2016 was a banner year for tech stocks, and 2017 has experienced a surge in technological development in almost every aspect. With the New Year, investors are looking out for the best tech stocks to invest in. Whether you are in search of value, growth, income or long-term appreciation, there are sound alternatives in the tech sector. Despite there being no shortage of opportunities in this sector, the following stand out in 2017.
Facebook continues to soar and show that it is one of the most powerful online advertising platforms today. In the last quarter of 2016, Facebook saw its sales rise to 59 percent and were worth 6.8 billion dollars. The profits of its GAAP also rose to 166 percent and were worth 2.5 billion dollars. This year, the sales are expected to grow by 50 percent. Also, online advertising is expected to overtake TV and become the largest medium for advertisements globally. With its emerging communication platforms such as Oculus, Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp, Facebook may be just one of the companies that will benefit greatly from online advertising. With about 1.8 billion users each month and more than 84 percent of its revenue coming from mobile, Facebook is definitely one of the best tech stocks to buy.
Microsoft
In the past years, Microsoft was known to lag behind other innovators such as Apple who beat it to MP3 players, digital music, tablets, among other core things that were worth large sums of money. However, after the entry of its new CEO Satya Nadella in 2014, Microsoft was pivoted into the cloud. Right now (2017), it is second as a cloud platform after Amazon web services, with the Azure revenue growing at an incredible rate of 116 percent.
Amazon
Amazon.com is a tech stock covering the quickly-growing area of e-commerce. Led by Jeff Bezos, who is said to be one of the world’s most brilliant leaders, the company is one of the dominant online retailers due to its low prices and online satisfaction. So far, it is highly profitable and is a reliable stock to buy in 2017.
Netflix
Netflix is expected to be highly profitable in the next two years, and it remains a growth stock with a high opportunity for continued share price appreciation. Although the cost of content is not expected to drop in the near future, the business model has a promise of profitability, something that has been made evident by the 36 percent contribution margin. Netflix looks to surpass 91 million paid accounts in the next quarter, a move that could potentially grow its subscribers in the 190 countries it is currently operating in. The company hopes to expand its value proposition through adding downloadable content. According to analysts, Netflix sales will increase by 30 percent in 2017, the reason it remains one of the most suitable tech stocks to buy today.
Intel Corp
Intel is an established company with a very consistent record and is going to be a highly reliable blue-chip tech stock to buy this year. Although it may be referred to as a traditional supplier of PC chips, it has been seen to transition into the modern era. So far, Intel has been enlisted by Google as a partner to assist businesses to get their data to the cloud. At the moment, it is on a transition, and planning on burgeoning new markets security, IoT, cloud data centres, and plans to build its tablet and mobile in the years to come. In the last quarter of 2016, Intel focused on IoT sales, data centre revenue, and security-rated revenue. It has been seen to grow its revenue drivers and is currently trading at 12.5 times forward earnings. Intel’s long-term prospects and value are the reasons it’s worth buying it.
There seems to be no other sector so prone to high predictions in terms of massive changes that could affect the entire market as technology. More often than not, hyped tech trends tend to do less than expected, although there are still those that exceed expectations in the long run. As an investor, it is only wise to buy and hold shares in the most successful companies as that is a tried and true pathway to fulfilling financial goals. With the mentioned top stocks, you should be in a position to take advantage of the fast-changing tech marketplace.
