Do You Have These Top Tech Stocks On Your Watchlist In Q4 2020?
Tech stocks have had an amazing year in the stock market so far. This is because tech companies were quick to overcome the various challenges that were brought by the COVID-19 pandemic. These tech companies shifted their workforce online swiftly and ensured that the business could run as usual. These companies have also capitalized on the fact that more people were staying at home and they have adapted to this shift in global consumer needs. Despite the stock market crash in March, the S&P 500 Information Technology has since been up by over 57% in value. This shows that the tech industry has played a vital role in the recovery of the stock market.
With the recent announcement of the Democratic Presidential-Elect, Joe Biden winning the 2020 presidential election the question becomes, how does this playout for the tech industry? You would be surprised to see that tech companies have backed Joe Biden to be the next commander-in-chief. Tech giants like Amazon (AMZN Stock Report), Apple (AAPL Stock Report), and Facebook (FB Stock Report) make up 3 of the top 10 contributors to Biden’s recent campaign. The reason is that tech companies have not liked the approach of Donald Trump when it comes to China.
For instance, since the U.S added Huawei Technologies to its trade blacklist last year, American suppliers like Broadcom (AVGO Stock Report) has lost billions of dollars in revenue. Many tech companies believe that a Biden presidency would reverse U.S.-China tech decoupling and bring back stability. This is crucial for tech companies as many tech giants have global operations and are active in a lot of different countries. With such exciting developments in the tech industry, are these the top tech stocks to watch in 2020?
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Best Tech Stocks to Buy [Or Avoid] In 2020: Advanced Micro Devices Inc.
AMD (AMD Stock Report) has had a spectacular year both as a high-performance processor manufacturer and as a tech stock. The company has recently unveiled its high-end graphic processing unit (GPU), the Radeon RX 6000 series. Its RX 6000 series has made huge strides in both performance and efficiency. With the leap in GPU performance, AMD has given its arch-nemesis, Nvidia (NVDA Stock Report) a run for its money.
The company has enjoyed a 53% increase in share price year-to-date and is currently valued at $81.28 per share. In the company’s third-quarter fiscal posted in October, it had reported a revenue of $2.8 billion, up by 56% compared to a year earlier. AMD stated that strong demand for its PC, gaming, and data center products drove record quarterly revenue. This has also been the company’s fourth straight quarter with greater than 25% year-over-year revenue growth.
What’s even more impressive is that this quarter does not factor in sales of AMD’s recently launched Ryzen 5000 Computer Processing Units (CPU). The company claims that it has finally surpassed Intel (INTC Stock Report) in single-threaded CPU performance. Will 2020 be the year AMD finally hunts down its main competitors in both the CPU and GPU arena? With such promising growth around the corner for AMD stocks, could this be a top tech stock for investors to buy?
Best Tech Stocks to Buy [Or Avoid] In 2020: Salesforce.com
Cloud-based software company Salesforce.com (CRM Stock Report) has also had a stellar performance in the stock market this year. The company provides customer relationship management (CRM) software as a service. It also sells a complementary suite of enterprise applications. With the advent of the pandemic that has shifted more businesses online, Salesforce has enjoyed a share price increase of 89% from the March lows and is currently worth $254.18 per share.
The company’s flagship product, Customer 360 is an integrated CRM platform that brings a company and its customers together from anywhere around the world. It unites a company’s various departments with shared, easy-to-understand data on one integrated CRM platform. Salesforce had reported a revenue increase of 29% year-over-year to $5.15 billion in its latest fiscal posting. The company had attributed its success to the resilience of its business model.
Salesforce has also reported impressive earnings per share of $2.86. However, shares of Salesforce dropped by 11% since October as the broader market was tanking as COVID-19 cases in the U.S. hit a new high. With the increased adoption of cloud software, things do not seem bleak for Salesforce. In the company’s financial outlook, Salesforce projects a third-quarter fiscal revenue of $5.24 billion to $5.25 billion, which is approximately a 16% increase year-over-year. With that in mind, should investors buy CRM stock on the dip?
[Read More] 3 Top Cloud Computing Stocks To Watch Now That Joe Biden Is The President-Elect
Best Tech Stocks to Buy [Or Avoid] In 2020: Microsoft Corporation
Microsoft (MSFT Stock Report) has also recently announced its new fiscal year results. The company in its first-quarter fiscal posted revenue of $37.2 billion and a net income of $13.9 billion. As the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic hits the world, Microsoft is benefitting from the shift as people are now working, playing games more, and connecting through video conferencing.
Its revenue in Productivity and Business Processes was $12.3 billion and has increased by 11% from a year earlier. This growth came mainly from its Office 365 Commercial which represented revenue growth of 21%. In the same period, its Office 365 subscriptions had increased by 27% to 45.3 million. The company also saw its professional social media platform, LinkedIn increase by 16% in revenue. Even more impressive is its revenue of $13 billion in Intelligent Cloud, which represented an increase of 20%. This shows how the company has adapted to growing consumer needs for its software and cloud services in this COVID-19 era.
Microsoft’s gaming division has also posted increased revenue. The company’s Xbox content and services revenue had increased significantly by 30% compared to the same quarter last year. This was driven by strong third-party titles and subscriptions to Xbox’s Games Pass. The company had also acquired video game publisher Bethesda in September to boost its current lineup of Xbox games. Microsoft is also expecting another boost from gaming in the current quarter. This is because the company is releasing its next-generation Xbox console in November, which is just in time for the holidays. Now that things look promising for the company, are MSFT stock on your watchlist?
