Believe it or not, but we're not far away from being halfway through the year. Time flies when you're having fun -- and when you're not having fun, too.
The stock market could remain highly volatile for months to come. That doesn't mean you can't find great stocks to buy, though. Here are three top growth stocks to buy in the second half of 2025.
Image source: Getty Images.
1. Amazon
Could the Trump administration's tariffs hurt Amazon(NASDAQ: AMZN)? Sure. However, the more I've thought about it, the more confident I am that the company's business will hold up relatively well even if trade negotiations don't go well and steep tariffs remain in place.
Many customers buy online through Amazon because it's convenient and it offers low prices that they can't find elsewhere. Profitero has ranked the company as the lowest-cost online U.S. retailer for eight consecutive years. I suspect this streak will be extended in 2025.
Ritholz Wealth Management CEO and CNBC commentator Josh Brown thinks that the AI tailwind is more important for the stock market than tariffs. I don't know if he's right, but I believe that AI is a bigger factor for Amazon Web Services (AWS) than tariffs. As such, I expect AWS to continue driving profit growth for Amazon.
The best reason to buy Amazon stock in the second half of 2025 is that the company should grow robustly over the long term. Its e-commerce business still has plenty of room to run. AWS will almost certainly continue to be a juggernaut in the cloud services market. Amazon also has new growth opportunities, including its Project Kuiper satellite internet service.
2. Meta Platforms
Around 8.2 billion people live on planet Earth right now. Roughly 42% of them, 3.43 billion, use Meta Platforms' (NASDAQ: META) Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp applications daily on average. Do you think advertisers will continue spending big money to reach that audience? I do.
AI is helping recommend content for users on Meta's platforms. The more time they're on the company's apps, the more potential advertising revenue Meta can make. AI is also assisting with content creation. Meta expects AI-powered business messaging offers a tremendous opportunity on Messenger and WhatsApp.
Smart glasses could be the dark horse growth driver for the company. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg believes that a large percentage of the 1 billion-plus eyeglasses people wear throughout the world today will be AI glasses over the next five to 10 years.
Admittedly, Meta faces some risks. Tariffs could put pressure on advertising revenue. The company is also embroiled in an antitrust lawsuit related to its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp. However, I think the potential rewards investors stand to reap by buying Meta stock far outweigh the risks at this point.
3. Vertex Pharmaceuticals
Speaking of risks, many biotech stocks are exceptionally high-risk propositions. I don't think that's the case with Vertex Pharmaceuticals(NASDAQ: VRTX), though. It helps that the company commands a legal monopoly in treating the underlying genetic cause of cystic fibrosis (CF).
Vertex won U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for its newest CF drug, Alyftrek, in December 2024. This therapy offers a convenient once-daily dosing, while the company's top-selling product, Trikafta, requires twice-daily doses. Alyftrek helps reduce sweat chloride levels more effectively than Trikafta, too. As a bonus, the new drug has lower royalties than Vertex's other CF products, which means it should be more profitable.
As great as Alyftrek is, I don't think it's the most exciting new product for Vertex. That honor belongs to Journavx, in my opinion. The non-opioid pain drug should be a slam-dunk future blockbuster after winning FDA approval earlier this year.
Vertex hopes to file for regulatory approvals for zimislecel in treating severe type 1 diabetes and for povetacicept in treating IgA nephropathy, a serious kidney disease, in 2026. Another regulatory filing for inaxaplin in treating APOL1-mediated kidney disease could also be on the way in the not-too-distant future.
To be sure, Vertex isn't risk-free. The company has encountered pipeline setbacks in the past and could do so again. However, I predict this biotech stock will be a big winner over the long run.
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John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Randi Zuckerberg, a former director of market development and spokeswoman for Facebook and sister to Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Keith Speights has positions in Amazon, Meta Platforms, and Vertex Pharmaceuticals. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon, Meta Platforms, and Vertex Pharmaceuticals. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
