3 Growth Stocks to Buy in January

Key Points

Growth stocks have the potential to outperform the stock market.
Are you ahead, or behind on retirement? SmartAsset’s free tool can match you with a financial advisor in minutes to help you answer that today. Each advisor has been carefully vetted, and must act in your best interests. Don’t waste another minute; learn more here.(Sponsor)

By Marc Guberti January 9, 2025

This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.

3 Growth Stocks to Buy in January — © denphumi / iStock via Getty Images

Buying growth stocks gives investors the potential to outperform popular benchmarks like the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite. These stocks exhibit compelling revenue growth and have opportunities to gain market share in the future.

While some corporations classified as growth stocks are unprofitable, you can find plenty of growth stocks that maintain double-digit revenue growth rates while expanding their profit margins.

Many growth stocks tend to be in the tech sector, but you don’t have to narrow your search to tech. These are some of the top growth stocks to buy in January.

Interactive Brokers (IBKR)

Interactive Brokers (NASDAQ:IBKR) is a brokerage firm that has more than doubled over the past year. Shares have almost quadrupled over the past five years and still offer a 0.52% yield.

More people are buying stocks, and that’s resulted in plenty of new activity for the firm. Interactive Brokers reported a 28% year-over-year increase in customer accounts. The firm now has 3.12 million accounts. Customer margin loans also increased by 28% year-over-year. Overall revenue increased by 15.3% year-over-year, while net income was up by 10.2% year-over-year.

Interactive Brokers has been attracting customers from other brokerage firms due to their features and affordable prices. For instance, margin loan rates don’t get higher than 6.83% APR if you borrow against U.S. dollars. Meanwhile, Vanguard’s margin rates go as high as 12.75% APR. A $10,000 balance in an Interactive Brokers account qualifies for a lower margin rate than a $500,000 balance in a Vanguard account.

Just as some people work with one bank over another due to the interest rate, some people are flocking from old brokerage accounts to Interactive Brokers. That trend will likely continue if the stock market continues to rally.

FTAI Aviation (FTAI)

A Catapult Crewman Watches an F/A-18C Hornet Launch From the Nuclear Aircraft Carrier, USS Enterprise

FTAI Aviation (NASDAQ:FTAI) owns and maintains commercial jet engines. The asset allows investors to capitalize on plane shortages from Boeing (NYSE:BA) and Airbus (OTCMKTS:EADSY)

The firm reported $465.8 million in Q3 2024 revenue, which is a 60% year-over-year increase. Net income jumped by 109.4% year-over-year in the quarter, resulting in an 18.6% net profit margin. Shares have more than tripled over the past year and are up by roughly 900% over the past five years. The stock has a $16 billion market cap and offers a 0.75% yield.

Continued supply chain issues give Boeing and Airbus limited paths to obtaining the necessary parts for their new aircraft. FTAI Aviation helps to fill the void, much to the benefit of its investors. The company recently announced fiscal 2025 guidance, which projects an EBITDA of $1.1 billion to $1.15 billion. That’s a notable growth rate compared to the EBITDA of $232,030 reported in Q3 2024 ($928,120 annualized).

Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL)

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG, NASDAQ:GOOGL) has been a leader in online advertising for more than two decades. Google is the world’s most popular website, and YouTube is the second.

The tech stock has routinely outperformed the stock market. It’s up by 40% over the past year and has soared by 175% over the past five years. The tech giant’s main revenue engine is online ads, which resulted in 15% year-over-year revenue growth in Q3 2024. Net income increased by 34% year-over-year, resulting in a 29.8% net profit margin.

While ads are still the main revenue source, Alphabet has diversified its income streams. Google Cloud has become a resounding success, generating $11.4 billion in the third quarter. That’s a 35% year-over-year improvement, and artificial intelligence should lead to higher revenue growth in future quarters.

Alphabet also has Waymo as one of its subsidiaries. The company offers autonomous vehicles and is currently valued at $45 billion. Alphabet doesn’t reveal how much revenue Waymo generates, but it’s part of the tech conglomerate’s “Other Bets” category. Revenue from Other Bets grew by 30.6% year-over-year, although Waymo’s impact is currently unknown.

Investors don’t have to wait for Waymo to materialize. Alphabet already has the largest online ad network and a rapidly growing cloud platform. Those two catalysts are enough to bring the stock higher, but Alphabet can soar if “Other Bets” like Waymo or its quantum computing investments pay off.