A the market returns it’s time to look for the best growth stocks to buy. 

successful investing strategy partially requires an ability to predict the future. After all, the best growth companies will emerge from trends taking root today. Investors who correctly identify the top growth stocks to buy for the next decade will be the same people who can accurately identify today’s trends. 

Taking advantage of that growth then is probably open to those who invest in a few key areas. Currently, AI has caught our collective attention.

It’s clear that AI will be a big part of the story of the coming decade. Things like blockchain technology, cryptocurrency, a shifting workplace, and new paradigms in healthcare also will have a place in the investing world. The best growth stocks to buy are in every sector.

Let’s look at leading publicly-traded firms set to benefit most from those trends and figure out the growth stocks to buy. 

Block (SQ)

Block (NYSE:SQ) sits at the forefront of a rapidly evolving financial environment that transacts value in new ways. Cash and credit are taking on reduced importance relative to apps and crypto. 

It’s a paradigm shift that relies on digitization that has heavily affected the way that people everywhere pay for everything. 

Block, formerly known as Square, is very much related to that both in the past and into tomorrow. 

The company made its name selling point of sale kiosks as Square and has transformed into a company positioning itself for the future. Square is still a major part of its business, accounting for $801 million of the firm’s $1.66 billion in Q4 revenues. 

But Cash App, its mobile transactions platform, now accounts for most of its sales with $848 million last quarter. 

Block launched Cash App back in 2015 proving that it can not only predict trends but also develop technology that addresses future needs. It could do it again or simply acquire firms with the technology it identifies as being the next big thing.

Beam Therapeutics (BEAM)

Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM) is firmly entrenched in a healthcare revolution that will dominate the near-term and beyond: CRISPR. CRISPR, or clustered regularly inter-spaced short palindromic repeats, are DNA sequences that can be edited using Cas9 enzymes to remove desired sections. 

The technology has been available for 10 years with commercial applications emerging. Beam Therapeutics is among leaders in the field which is seeing a pitched competition to commercialize therapeutics for sickle cell anemia and other blood disorders currently. 

Beam Therapeutics will become a very successful company if it is successful in bringing commercial CRISPR-based therapies to market before others. 

Whether it is first or not remains to be determined but its pipeline has as strong a shot as its competition currently. Beam Therapeutics is leveraging CRISPR technology to potentially cure cancer, glycogen disorders, and hepatitis as well. 

Any of these, if successful, will fundamentally change the course of the company for the better.

Microsoft (MSFT)

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) has been around since 1975 and has shown repeatedly that it responds to changing technology, markets, and opportunities. 

Its operating systems, software, and gaming systems are ubiquitous. It is a major force in cloud computing. And now it’s carving out a strong early position in the rapidly emerging arena of artificial intelligence. 

That’s because Microsoft has taken a big lead among big tech firms by investing $10 billion in OpenAI. OpenAI owns ChatGPT which has quickly become the story of 2023 with generative AI being a massive trend. 

Generative AI is a disruptive technology not without serious concerns. It clearly can make jobs in several sectors obsolete. Privacy concerns are a legitimate issue as well. 

Regardless, the potential to make life easier, increase efficiency and simply drive revenue mean that Microsoft has probably secured a big win with its investment. Microsoft will doubtlessly suffer ups and downs moving forward but it simply has too much strength in too many arenas to begin to bet against it long term.

Apple (AAPL)

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) stock is certain to remain highly relevant for the immediate term, simply because of the ubiquity of its products. The iPhone, in particular, is a cultural phenomenon as products go. 

IPhones took up the first 8 spots as the highest selling phones globally which was the first time any manufacturer captured 8 of the top 10 spots. 

IPhones accounted for $65.78 billion of revenue for Apple in Q4 alone. As incredible as that figure is, it was actually lower than the same period a year earlier during which $71.63 billion of iPhones were sold globally. 

I’d venture to guess that no one will overtake Apple this decade in cell phone sales and perhaps for the 2030s. 

Ultimately though, Apple will have to find other growth platforms if, like some pundits postulate, the company is to reach $1 trillion in revenue by 2030. 

The Apple car has long been rumored as one such possibility. Maybe it happens but I think Apple is too digital to focus there.

Jumia (JMIA)

Jumia (NYSE:JMIA) stock is one of the best bets for surefire growth that could create a powerful global force in eCommerce. 

That’s because Jumia is the current eCommerce champion of an African continent that is full of growth and potential. While most other regions stagnate, Africa’s population is expected to increase by 40% to 1.88 billion by 2035. 

That suggests that Africa will have ballooning economic output and consumption to accommodate its burgeoning population. 

That Jumia is Africa’s current eCommerce champion bodes very well for the chances of the stock. It receives approximately 23.3 million visits per month, more than twice the number of the second most visited African eCommerce firm. 

Jumia reported $221.9 million in 2022 revenues, up 24.7% from 2021. The firm posted a $207 million loss but expects that loss to shrink to between $100 to $120 million in 2023. 

Despite the losses, the overall narrative remains positive as many growth firms face similar financial paths while approaching profitability.

Fiverr (FVRR)

Fiverr (NYSE:FVRR) benefits from continuing trends that suggest freelance work is only growing. That should make the stock stronger looking forward. In fact, 39% of Americans performed freelance work in the last 12 months. That represented 60 million Americans, an all-time high. 

There are a few clear trends that strongly suggest the trend will grow in the immediate term. For one, the economy looks to be on the precipice of recession. 

Job growth has started to decline and job losses will ensue if a recession does occur. Displaced workers will flock to Fiverr in an effort to make up for lost wages. 

Beyond simply paying bills, there’s also the idea that workers continue to reassess what they desire from their profession. If workers were already feeling disenfranchised by traditional employment, a recession will only turbocharge their discontent. 

It’s fair to assume AI will contribute to increased traffic on Fiverr as job titles are rendered obsolete and people pivot into new roles entirely as well. 

Fiverr’s revenues have grown rapidly, if sporadically since it became publicly traded several years ago but are trending up overall.

Novo Nordisk (NVO)

Novo Nordisk (NYSE:NVO) is one of the world’s most prominent pharmaceutical firms and its stock is increasingly relevant. 

The company develops therapeutics across a wide range of disease areas but its opportunity clearly lies in diabetes and obesity. 

Novo Nordisk has FDA approval to market its diabetes drug semaglutide under the trade name Wegovy as a weight loss therapeutic. They gave approval back in 2021 but Novo Nordisk didn’t secure its supply chain manufacturing and was slow to supply demand. 

Wegovy will compete with Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro which is currently seeking FDA approval. Both drugs could rack up blockbuster sales tallies over the coming years. The performance of Novo Nordisk still depends on its diabetes care business, which contributed to most sales in 2022.

As lifestyle diseases increase the company will continue to thrive simply because it is well positioned to sell to patients making it one of the best growth stocks to buy.

On the date of publication, Alex Sirois did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.