Here, I’ll highlight three that might be worth considering for long-term investors.

Something Nu

First up is Nu Holdings (NYSE: NU). This is the largest digital bank in Latin America, which means it operates no costly physical branches.

The fast-growing fintech company (known as Nubank) added 4.5m customers in Q4 alone. This brought its total customer base to a whopping 114.2m, despite only operating in three countries (Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia).

Yet the share price has dipped 27% since November, leaving the stock looking very cheap on a price-to-earnings (P/E) basis. Right now, the forward-looking earnings multiple is around 20, dropping to just 15.5 by 2026.

Now, nearly all the company’s customers today are in Brazil. To be precise, 101.8m, or roughly 58% of Brazil’s adult population. Therefore, if Brazil suffered any political or economic problems, the company’s growth and earnings could take a hit. This is a risk.

Longer term though, I’m bullish on the growth story. As well as expanding into new geographies, Nu has launched various other services. These include NuPay, NuTravel, and a mobile phone service (NuCel). Clearly, it likes to stick with the Nu theme!

Offshore energy markets

Next up, I think Ashtead Technology (LSE: AT.) is worth considering. The AIM-listed company is a leading provider of subsea equipment rental and solutions, serving the global offshore energy sector. That includes both renewables (wind turbines) and oil and gas.

Ashtead Technology has fuelled its growth through multiple bolt-on acquisitions. This has seen revenue and profits grow strongly. The firm expects last year’s revenue to have grown 52% to around £168m, with full-year adjusted EBITA (earnings before interest, tax, and appreciation) ahead of the consensus for £46.6m.

A key risk here is a prolonged slump in global energy prices, which could reduce offshore exploration and production spending, impacting demand for Ashtead’s equipment.

However, the £420m-capitalised company is forecast to grow its revenue by 35% this year, with earnings growing strongly too. It puts the stock on a cheap-looking forward P/E ratio of 11.5.

Finally, it’s worth noting that the average analyst price target here is 831p — around 62% higher than the current share price of 511p. While there is no guarantee it will reach this target, it shows that the small-cap stock might be significantly undervalued.

A moonshot stock

Finally, I want to highlight Intuitive Machines (NASDAQ: LUNR), which is a lunar exploration and space infrastructure business.

Roughly a year ago, it became the first commercial company ever to put a lander on the moon. And it’s just successfully launched its second on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, with the lander expected to touch down on the moon on 6 March.

This is the riskiest stock because its mission or technology could fail, while it is also unprofitable. However, its revenue is expected to surge 188% to $229m this year, then 52% to $350m next year. It has won multiple contracts with NASA and could bag more.

Intuitive Machines has a small market cap of $2.5bn and zero debt. This gives the stock a reasonably cheap price-to-sales ratio of 3.5.

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That’s because founder Elon Musk is keeping the business private due to its underlying mission to colonise Mars and make humans a multi-planetary species. This isn’t going to happen in the next few quarters, making the mission-driven firm unsuitable to the shorter-term investing horizons on Wall Street.

Last year, SpaceX’s Falcon rockets made up more than half of the world’s 259 orbital launches. And recently, it tested its giant reusable rocket, Starship, for the seventh time. The second stage blew up, which highlights how challenging rocket science can be.

Still, its high-speed Starlink internet business now has nearly 7,000 satellites in its fast-growing constellation. The firm is aiming for 42,000, while boasting nearly 5m subscribers back on Earth. One of these is a friend of mine who recently installed a Starlink dish on his family’s camper van. It’s impressive stuff.

SpaceX’s valuation has ballooned to $350bn, making it the world’s most valuable private company. Investors can gain indirect exposure through Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust and Baillie Gifford US Growth Trust. Both now have SpaceX as their top holding.

Options to consider

According to McKinsey, the global space economy will be worth a massive $1.8trn by 2035, up from $630bn in 2023. How can investors grab a slice of this growing cosmic pie? There are a few options to consider.

One is Planet Labs, which is an Earth-imaging firm. There’s also Seraphim Space Investment Trust, a UK venture capital trust that invests in innovative start-ups that are leveraging space technology. Naturally, some of these young enterprises could fail.

Across the pond, there is space tourism firm Virgin Galactic, which was founded by Sir Richard Branson. This one is dicey as it’s currently building its next generation of spacecraft and generating no revenue. Looking ahead, it will have a hell of a job on its hands competing with SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin.

Another stock is Rocket Lab. In contrast to SpaceX, this firm specialises in small satellite launches. Rocket Lab is still loss-making, which adds risk, but it is growing rapidly. In 2024, revenue is forecast to have grown 77% year on year to $434m.

More risk-averse investors might consider established defence companies that have growing space businesses. Examples include BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin, and L3Harris Technologies.

An intriguing candidate

One fascinating space stock to consider that has appeared on my radar is Intuitive Machines (NASDAQ: LUNR). This is a company with a $2.8bn market cap that makes lunar exploration and landing vehicles for NASA.

The stock is up 560% in one year!

The event that put rocket boosters under the share price happened in February when Intuitive Machines became the first private company to successfully land a spacecraft on the Moon. This achievement convinced NASA to award it a mega-contract worth up to $4.8bn to build a communications system between Earth and the Moon.

It’s worth pointing out that this is currently another loss-making business, so arguably carries higher-than-average risk. But it’s growing fast, with revenue tipped to hit $497m in 2026, up 525% from 2023.

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