Who doesn't love a great growth stock? Consider what a $10,000 investment made in Tesla 10 years ago would be worth today: a cool $1.62 million.

It's this potential for explosive returns that leads many to include growth stocks in a balanced portfolio. Because you never know which one might turn out to be the next Tesla.

So let's look at a few stocks with serious potential: Perhaps not the potential to match Tesla's insane 16,000% return over 10 years but still stocks worth owning nonetheless.

1. Microsoft

When it comes to growth stocks worth owning and holding forever, Microsoft is near the top of my list. The software giant has diversified in recent years, building a thriving cloud services business, expanding its gaming division, and buying business-networking site LinkedIn.

The company has an astounding 46% return on equity, operating margins of 42%, and nearly $200 billion in revenue over the last 12 months. Those impressive figures more than justify its price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 27.4, which is a good deal higher than the S&P 500 average of 20.5.

Microsoft has long earned a premium from the market -- its five-year average P/E is over 35. Smart investors might use the recent market swoon as an opportunity to load up on one of the world's premier companies -- before its valuation bounces higher.