The Nasdaq 100 (^NDX) is packed with high-growth companies, and while the market is competitive, some are pulling ahead. A handful of standout businesses are continuing to scale, delivering strong financials and market leadership.
Even among industry leaders, some companies shine bright, and we built StockStory to help you find them. That said, here are three Nasdaq 100 stocks that could lead the market.
AppLovin (APP)
Market Cap: $119.9 billion
Co-founded by Adam Foroughi, who was frustrated with not being able to find a good solution to market his own dating app, AppLovin (NASDAQ: APP) is both a mobile game studio and provider of marketing and monetization tools for mobile app developers.
Why Does APP Catch Our Eye?
- Fast payback periods on sales and marketing expenses allow the company to invest heavily and onboard many customers concurrently
- Healthy operating margin of 42.8% shows it’s a well-run company with efficient processes, and it turbocharged its profits by achieving some fixed cost leverage
- Impressive free cash flow profitability enables the company to fund new investments or reward investors with share buybacks/dividends
AppLovin’s stock price of $354.99 implies a valuation ratio of 20x forward price-to-sales. Is now the time to initiate a position? Find out in our full research report, it’s free.
Lululemon (LULU)
Market Cap: $37.34 billion
Originally serving yogis and hockey players, Lululemon (NASDAQ: LULU) is a designer, distributor, and retailer of athletic apparel for men and women.
Why Do We Love LULU?
- Brick-and-mortar locations are witnessing elevated demand as their same-store sales growth averaged 8.2% over the past two years
- Collection of products is difficult to replicate at scale and leads to a best-in-class gross margin of 58.8%
- LULU is a free cash flow machine with the flexibility to invest in growth initiatives or return capital to shareholders
Lululemon is trading at $311 per share, or 20.2x forward P/E. Is now a good time to buy? See for yourself in our comprehensive research report, it’s free.
Intuitive Surgical (ISRG)
Market Cap: $193.4 billion
Pioneering minimally invasive surgery since its first da Vinci system was FDA-cleared in 2000, Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ: ISRG) develops and manufactures robotic-assisted surgical systems that enable minimally invasive procedures across various medical specialties.
Why Is ISRG Interesting?
- Products are seeing elevated demand as its system placement averaged 11.8% growth over the past two years
- Sales outlook for the upcoming 12 months implies the business will stay on its desirable two-year growth trajectory
- Earnings growth has comfortably beaten the peer group average over the last five years as its EPS has compounded at 12.3% annually
At $540 per share, Intuitive Surgical trades at 64.3x forward P/E. Is now the right time to buy? Find out in our full research report, it’s free.
Stocks We Like Even More
Market indices reached historic highs following Donald Trump’s presidential victory in November 2024, but the outlook for 2025 is clouded by new trade policies that could impact business confidence and growth.
While this has caused many investors to adopt a "fearful" wait-and-see approach, we’re leaning into our best ideas that can grow regardless of the political or macroeconomic climate. Take advantage of Mr. Market by checking out our Top 5 Growth Stocks for this month. This is a curated list of our High Quality stocks that have generated a market-beating return of 183% over the last five years (as of March 31st 2025).
Stocks that made our list in 2020 include now familiar names such as Nvidia (+1,545% between March 2020 and March 2025) as well as under-the-radar businesses like the once-small-cap company Comfort Systems (+782% five-year return). Find your next big winner with StockStory today for free.
