Image source: Getty Images
We’ve all probably heard of the ‘Magnificent Seven’ group of stocks — Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, Nvidia, Meta Platforms, and Tesla. Many investors have at least one of these tech names in their Stocks and Shares ISA portfolios.
However, there are loads of smaller growth stocks that are largely flying under the radar. Here are two that I think are worth considering.
Sweetgreen
First up is Sweetgreen (NYSE: SG), which is a restaurant chain that serves salads. The stock’s up 111% since the start of 2024, but has fallen 46% from a high reached back in November.
Last year, Sweetgreen’s revenue increased 16% to $676.8m, with comparable store sales up 6%. It opened 25 net new restaurants, bringing the total to over 230 locations across America.
CEO Jonathan Neman said: “In 2025, we’re rolling out a new and improved loyalty program, introducing exciting new menu items, and strategically investing more in marketing to bring more people into our restaurants. By staying focused on delivering an exceptional experience, we’re setting Sweetgreen up to lead — and redefine — fast food for the future.”
One thing worth highlighting is the firm’s Infinite Kitchen automation technology. This robotic assembly line replaces human workers for key tasks like portioning, mixing, and plating ingredients. It produces salads 50% faster than humans can!
The main risk here is that the company isn’t yet profitable and reported a net loss of $90.4m last year. So that’s worth bearing in mind, as is the ever-present possibility of a food safety incident.
Looking ahead though, the company’s healthy meals and local sourcing of ingredients plays into a wellness trend that’s likely to grow stronger over the next decade and beyond.
Last year, Sweetgreen’s average sales per location were around $2.9m, in line with industry giants like Chipotle Mexican Grill. I think its investments in automation could give it a competitive advantage.
The stock’s trading at a reasonable 4x sales. With a small market-cap of $2.7bn and an untapped international opportunity, I think Sweetgreen has all the ingredients (pun intended) to be winning restaurant stock.
Toast
Sticking with the food theme, I’m going to highlight Toast (NYSE: TOST). I like to think of the company as the Shopify of restaurants, as it provides an all-in-one digital platform for managing orders, payments and inventory.
The stock’s up 36% over the past year, but remains around 39% below its 2021 IPO price.
In 2024, Toast’s revenue grew 28% to nearly $5bn and it recorded its first full year of profitability — a net profit of $19m versus a net loss of $246m in 2023. Its recurring gross profit stream jumped by 34%.
Meanwhile, it added a record 28,000 net locations, bringing the year-end total to around 134,000. And Toast is now partnered with over half of the Michelin-rated restaurants in the US!
One risk here is that the firm faces a fair bit of competition, especially on the hardware side from payments firms like Block-owned Square. The stock’s forward price-to-earnings ratio also looks quite high at 40.
Looking ahead to the next few years though, analysts have revenue and earnings growing by double digits. And Toast is confident that over the next decade it can serve “many multiples” of its current locations.
