3 Growth Stocks to Buy in November, Even if the Nasdaq-100 Enters a Correction

As of Oct. 30, the Nasdaq-100 was near 28,600, more than halfway to the roughly 28,225 level representing a 10% correction from its early-October record of about 31,360. The article highlights growth at e.l.f. Beauty, whose fiscal 2026 net sales rose 25% to $1.64 billion and whose full-year forecast was raised, and Freshpet, with second-quarter sales up 16% and a raised 10%-12% full-year sales-growth outlook. Celsius is riskier: its core brand sales fell roughly 12% last quarter after an earnings miss, while Alani Nu sales grew 21% and the company authorized $300 million in share buybacks.

Analysis

The index’s correction threshold is a poor signal by itself: sustained risk-off selling can compress consumer-growth multiples even if operating trends hold. The useful distinction is whether earnings expectations follow prices lower.

ELF has acquisition-concentration risk: Rhode may be masking softness in the legacy brand, while integration and marketing demands could dilute the apparent growth benefit. Watch organic growth by brand and guidance—not consolidated sales alone. A reversal in legacy-brand trends would reduce the case for treating ELF as a durable two-engine compounder. Established beauty players, including L’Oréal and Estée Lauder, could face share pressure if ELF sustains customer acquisition, but the article provides no evidence to quantify that displacement.

FRPT’s volume-led adoption is the cleanest demand signal here, but refrigerated distribution makes execution and capacity important: expanding retail reach only creates value if repeat purchase supports route and infrastructure economics. Validate household additions against repeat rates and margins. CELH’s Alani growth may be partly distribution-led; it does not yet establish recovery in the core brand. PepsiCo’s network is an advantage, but sell-through and portfolio prioritization matter more than placement. The buyback authorization is not proof of execution or undervaluation.

Near term (days), a Nasdaq drawdown can pressure all three regardless of fundamentals. Over 1–3 months, earnings updates and guidance revisions should separate demand durability from acquisition/distribution effects. Over 6–18 months, FRPT’s distribution economics and ELF’s brand mix are the key structural tests. Contrarian point: investors may overreact to the index’s round-number correction level, but they may underweight company-specific growth-quality risks. No valuation data are supplied, so avoid assuming any name is cheap.

Key Decisions for Investors

• Prefer FRPT over CELH on a relative basis, sized modestly; initiate only after checking valuation and latest guidance. Reassess if household growth or volume weakens, or if distribution expansion fails to support margins.
• Treat ELF as a selective buy-on-weakness watch, not an unconditional growth purchase. Require brand-level evidence that the legacy business is stabilizing alongside Rhode; cut the thesis if guidance depends increasingly on the acquired brand while legacy sales deteriorate.
• Do not trade the Nasdaq correction threshold as a standalone catalyst. If broad-market weakness persists, expect multiple compression and stage entries rather than adding on a single index-level touch.
• For CELH, wait for evidence of core-brand stabilization and profitable Alani sell-through before initiating; a further core decline or guidance reduction falsifies the recovery setup. Do not count the authorized buyback as a floor absent execution data.