Your cart is currently empty!
Technology connects billions of people and has changed how we communicate and obtain information.ย ย Itโsย hard to think of a time when people had to trudge through the rain to get to their local library. Now, you can find information on any subject with a few clicks.
Many corporations have capitalized on innovative technology and have delivered impressive returns for their investors. However, some tech stocks look like dinosaurs while othersย are continuingย to soar. Letโs examine some of the top tech stocks that investors are considering.
Meta Platformsย (NASDAQ:META) knows how to grabย peopleโsย attention.
The social media giant profits fromย peopleโs time as they consume content on Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.ย Itโsย been a winning formula for several years, as the stock is up by 175% over the past five years. Also, Meta Platforms is up by 38% year-to-date (YTD) and comes with a 27.5 P/E ratio.
Recently, the firm beganย to pay dividends which startย at 50 cents per share. The current yield is 0.42%. While some corporations offer dividends to signal that growth is slowing, Meta Platforms has been delivering solid results.ย Q1 2024 revenue increased by 27%ย year-over-year (YOY)ย while net income soared by 117%ย YOY.ย
Further, META focuses on the bottom lineย everย since a miserable 2022.ย Shareholders haveย benefitted greatly from this shift. Wall Street analysts are excited about the stock and have rated it as aย strong buy. The average price target suggests a 10% upside from current levels.
Cybersecurity firm Crowdstrikeย (NASDAQ:CRWD) continues to deliver exceptional revenue growth.ย The company reported 33% YOY revenue growthย inย Q4 of 2024ย and a shocking surge in net income. The firm reported a net profit of $53.7 million compared to a net loss of $47.5 million in the same period last year.
Additionally, Crowdstrike makes most of its revenue from recurring business, so it should continue to generate meaningful returns for several years. Annual recurring revenue reached $3.44 billion to wrap up fiscal 2024. This figure is 34% higher than the same period last year.ย
The stock has been booming for quite a while. Shares are up by 25% YTD, gaining 381% over the past five years. Currently, it trades at aย 79 forwardย P/E ratio.
And, Wall Street analysts have high hopes for Crowdstrike. The cybersecurity stockย is currently ratedย as a strong buyย withย the average price target suggesting aย 30% gain from current levels.
Nvidiaย (NASDAQ:NVDA) has been outpacing the stock market for several years as its AI chipsย continue toย generate plenty of demand. The stock has more than doubled YTD while logging in gains above 3,000% over the past five years.ย
The company announced its latestย AI chipsย to gain more ground on its competition. This quick turnaround indicates Nvidia is doing what it can to maintain its strong lead over competing firms.
Nvidia has been reporting solid financial results for several years,ย and that trendย continued inย Q1 of 2025. Revenue surged by 262% YOYย whileย net income soared by 628% YOY.ย Theย companyโsย announcement of a 10-for-1 stock split has attracted more investors whoย have a chance of buyingย shares at a lower price.
Wall Street analysts advocated for the stock long before its stock split announcement. The AI chip leader is rated as a strong buyย and hasย aย projected 5% upsideย based on the average price target. Recent price targets offer a more optimistic picture, including a recent $1,500 price target. This highest forecast indicates that a 30% gain is possible.
Microsoftย (NASDAQ:MSFT) is another AI leader that continues to generate revenue and earnings growth due to its business verticals. The company has leading positions in cloud computing, business software, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence (AI) and advertising. Those components have resulted in a 12% YTD gain and a sterling 215% gain over the past five years.
Third quarter of 2024 financialsย showed plenty of promise.ย Revenue increased by 17%ย YOYย as demand for Microsoft Cloudย remainsย strong. Meanwhile, net income came to $21.9 billion which was up by 20%ย YOY. Microsoft Cloud revenue grew by 23%ย YOYย and represents more than half ofย Microsoftโsย total revenue.
Also, MSFT saw double-digit growth rates for itsย โProductivity and Business Processesโย segmentย as well asย itsย โMore Personal Computingโย part of the business. The firm returned $8.4 billion to shareholders through buybacks and dividends.ย Microsoftโsย yield currently stands at 0.73%. The company has maintained anย annualized dividend growth rate of 10.60% over the past decade.
Qualcommย (NASDAQ:QCOM) is a semiconductor companyย that has beenย performing well after missing out on the initial AI rally. Shares areย upย by an impressive 47% YTD and have tripled over the past five years.ย Qualcomm stock trades at a 28 P/E ratioย and offersย a 1.65% yield.ย The company has raised its dividend for 21 consecutive years and has aย dividend payout ratioย slightly above 40%.ย
Theย firmโsย Q2 of 2024 resultsย indicate the company is taking steps in the right direction to reinvigorate growth. After several quarters of declining revenue and earnings, Qualcomm reported 1% YOY revenue growth. While some growth is better than no growth, the company did a phenomenal job with its net income,ย which wasย up by 37% YOY.ย
Finally, the corporation returned $1.6 billion to shareholders through stock buybacks and dividends.ย Currently, theย companyโsย quarterly dividend stands at $0.85 per share afterย a recent 6.3% hike.ย
Top-tier software company Oracleย (NYSE:ORCL) has delivered solid returns while holdingย ontoย a 31.5 P/E ratio and a 1.34% yield.ย It hasย โgrowth at a reasonableโย price and has been rewarding for long-term investors. The stock is up by 15% YTD and has gained 124% over the past five years.
Additionally, the company reported 7% YOYย revenue growth in Q3 of 2024 as cloud revenue pushed up results.ย And Q3 cloud revenue came to $5.1 billionย which was up byย 25% YOY.ย That represents almost 40% of theย companyโsย total revenue. Also, Oracle expanded its net profit margins thanks to a 27% YOY improvement in net income.ย
Oracle only has aย 41% dividend payout ratioย and has maintained an annualized dividend growth rate of 14.31% over the past decade. The low payout ratio and solid financials suggest that Oracle can maintain a double-digit growth rate for its dividend.ย
Currently, the software companyย isย ratedย as aย moderate buyย with a projected 17% upside. The highest price target of $160 per share implies a 34% gain.
Also, Adobeย (NASDAQ:ADBE) hasย a lot of supporters inย Wall Street.ย Itโsย rated as aย moderate buyย with a projected 42% upsideย based on the average price target.ย The highest price target of $703 suggests that Adobe stock can gain an additional 60%. The lowest price target of $445 per share stillย suggestsย that theย stock can achieve some upside based on current levels.
The creative software company is off to a bad start with a 24% YTD decline. Despite the recent struggles, Adobe is still up by 58% over the past five years. Itโs present P/E ratio stands at 42 .ย
Recently, Adobe reported 11% YOY revenue growth inย Q1 of 2024.ย Theย companyโsย remaining performance obligations stand at $17.58 billion,ย which isย more than three times its Q1 of 2024 revenue of $5.18 billion.
Still, theย corporation is making strides to reward shareholdersย despite recent events.ย Adobe repurchased roughly 3.1 million shares in the first quarter.
On thisย date of publication, Marc Guberti held long positions in CRWD, NVDA, and MSFT. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to theย InvestorPlace.comย Publishing Guidelines.
Price Based Country test mode enabled for testing United States (US). You should do tests on private browsing mode. Browse in private with Firefox, Chrome and Safari
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.