The stock market has its ebbs and flows, but the long-term results look good. The S&P 500 has achieved an annualized return of 10.16% over the past 20 years. While investors look at statistics like that to justify long-term investing, it’s important to remember this lesson during economic contractions.

Along the way to 10.16% annualized returns, the index has endured many corrections and a few crashes. The Great Recession and the pandemic flash crash quickly come to mind. While the index has delivered impressive long-term returns, some growth stocks have delivered better returns in recent years. Some investors have made a lot of money by looking beyond the index. In fact, you can find great growth stocks by looking within benchmarks.

Many stocks within the S&P 500 have outperformed the index over the past few years. That’s by definition, since the S&P 500 has plenty of “dead money” stocks. Wondering which growth stocks look ready to deliver long-term returns? These are some of the promising opportunities to consider.

Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL)

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG, NASDAQ:GOOGL) is the leading online advertiser that continues to deliver solid revenue growth. The company reported 14% YoY revenue growth in Q2 2024. Cloud revenue was a highlight, growing by 29% YoY and representing more than 10% of Alphabet’s total revenue. That part of Alphabet’s business should continue to accelerate thanks to artificial intelligence.

Many people use Google and YouTube to find relevant information and for entertainment. Both search engines attract billions of monthly visitors. Net income jumped by 29% YoY, resulting in a 28% net profit margin. 

The recent financial success comes as Alphabet stock trades at a bargain. It only has a 24.5x P/E ratio despite demonstrating double-digit revenue and net income growth rates. Alphabet stock also has a 0.48% yield and will likely maintain a double-digit dividend growth rate for several years. Shares are up by 21% year-to-date and have gained 182% over the past five years.

Meta Platforms (META)

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) completes the advertising duopoly with its 3.27 billion daily active users. That’s a 7% YoY increase in total users. Meta Platforms has been a fan favorite among Wall Street analysts who ave rated it as a ‘Strong Buy‘ with a projected 13% upside. It’s no wonder shares are up by 41% year-to-date and have soared by 158% over the past five years. 

Financial growth continues to be a highlight for the company. Revenue increased by 22% YOY in the second quarter while net income jumped by 73% YOY. The end result was a 34.5% net profit margin. The company knows how to retain people’s attention on Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. It’s common to find people who spend hours of their time on the company’s social networks every day. 

Meta Platforms knows how to keep people on its social networks, and it’s been much to the delight of investors.

Duolingo (DUOL)

Have you ever wanted to learn a new language? While it’s a multi-year commitment to learn most languages, Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) makes it easier to complete the journey. The educational app offers verbal and written exercises that help people master new languages. 

Duolingo enjoys several tailwinds and strong financials that aren’t apparent based on the stock’s 24% year-to-date decline. Some investors are nervous about OpenAI uprooting Duolingo’s business model, but those concerns are unfounded at the moment.

While there’s plenty of chatter and uninspiring year-to-date returns, Duolingo’s financials are promising. The company reported 45% YoY revenue growth in the first quarter. That growth rate helped the company generate $167.6 million in sales. Net income came to $27.0 million compared to a $2.6 million net loss in the same quarter last year. 

Monthly active users grew by 35% YoY. The app should soon have 100 million monthly active users. Rising profit margins and strong demand for the app should result in long-term gains for patient investors.

Robinhood (HOOD)

Robinhood (NASDAQ:HOOD) continues to innovate in the financial industry. Robinhood Gold offers a suite of perks, such as a credit card with unlimited 3% cashback, 3% IRA matches and 1% deposit boosts. Gold subscription revenue contributed to a 35% YoY improvement in the company’s “Other revenues” segment, and that wasn’t the most exciting thing about Q1 2024 results.

Overall revenue increased by 40% YoY amid booming demand for transactions. Crypto transaction revenue saw a 232% YoY improvement while options revenue increased by 16% YoY. Transaction revenue from equities jumped by 44% YoY.  Robinhood generated an 18 cent diluted EPS in the quarter compared to a negative 57 cent diluted EPS in the same quarter last year. 

High growth rates and several financial products suggest that the company can continue to grow. More people are flocking to Robinhood, as the company added 1.1 million new investment accounts year-over-year. The fintech firm now has 24.4 million investment accounts. 

CommVault Systems (CVLT)

CommVault Systems (NASDAQ:CVLT) is a booming cloud security company that has logged a 78% year-to-date gain. The stock has more than tripled over the past five years but remains relatively unknown. CommVault Systems only has a 35.5x P/E ratio and a $6 billion market cap.

Revenue and net income growth both trended in the right direction in the latest quarter. Q1 FY25 revenue increased by 13% YoY while net income was up by 47% YoY. The company closed out the quarter with an 8.3% net profit margin. 

CommVault Systems has benefited from a recurring revenue model that continues to gain momentum. While overall revenue increased by 13% YoY, subscription revenue soared by 28% YOY in the quarter. Subscription revenue made up more than half of the company’s total revenue. Furthermore, the company generates $636 million in annual recurring revenue. This figure is up by 27% YoY. CommVault Systems even had enough cash available to initiate a $51.4 million stock buyback.

Chipotle (CMG)

Chipotle (NYSE:CMG) has delivered long-term returns that have outpaced many tech stocks. The Mexican Grill chain’s shares are up by 17% year-to-date and have more than tripled over the past five years. Rising revenue and net income have become two norms for the company, and it continued those trends in the second quarter. Revenue increased by 18.2% YoY to reach $3.0 billion while net income came in at $456 million, marking a 33% YoY improvement.

The fast food restaurant chain continued its expansion by opening an additional 52 company-operated restaurants and one international licensed restaurant. Chipotle remains on target to open 285-315 restaurants this year. 

While new locations continued to overall revenue growth, the company’s 11.1% YoY improvement in comparable restaurant sales indicates that Chipotle is becoming a mainstay in many locations. The restaurant chain’s healthier food options have given it more pricing power compared to other fast food restaurants.

Walmart (WMT)

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) can navigate various economic cycles. When people need to cut back on purchases, they can turn to Walmart. The company has been offering affordable products and services for more than 60 years. However, Walmart can also do well when the economic is strong. Investors only need to look at historical returns to test that theory. Shares are up by 29% year-to-date and have gained 88% over the past five yers.

Despite those gains, Walmart still has a respectable 1.21% yield. Furthermore, the stock trades at a 29x P/E ratio. As net income continues to grow, the P/E ratio will look more attractive. Growth has become an expectation among Walmart investors, as the retailer generated 6.0% YoY revenue growth in the first quarter of fiscal 2025.

Advertising and e-commerce sales were significant contributors. Those segments grew by 24% and 21% YoY respectively. Walmart’s overall business continues to grow, and that success translated into a $1.1 billion stock buyback during the quarter. Walmart still has a $9.4 billion cash position.

On this date of publication, Marc Guberti held long positions in GOOG and CVLT. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.

On the date of publication, the responsible editor did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article.