When looking for the next big investment opportunities, I focus on industry leaders in fast-growing industries, using a few core screening rules to separate the wheat from the chaff. The primary guidelines are fairly simple but powerful: look for companies with market caps between $2 billion and $20 billion, and at least $100 million in annual revenue. These two filters alone help ensure the company is large enough to be serious, but small enough to have massive upside potential.
Additional (but optional) rules I often use include: U.S.-based companies (since historically most companies that went from small to mega-cap status were U.S.-listed), at least 20%+ annual revenue growth over the past five years, 10% or greater operating margins, and healthy gross margins — ideally 40%+ for tech and 20%+ for retail/consumer companies. For profitable companies, a PEG ratio below 2 (ideally under 1.5) indicates the growth is not being overpaid for. While these rules can be loosened a bit when considering high-growth moonshots or companies in transition, I generally find that adhering to them dramatically improves portfolio quality.
Core Watchlist of High-Growth Industry Leaders (2025 Candidates)
These firms are already strong players in fast-growing industries and represent what I call "tomorrow’s giants today":
CRWD – CrowdStrike (Cybersecurity)
MELI – MercadoLibre (Latin American ecommerce & fintech)
PANW – Palo Alto Networks (Enterprise security)
SMCI – Super Micro Computer (AI hardware)
PLTR – Palantir Technologies (Enterprise data and AI)
RXRX – Recursion Pharmaceuticals (AI drug discovery)
BEAM – Beam Therapeutics (Gene editing)
OLO – Olo Inc. (Restaurant ordering tech)
RDW – Redwire Corp (Space infrastructure)
GFS – GlobalFoundries (Semiconductor fabrication)
LSCC – Lattice Semiconductor (Low-power FPGAs)
VERI – Veritone (AI software, speculative)
SYM – AI robotics company
Other Tickers Worth Exploring
These companies hit many of the optional screening criteria or are closely aligned with high-growth sectors, even if they fall slightly outside the ideal PEG ratio or are slightly above/below the market cap or margin thresholds:
ETSY – Niche ecommerce
WING – Restaurant franchise model
U – Unity Software (Game engine & VR potential)
MRNA – Moderna (Biotech, post-COVID pivot)
CELH – Celsius Holdings (Energy drinks)
ROKU – Streaming ad infrastructure
TEM – (Growth stock; more research needed)
HIMS – Direct-to-consumer healthcare
SNAP – Social media platform
AFRM – Affirm (Buy-now-pay-later)
TWLO – Twilio (Communications infrastructure)
DOCU – DocuSign (E-signature leader)
RDDT – Reddit (User engagement potential)
ZS – Zscaler (Cloud security)
DDOG – Datadog (App observability)
ROOT – Tech-focused insurance; speculative
PINS – Pinterest (Possible ecommerce/AI angle)
UPWK – Upwork (Freelancer platform)
CPRX – Catalyst Pharmaceuticals (Niche therapies)
RMBS – Rambus (Chip licensing & margins)
CART – Instacart (Grocery delivery IPO)
MPWR – Monolithic Power Systems (Great fundamentals, high cap)
NVDA – Nvidia (Mega-cap AI leader; still potential for further 10x in 25 years.)
GRPN – It 'was' a household name but is largely irrelevent, revenue's are significant but declining; operating cashflow is positive; 90% gross margin but -0.15% operating margin. I can't completely rule it out forever, but it has significant issues; I'll simply leave it in the 'worth further research' category.
“Acorns” – Tiny Now, Massive Potential
These are small companies or very early-stage plays with moonshot potential but high risk. Think of these like tiny seeds that may or may not sprout into Amazons of tomorrow. These are not recommendations — just ideas for speculative research.