Looking for the best FTSE 100 growth shares to buy? Here are two I think could rebound this year after a tough 2024, and are worth consideration.
Persimmon
Housebuilder Persimmon (LSE:PSN) started the New Year on the back foot. But it’s picking up momentum thanks to a stream of positive data from the housing market.
I think this could continue if a (likely) fall in interest rates ignites strong pent-up demand in the UK.
Fresh commentary today (20 January) from Rightmove affirmed the underlying strength of the housing market right now. It showed property prices up 1.7% in January, representing the biggest jump in prices at the start of the year since 2020.
For the full year, Rightmove predicts a 4% increase in property prices, and an increase in total sales, to 1.15m.
This follows a perky trading update from Persimmon itself last month. Then, the builder said that “customer enquiries and sales rates have been consistently ahead of the prior year since the spring selling season“. It also said forward sales were up 8% year on year, at £1.1bn.
The housebuilders aren’t completely out of the woods. There’s no guarantee that interest rates will drop, hampering an ongoing recovery in homebuyer affordability. Cost inflation is also a danger to these companies’ profits.
But on balance, I think Persimmon, for one, is in good shape to recovery strongly from this year on. City analysts agree with me, and are tipping earnings growth of 16% in 2025 and 20% in 2026.
I don’t think the FTSE firm’s low valuation reflects this bright outlook. Its price-to-earnings growth (PEG) ratio, at 0.8, sits below the benchmark of one that implies a stock is undervalued. This leaves further scope for a share price rebound, in my view.
Ashtead Group
Like Persimmon, Ashtead (LSE:AHT) is highly sensitive to interest rates and their impact on property markets. In fact, the impact has been worse than anticipated, with the business publishing another profit warning in December.
Back then it slashed its full-year sales growth target, to between 3% and 5%, from 5%-8% previously.
The rental equipment supplier also faces uncertainty as US President Trump flouts the idea of new trade tariffs that could cool the domestic economy. Ashtead makes almost nine-tenths of sales from the US.
Yet, as for the housebuilder, I believe things are generally looking up for Ashtead as central banks respond to falling inflation. It’s why City analysts are tipping earnings growth of 14% for both the financial years to April 2026 and 2027. A 5% drop is predicted for the current fiscal period.
There are also significant growth opportunities for the FTSE 100 company to exploit in the coming years. One of these is a substantial jump in the number of so-called mega infrastructure projects slated for the next few years.
Ashtead puts the total value of these at $974bn between financial 2025 and 2027. That’s up significantly from the $509bn between 2022 and 2024.
Through its ambitious expansion strategy, Ashtead is positioning itself to better take advantage of this upswing, too, as well as the eventual recovery in local construction markets. I expect its share price to rebound strongly over the next couple of years.
