Key Points
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Upstart Holdings leverages artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance loan decision-making and improve credit risk assessment.
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SoFi Technologies has evolved from a student loan refinancing company into a comprehensive financial services platform.
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Interactive Brokers is an electronic broker focused on tech-savvy investors, offering a wide range of financial products.
Long-term investing is an excellent way to build lasting wealth. Growth stocks can offer investors a means to capitalize on rapidly growing companies and reap the rewards as these companies expand and prosper. If you’re searching for growth stocks to add to your portfolio, here are three to consider today.
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1. Upstart Holdings
Upstart Holdings (NASDAQ: UPST) is a lender that leverages the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the loan decision-making process. The company aims to more accurately gauge credit risk and make borrowing more inclusive — something it believes the traditional FICO scoring system (created by Fair Isaac) fails to do.
While Upstart’s lending model has shown promising results so far, one concern is that it is still in its early stages. Its credit model hasn’t faced a significant test (such as a deep recession) since it went public in 2020, although it has faced other challenges during this time.
The rising interest rate environment in 2022 and 2023 dampened demand from both consumers seeking loans and Upstart’s lending partners. As a result, loan origination volume, revenue, and earnings all declined, and Upstart management took measures to decrease costs and streamline operations.
Things have since improved for Upstart. For one, interest rates have stabilized. Second, the risk appetite has returned. Over the past couple of years, Upstart has attracted significant interest from partners willing to invest billions in its loans. Investors include Fortress Investment Group, which agreed to purchase up to $1.2 billion in loans through 2026, and Blue Owl, which has the option to purchase up to $2 billion in loans.
Upstart’s lending models continue to improve. According to management, Model 18, which launched in the third quarter of last year, was “one of the most impactful accuracy improvements in our history,” which “means more approved borrowers, higher origination volumes, stronger lender relationships, and better business outcomes.”
With its models improving and investor appetite for its loans picking up, investors may want to consider buying Upstart today.
2. SoFi Technologies
SoFi‘s (NASDAQ: SOFI) transition over the past decade has been remarkable. After starting as a company that helped people refinance their student loans, SoFi has evolved into a comprehensive financial services platform, offering customers a range of services, including banking, investing, insurance, and loans.
One advantage SoFi has is that it offers banking-as-a-service, which enables fintech companies to create, launch, and run digital financial products without being a bank. With investments in its technology stack, including Galileo and Technisys, SoFi aims to be the “Amazon Web Services of finance” by providing essential back-end services and a cloud-native digital and core banking platform. In the first quarter, SoFi’s Technology Platform served over 158 million accounts and processed over $8 billion in annualized transactions.
SoFi’s deposit base has grown at a very impressive pace from $7.3 billion in 2022 to over $27 billion in the 2025 first quarter. SoFi’s ability to utilize deposits to fund loans generally results in a lower cost of funds compared to other financing methods, such as warehouse and securitization financing. This shift toward deposit funding has reduced SoFi’s funding expense by an estimated $515 million per year.
SoFi has made significant moves in recent years to diversify its revenue and establish itself as a complete financial services company. The company continues to deliver positive quarters and experiences strong demand for personal loans from its lending partners.
3. Interactive Brokers
Interactive Brokers (NASDAQ: IBKR) is an electronic broker offering a trading platform with a strong focus on serving tech-savvy investors. The company offers a wide range of products on its platform, including stocks, options, futures, currencies, bonds, mutual funds, ETFs, event contracts, and cryptocurrencies.
The company uses its highly automated platform to be one of the lowest-cost broker-dealers in the industry. As a result, the company can attract sophisticated, active investors to its trading platform, saving them money.
Its commitment to automation is evident in its senior management, which is mainly composed of software engineers. This commitment to automation, achieved through technology developed in-house by leading computer programmers, enables it to provide high-speed trade execution at low commission rates.
Thanks to its highly automated platform, Interactive Brokers boasts industry-leading margins that surpass both traditional financial services and fintech companies. In 2024, its adjusted pre-tax profit margin was 72%. Given its cost advantage and excellent margins, Interactive Brokers is another stellar growth stock for investors to consider buying today.
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John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Courtney Carlsen has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon, Interactive Brokers Group, and Upstart. The Motley Fool recommends Fair Isaac and recommends the following options: long January 2027 $175 calls on Interactive Brokers Group and short January 2027 $185 calls on Interactive Brokers Group. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.