This year has served as a kick-in-the-pants reminder that the stock market doesn't rise in a straight line -- even if 2021 gave off the impression that it did. Since hitting their respective all-time highs between mid-November and the first week of January, the iconic Dow Jones Industrial Average, benchmark S&P 500, and growth-focused Nasdaq Composite, plunged by as much as 19%, 24%, and 34%. The greater than 20% declines in the S&P 500 and Nasdaq firmly placed both indexes in a bear market.

To not beat around the bush, bear markets can be scary. The velocity and unpredictability of downside moves can truly test the resolve of investors. But if history has a say, bear markets are also the perfect time to put your money to work. That's because every major stock market decline throughout history has, eventually, been erased by a bull market.

With the Nasdaq Composite getting hit harder than the other indexes, it looks like the ideal time to invest in growth stocks with unmatched innovative capacity and sustainable competitive advantages. What follows are five unsurpassable growth stocks you'll regret not buying on the Nasdaq bear market dip.

Meta Platforms

The first phenomenal growth stock you'll be kicking yourself over if you don't buy it during the Nasdaq bear market dip is social media giant Meta Platforms. Meta is the company formerly known as Facebook.

Although advertising spending has been hit hard in 2022 as historically high inflation and back-to-back quarters of U.S. gross domestic product declines suppress discretionary spending, Meta remains well-positioned to capitalize on disproportionately long periods of economic expansion. Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook Messenger, are consistently among the most-downloaded apps worldwide. With 3.65 billion people visiting its sites on a monthly basis (that's over half the global adult population), Meta is in prime position to command strong ad-pricing power.

The other reason to like Meta is the company's aggressive investments in the "metaverse" -- i.e., the next iteration of the internet which'll allow connected users the ability to interact with each other and their environments in a 3D virtual world. Though it'll take a few more years before the metaverse is ready to be meaningfully monetized, Meta fixes to be a key on-ramp to this multitrillion-dollar opportunity.