Analysts' favorite growth stocks for 2023 include two electric vehicle charging companies expected to double

Published Sun, Dec 25 20228:00 AM EST

It has been a year to forget for growth stocks. The iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF (IWF) has plunged 30% in 2022, on track for its biggest one-year loss since 2008, when it fell 39%. This also marks the first time since 2016 that growth has lagged value, comparing the growth ETF to the iShares Russell 1000 Value ETF (IWD) . Growth stocks are characterized by those that tend to trade on the expectation of strong earnings expansion over several years in the future, rather than here and now. Investors have shunned the group this year, as the Federal Reserve and central banks around the globe tighten monetary policy to fight inflation. This makes today's earnings more valuable and the promise of future profits less so. Despite this tough year, analysts expect big gains from some growth companies in 2023. To find them, CNBC Pro screened the IWF for stocks that met the following criteria: Market cap of at least $2 billion Buy ratings from 60% or more of analysts covering the stock Upside of at least 60% based on average price target A minimum of 15 analysts covering the stock Here are the names that made the cut. ChargePoint and Plug Power made the list, with analysts expecting both to more than double over the next 12 months. More than three-quarters of analysts covering ChargePoint rate it a buy, while Plug Power has buy ratings from nearly two-thirds of analysts covering it. Both stocks have suffered in 2022, each losing more than 50% of their market value. However, JPMorgan named them top picks for the new year, noting : "While a weakening macro could present new challenges, as demand could be dampened, potentially delaying energy transition efforts, we still anticipate significant growth and inflection points and/or initial adoption across clean transport sub-sectors." Uber Technologies also made the cut, with 80% of analysts rating it a buy. The average price target on the stock implies upside of more than 90%. Shares of the ride-sharing giant have dropped more than 40% in 2022, but Ritholtz Wealth Management CEO Josh Brown said last month he has high hopes for Uber. "It's becoming apparent Uber is becoming the one company that's going to dominate this space, similar to what Google eventually was able to do in search," Brown said . E-commerce and web services behemoth Amazon also made the list. Analysts on average see the stock going up more than 60% in the next year. Amazon is also rated a buy by 75% of analysts. Amazon shares are down more than 49% in 2022, on pace for their second-worst year on record. However, Truist analyst Youssef Squali named it a top pick for 2023. "While the company is facing macro headwinds and working to regain productivity losses from Covid … we view these challenges as temporary and see AMZN with the power of Prime, AWS leadership and [a] rapidly growing ad business as best positioned to ride these multiple secular growth trends in FY23/beyond," Squali said. Other stocks that made the list are: AppLovin, Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical, Coherent, SentinelOne, Zscaler, CrowdStrike, Match Group, ZoomInfo Technologies and RingCentral. — CNBC's Michael Bloom contributed reporting.