firm has repaired its reputation. And after several years of shedding non-core operations, Uber has become a more focused business.
Operating losses are fading in the rearview. Now the company is accelerating toward its goal of reaching GAAP net income. Considering the execution challenges at Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT), Uber’s operating performance improvements are admirable.
While mobility is the core business, it has grown into the food delivery business, with Uber Eats dominating the category. In Q1 2023, delivery accounted for 35% of total revenues, growing 23% year-over-year (YOY). At the same time, the mobility business grew an astounding 72%.
Its new business lines make Uber stock one of the top SaaS stocks to buy. Recently, the company has been expanding into freight and advertising. For now, these segments represent under 20% of revenues. TipRanks analysts are bullish and expect these segments to fuel Uber’s growth in the coming years.
Advertising grew 70% to 345,000 businesses in Q1 2023. Meanwhile, freight represents a massive growth opportunity. Despite the current headwinds due to an oversupplied market, there is a long growth runway as Uber Freight disrupts the analog freight business.
Okta (OKTA)
Okta (NASDAQ:OKTA) is a cybersecurity stock that provides identity access management solutions. After the recent earnings, the stock slumped 9.65%. J.P. Morgan downgraded the stock to “neutral,” citing decelerating customer growth and macro pressures. Indeed, customer growth decelerated 14% YOY. What’s more, management noted that logo growth was negatively impacted by slowing SMB and enterprise spending.
However, the recent weakness presents a rare opportunity to buy one of the best high-potential SaaS stocks. It is one of the top SaaS stocks to buy as a play on increased cyber security investments. According to Gartner, Okta is a leader in the cloud access management market. And organizations will continue to lean on their user management and authentication solutions.
Moreover, while Q1 fiscal year 2024 results fell short of expectations, growth remained solid. Revenues grew 25% YOY, and average revenue per customer increased 9%. Meanwhile, dollar-based net retention was a solid 117%.
In terms of valuation, the company expects FY2024 total revenues of $2.175 billion to $2.185 billion. Thus, it trades at a forward price-to-sales (P/S) of 5.8. Besides, the revenue guide represents a healthy growth rate of 17% to 18% growth.
Okta stock is reasonably priced, and it is introducing new products to strengthen its identity cloud offerings. In 2022, it launched Okta’s Identity Governance to streamline compliance processes. OIG is already gaining traction, with hundreds of organizations purchasing the product over the last six months.
Moreover, the company has numerous new products and others in beta testing—for instance, advanced phishing resistance and Okta Privileged Access. With expanding partnerships and integrations, the growth outlook for Okta is rosy. Organizations need Okta’s workforce and customer identity solutions covering access management, governance, and privileged access. And it has a unified solution to serve the market and deliver profitable growth.
HubSpot (HUBS)
Few stocks in the software application industry can boast the growth record HubSpot (NYSE:HUBS) has had. Over the last five years, annual sales growth has been over 30%. The firm is mature and already has a $25 billion market capitalization. However, it’s still a growth engine expected to grow earnings by over 30% each of the next five years.
HubSpot offers a customer relationship management cloud solution for sales, marketing, and operations. The CRM market is highly competitive due to the larger peer Salesforce (NYSE:CRM). However, HubSpot has managed to differentiate itself and grow successfully.
First, the firm operates in the midmarket category targeting small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). Secondly, instead of outbound marketing, the firm focuses on inbound marketing.
As Q1 FY2023 results showed, the company is executing its strategy. Revenue rose 27% YOY to $501.6 million. Additionally, customers grew 23% in the quarter. CEO Yamini Rangan stated, “Our results show that our product innovation is in high gear and that our bi-modal go-to-market strategy is working.
Going forward, there are reasons for optimism on the stock. The company has a best-in-breed CRM solution, which could drive revenue growth by expanding upmarket. Although the company has previously focused on SMBs, pursuing larger enterprises represents a huge opportunity.
HUBS stock has a forward P/E of 85, but it is one of the top SaaS stocks to buy now. Morgan Stanley’s Elizabeth Porter expects the stock to grow sales at a 23% compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) over the next few years. And According to Finviz, it will grow EPS at a 39% yearly rate for the next five years.
On the date of publication, Charles Munyi did not have (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.
