The FTSE 100 is down almost 7% over the past month. Yet there are some early indications that the dust is starting to settle after a manic few weeks. The 90-day tariff pause and exemptions for certain products have provided some relief for investors around the world. Even though we might not be out of the woods yet, here are two growth shares that I think look attractive right now.
Primed for success
The first idea is Plus500 (LSE:PLUS). The FTSE stock has rallied by 51% over the past year. It has even managed to move higher over the past month despite the volatility. One key reason for this is that the whipsaw price action in different asset classes is good for business.
The trading and investing platform makes money in several ways. Yet the largest driver is making a small spread on each transaction placed by clients. So, the more trades that get placed, the more profitable Plus500 becomes. Typically, when there’s not much going on in the stock market, it’s bad for business as no one is really buying or selling. But last Wednesday (April 9), we saw approximately 30bn shares traded across US exchanges! This marks the highest single-day volume on record.
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I believe the huge interest in markets right now will translate into strong company results. Even though the dust might settle in the short term and dent its business, we still have several years ahead of President Trump, providing ample time for volatility to spike again.
One risk is that the sector is becoming increasingly competitive. FTSE 250 peers like IG Group and CMC Markets do basically the same thing. They are all focused on gaining market share from the others.
Resetting expectations
A second growth stock to consider is Raspberry Pi (LSE:RPI). Although its share price has tumbled 28% in the past month, it hasn’t been publicly listed for a year, but it’s currently still trading comfortably above the IPO price of 280p.
One reason the stock has fallen is that 2024 results released at the start of April didn’t meet investor expectations. Revenue for the year fell by 2% compared to 2023, with operating profit down 4%. Even though this might not seem terrible, it’s meant to be a growth stock and a darling of the UK tech space. People were looking for year-on-year gains, which wasn’t the case.
Despite this disappointment, as people calm down I think the dip will get bought. A total of 22 product launches happened in the year, and “given the planned product release schedule and mix of sales, gross profit per unit is expected to increase year-on-year.” The company laid the foundation in 2024 and it should see the financial benefit in 2025.
The results also spoke of a “number of promising direct discussions with major prospective OEM customers”. If a few of these can progress, I’d expect the share price to spike when updates get shared with the public.
Of course, the high bar of expectations means that if results aren’t brilliant, the risk going forward is a further share price fall. Yet I think the recent move reflects a reset, with the valuation more attractive now for investors to consider.
