Should Investors Have These Top Consumer Tech Stocks In Their Portfolios Now?
With the strength of the tech industry on full display this week, the biggest consumer tech stocks continue to shine. For one thing, this section of the stock market today would see an uptick in demand for their services. This could be because of persisting consumer spending trends and new tech upgrade cycles in general. When you consider all this is happening in the backdrop of resurging coronavirus cases, it makes sense. Consumers in certain parts of the globe remain homebound as new variants of concern continue to spread. This would see said consumers turning to some of the biggest names in tech for a variety of reasons now.
For instance, we could look at the likes of Visa Inc. (NYSE: V). The fintech giant plays a crucial role in facilitating contactless payments across the globe. Evidently, this continues to fuel its growth as Visa delivered on its second-quarter fiscal earlier today. The company reported earnings per share of $1.49 on revenue of $6.13 billion for the quarter. This exceeds consensus estimates of $1.35 and $5.88 billion respectively. Elsewhere, telecom company Nokia (NYSE: NOK) is making headlines this week after unveiling a new ‘military grade’ 5G smartphone.
Across the board, it seems like the tech industry is not slowing down anytime soon. This would seem to be the case considering how dependent the world is on today’s tech. Having read all of this, you might be keen on some of the top consumer tech stocks in the stock market now. In that case, here are four taking center stage this week.
Best Consumer Tech Stocks To Buy [Or Sell] Ahead Of August 2021
- Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL)
- Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL)
- Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB)
- Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT)
Alphabet Inc.
Alphabet is the parent company of Google. The multinational tech conglomerate is headquartered in California. It has a long list of tech services that are used by billions all over the world. Dubbed Google Services, these include ads, its mobile operating system Android, Chrome, Google Maps, and YouTube are some of the more notable services. GOOGL stock is up 4% and currently trades at $2,761.65 as of 11:02 a.m. ET and has been up by over 80% in the past year. On Tuesday, the company reported its second-quarter earnings.
Diving in, the company reported another strong quarter, starting with a revenue of $61.88 billion. This represents a 62% increase year-over-year. Net income for the quarter was $18.52 billion or diluted earnings per share of $27.26. The company’s Google Search segment in particular made more than half of its revenue, at $35.84 billion. Google notes that this impressive revenue was a result of a rising tide of online activity in many parts of the world. It is also noted that its services have helped consumers connect and businesses grow. Furthermore, the company is also making long-term investments in AI and Google Cloud, which continues to benefit its users. Given the solid financials, will you say GOOGL stock is worth buying today?
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Apple Inc.
Next on this list of consumer stocks, we have Apple. The company mainly sells consumer electronics, software, and online services. It is one of the largest technology companies in the world by revenue and also one of the most valuable companies. In fact, it was one of the first companies to be valued at over $2 trillion dollars. AAPL stock is currently trading at $146.48 as of 11:03 a.m. ET and is up by over 50% in the past year. The company, like Google, had just reported its latest quarter results on Tuesday.
Firstly, the company posted a record quarterly revenue of $81.4 billion, an increase of 36% year-over-year. Secondly, it also reported quarterly earnings per share of $1.30. “Our record June quarter operating performance included new revenue records in each of our geographic segments, double-digit growth in each of our product categories, and a new all-time high for our installed base of active devices,” said Luca Maestri, Apple’s CFO. “We generated $21 billion of operating cash flow, returned nearly $29 billion to our shareholders during the quarter, and continued to make significant investments across our business to support our long-term growth plans.” With that being said, will you consider adding AAPL stock to your portfolio?
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Facebook Inc.
Facebook is a social media company that strives to empower more than 3 billion of its users around the world to share ideas and connect. Impressively, it has helped more than 200 million businesses to connect with their customers and grow. FB stock currently trades at $373.24 as of 11:03 a.m. ET and has risen by more than 55% in the past year. The company will be announcing its second-quarter financials after the market closes today.
Ahead of its earnings report today, The Wall Street Journal wrote that it expects Facebook’s ad business to post another strong quarter today. Given that digital ad spending is still on a tear, this could be the case for another solid quarter. Facebook’s revenue is projected to rise 49% from a year earlier to $27.85 billion, according to analysts polled by FactSet. Profit is projected to rise 69% to $8.76 billion or $3.04 a share. These anticipated strong results come as Google as mentioned above also posted one of its best quarters ever for sales and profit, driven by strong digital advertising revenue. All things considered, do you think FB stock is a buy?
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Microsoft Corporation
Another top name to consider in the consumer tech space now would be the Microsoft Corporation. This is evident seeing as its Windows operating system (OS) is one of, if not the leading systems worldwide. Aside from its software chops, Microsoft also offers consumers a wide array of personal computers and laptops to choose from. Not to mention, Microsoft’s enterprise offerings would also be worth noting among the tech giants in the industry today. Given all of this, it would not surprise me to see investors tuning in to MSFT stock this earnings season.
Notably, the company reported stellar figures across the board in its second-quarter fiscal earlier today. As a result, MSFT stock is currently trading at $289.22 a share as of 11:03 a.m. ET, reaching new highs. Diving right into it, Microsoft posted earnings per share of $2.17 on revenue of $46.15 billion for the quarter. Additionally, the company also saw its net income increase by over 47% year-over-year to a total of $16.5 billion. For the most part, this is thanks to solid performances across the company’s Intelligent Cloud, Azure, and Personal Computing segments. Specifically, Microsoft saw its Azure revenue surge by 51% year-over-year, highlighting the need for cloud computing in today’s market. Given the company’s current momentum, would you be buying MSFT stock?
