Investors often obsess over valuations like price-to-earnings (P/E) ratios, price-to-sales, or earnings per share to figure out whether a stock is trading at a good price.
But focusing only on current numbers can cause you to miss out on the biggest growth stories.
One metric that often flies under the radar—and is arguably the most important for growth investors—is total addressable market (TAM). Understanding a company’s potential in a growing market can help you spot future giants early.
TAM is the total revenue opportunity available for a product or service if a company could capture 100% of the market. It’s about future potential—not what the company is doing right now, but what it could do if things go right.
This is especially important in early-stage growth stories. Traditional metrics like price-to-earnings or price-to-sales are backward-looking. They don’t reflect a company’s upside in a fast-growing market.
Put simply, you’re never going to find the biggest winners if you only look at price-to-earnings or price-to-sales ratios.
Let’s look at a real-life example…
Marvell’s TAM explosion
At a recent investor event, semiconductor company Marvell Technology (MRVL) revealed its data center TAM is projected to grow from $21 billion in 2023 to $94 billion by 2028. That’s a 35% compound annual growth rate (CAGR).
While MRVL trades at about the same forward PE ratio as the market… its potential earnings growth is way higher.
A 35% CAGR over five years is extraordinary. Most industries would kill for half that. For comparison, the global smartphone market is expected to grow at about 7% annually through the end of the decade. And cloud computing is projected to grow at around 15–20% annually. So 35% makes data centers one of the fastest-growing areas in tech—and a prime destination for capital.
Even if Marvell captures just 2–3% of this ballooning market, that could translate to billions in additional revenue. And the higher the growth runway, the more reasonable a high multiple becomes, because you’re buying tomorrow’s earnings, not yesterday’s.
Why most investors get this wrong
Most investors get scared off by “high” valuations. They see a stock trading at 30x sales and assume it’s overpriced. But they’re missing the forest for the trees.
When a company’s addressable market is expanding rapidly—and it has a good chance to win market share—those traditional metrics become a lot less important. It’s not about what the company has earned. It’s about what it could earn.
We’ve seen this story play out time and time again. Investors who focused on the TAM (and not just the current numbers) got in early on names like Tesla, Nvidia, and Amazon before they became household names.
Now, TAM alone isn’t enough. You still need solid execution. But when a company has both a large (and growing) market to go after and the ability to claim some of that market share, that’s where the magic happens.
That’s why we’re seeing smaller, lesser-known companies like Marvell and Super Micro riding the AI wave—because they’re positioning themselves to grab a piece of a massive market that’s still in its early innings.
How to spot big TAM opportunities
So, how do you identify companies with huge total addressable markets? Start by digging into investor presentations, earnings calls, and conference transcripts. Management teams love to talk about their TAM because it sets the tone for future growth.
Also, look for industries undergoing disruption or early-stage adoption, like AI, blockchain, EVs, and next-gen semiconductors. Companies entering a space where demand is exploding (or expected to) often highlight multibillion-dollar TAMs as part of their strategy.
Another tip: Pay attention to what the biggest players are spending on. If hyperscalers like Amazon, Google, or Microsoft are throwing billions at a problem, the companies supplying them are likely addressing a very large market.
Understanding TAM gives you the context behind the numbers and helps you see potential that others might overlook.
The bottom line
If you’re serious about finding the next big growth story, stop obsessing over trailing P/E ratios and start asking: How big is the opportunity?
When you find companies with a massive TAM and a plan to go after it, you’re looking at the most explosive part of the market.
These are the names that turn early investors into millionaires.
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