Stock valuations are at nosebleed levels, generally speaking. There's also a lot of uncertainty with COVID-19, inflationary pressures, and more. It makes sense that many investors could be apprehensive about buying stocks. Even legendary investor Warren Buffett isn't buying many stocks these days.
However, there are still plenty of stocks that are smart long-term picks. Here are three growth stocks to buy right now without any hesitation.
1. Brookfield Renewable
Pretty much any time is a great time to buy shares of a leader in an unstoppable growth market. That's especially the case, though, when the stock is well below its year-to-date high. I think Brookfield Renewable (BEP -0.94%) (BEPC -0.94%) truly is a stock you can buy with no trepidation because it checks off all of these boxes.
Actually, there are two stocks to choose from -- Brookfield Renewable Partners (BEP) and Brookfield Renewable Corporation (BEPC). The former is a limited partnership (LP). The latter has a corporate structure that allows investors to avoid the tax hassles associated with LPs. Both, though, have the same underlying business.
Brookfield Renewable ranks as a global leader in renewable energy. The company operates close to 6,000 generating facilities that combined produce 20 gigawatts of power. It plans to dramatically expand its total capacity with a development pipeline of more than 31 gigawatts.
Most major economic powers plus many large corporations have committed to slashing carbon emissions over the next three decades. Roughly 75% of these emissions come from energy and power generation. That means demand for renewable energy must increase significantly for the carbon reduction goals to be achieved. Brookfield Renewable, therefore, has a clear path to growth for years to come.
2. Fiverr
The core arguments for buying Brookfield Renewable also apply to Fiverr (FVRR -1.80%). Both stocks are well off their highs. Like Brookfield Renewable, Fiverr is a leader in an unstoppable growth market.
That market, in this case, is freelancing. Fiverr's platform connects freelancers with businesses needing digital services. These services include accounting, copywriting, graphic design, programming, and a lot more. If it can be done digitally, there's a potential market for it on Fiverr.
The company's secret sauce is that it removes the friction in the freelancing process. Buyers of digital services get transparency with a predefined price and scope of work. Freelancers don't have to bid for jobs or negotiate.
Fiverr's valuation could give some investors pause. Its shares trade at a staggering 1,670 times expected earnings. While the stock might look absurdly overvalued, though, it really isn't. Fiverr is targeting an annual addressable U.S. market of $115 billion, but its market cap is only around $7 billion. Work dynamics are changing rapidly -- and Fiverr is well-positioned to lead the way.
3. Innovative Industrial Properties
Often the best stocks to buy are those that have simple business models with growth attainable by doing more of what has already been done. Innovative Industrial Properties (IIPR 0.51%) stands out as a great example, in my view.
IIP is a real estate investment trust (REIT) that focuses on the regulated U.S. cannabis industry. Its share price has skyrocketed close to 1,250% over the last five years. This growth was achieved by IIP buying properties from cannabis operators and leasing those properties back to the operators.
The company currently owns 76 properties in 19 states. All of these properties are fully leased out with a weighted-average remaining lease term of nearly 17 years. IIP uses this steady cash flow to invest in buying additional properties. I like to call this a "rinse-and-repeat" type of business.
Whatever your view about legalized cannabis, it's almost assuredly here to stay. And the industry is also likely to grow even more. Many state cannabis markets are only in their early stages. More states could legalize cannabis in the not-too-distant future. Investing in IIP is a great way to profit from this growth.