Although blue-chip shares such as Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) or Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) arguably offer a higher level of safety for your portfolio, very rarely will they possess the same potential as growth shares to deliver investors enormous capital gains.
One way investors can get rich is by picking out the next blue-chip share when it is still a small fledgling company. This is of course easier said than done, but I have picked out a couple of shares which I believe could go onto to become much bigger companies. Here they are:
Appen Ltd (ASX: APX)
The share price of Appen really has gone gangbusters this year with an 86% gain. But that is without doubt for good reason in my opinion. This fantastic Australian technology company is a market leader in the growing language technology and machine learning market. Its high quality data is critical for automatic speech recognition and is being used by some of the world's leading technology companies and government security agencies. With Microsoft and Facebook amongst its client list, this is clearly a company on the rise as far as I am concerned. One key attraction I have to Appen is its strong balance sheet. Unlike many tech shares that list on the ASX, Appen is already profitable and has no debt on its balance sheet.
Mobile Embrace Ltd (ASX: MBE)
Mobile Embrace is another tech share which has been flying in recent times. In the last 30 days the company has produced a stunning 20% gain for its shareholders. The company provides direct carrier billing, which essentially allows consumers to purchase products or services online and have the costs charged automatically to their phone bills. The company has been striking up partnerships with large mobile operators in regions where credit cards are not widely used. For example, recently the company signed an agreement with Pakistan's second-largest mobile operator Teledor Pakistan. According to the company Pakistan has over 133 million mobile subscribers, but only around 1.5 million credit card users. I believe the growth potential these agreements provide could make it a great long-term investment. It would appear as though I am not alone in thinking this way. Last month Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) became a substantial holder, reporting a 5.7% stake in the company to the market.
