Traditionally, the issue with high-quality growth stocks is that investors have had to pay high valuation multiples and take on big risks. But that might have changed recently.
Shares in a number of outstanding businesses are unusually cheap right now. And I think that’s a sign there are some unusually good opportunities for investors to take note of here.
Valuation multiples
The stock market usually has a good sense of which companies are likely to grow in future – especially in the most plausible cases. And share prices often reflect high expectations.
There’s nothing intrinsically wrong with buying a stock at a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 40, or even higher. But investors need to be aware of what they’re doing.
At that multiple, a company is going to have to grow a lot in order to return enough cash to investors to justify its current valuation. And that’s likely to take some time.
Buying growth stocks at high multiples and waiting has worked out very well for investors in a number of cases. But it’s even better to buy them when they’re trading at lower valuations.
RELX
A good example from the FTSE 100 right now is RELX (LSE:REL). Based on earnings expectations for 2026, the stock trades at a P/E ratio of just over 16.
Based on trailing earnings, the stock hasn’t traded at that multiple in the last decade. So anyone thinking of buying the stock right now might only have to wait until it looks incredibly cheap.
There are, of course, risks. The big concern right now is that artificial intelligence (AI) might render its searchable legal data obsolete – or at least inhibit its ability to charge subscription fees for it.
That’s a real risk, but a lot of RELX’s data is proprietary and can’t be found elsewhere. And a solid recent update means the stock might be worth considering at today’s unusually low multiples.
Roper Technologies
RELX shares look cheap, but the stock at the top of my buy list right now is Roper Technologies (NASDAQ:ROP). It’s a collection of software businesses that focus on specific industries.
As with RELX, the big concern with Roper is that AI is going to reduce the value of its software products. That’s impossible to ignore, especially in Aderant – its legal software subsidiary.
The company, however, thinks AI could in fact give it a boost. By launching its own AI products, it’s hoping to deter companies from incurring the high costs associated with switching.
This could be a good strategy and Roper operates across several different industries, which I see as a benefit. And at a forward P/E ratio of 13.6, it’s on offer at a historically low valuation multiple.
Minimising risks
When it comes to the stock market, there are never any certainties. But investors should still look to do as much as they can to limit their overall risk.
A big part of this involves thinking about what price they’re paying for shares. Higher multiples mean that future growth simply has to come through for an investment to work out.
With RELX and Roper, though, multiples have collapsed recently. And while I prefer the latter, I think this could be a really interesting time to take a serious look at either.
