Are These The Best Software Stocks To Have On Your Watchlist?
The past year has been invigorating for software stocks on the stock market, to say the least. This comes as no surprise seeing as software is a vital tool for organizations of all sizes in this age. As a result, investors and software companies alike continue to see big gains. Moving forward, you might be wondering if the software industry can maintain its current momentum. Well, it is important to note that software is a part of the ever-evolving tech industry. Likewise, there are always innovations and refinements to be made over existing software. This coupled with countless applications for software across various industries bodes well for software investors.
For instance, Veeva Systems (NYSE: VEEV) caters to the cloud computing needs of the life sciences industry. Just this morning, it revealed that 90% of the biotech research companies it surveyed are looking to significantly improve research methods by adopting new digital strategies. Another example would be digital communications giant Zoom (NASDAQ: ZM). The company’s recent-quarter revenue skyrocketed by 369% year-over-year. But more importantly, it ended the quarter with a whopping $4.2 billion in cash on hand. The likes of which CFO Kelly Steckleberg mentioned would be put towards investing in capacity building and R&D hiring. All this paired with the recent pullbacks could provide an interesting opportunity for investors to buy on the dip. As such, here are four top software stocks in the limelight now.
4 Top Software Stocks To Watch
- Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT)
- Eventbrite Inc. (NYSE: EB)
- Splunk Inc. (NASDAQ: SPLK)
- Oracle Corporation (NYSE: ORCL)
Microsoft Corporation
It is hard to talk about software without mentioning software goliath Microsoft. After all, it is the company behind the leading office tool software in the world, Microsoft Office. Given its status as one of the big tech stocks, most investors would be watching MSFT stock in anticipation of the company’s latest moves. Nevertheless, Microsoft continues to make groundbreaking developments in the software space.
To begin with, Microsoft unveiled Microsoft Mesh, a seemingly new frontier in video communication. Simply put, Mesh is the company’s “mixed reality” upgrade to conventional virtual calls. Through a combination of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR), users will supposedly be able to interact with others as if they were in the same room.
Now, Microsoft is offering it as both an application and a service via its cloud computing arm, Microsoft Azure. Speaking of Azure, Microsoft also expanded its services with Azure Arc hybrid and multi-cloud capabilities. Briefly, Azure Arc is a set of technologies that extend Azure’s services to “any infrastructure.” In practice, these upgrades give customers the flexibility and agility to innovate with Azure, anywhere. With Microsoft firing on all cylinders, could it be a good time to watch MSFT stock?
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Eventbrite Inc.
Another software player in focus now would be global self-service ticketing and experience tech platform Eventbrite. The company operates an event management and ticketing website. Through its application software, users can browse, create, and promote local events. In terms of revenue, Eventbrite charges a fee to paid-event organizers in exchange for its online ticketing services. Moreover, the company caters to nearly one million event creators across 180 countries. With most in-person events being canceled, you’d think that the company would be on the downtrend. However, its recent quarter fiscal posted last week suggests otherwise.
In it, the company saw its revenue increase by over 22% quarter-over-quarter. According to CEO Julia Hartz, Eventbrite’s users hosted 4.6 million events throughout 2020. Through Eventbrite, people continued to gather in inventive ways via virtual events, drive-ins, and socially distanced experiences.
If anything, this shows the resilience of the company even amidst these trying times. After you factor in improving pandemic conditions, things could be looking up for the company. Investors appear to think so as EB stock has surged by over 12% since these results were posted a week ago. Given all of this, will you be adding EB stock to your watchlist?
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Splunk Inc.
Following that, we have big data analytics software company, Splunk. In brief, the company produces software for searching, monitoring, and analyzing machine-generated big data. Splunk does all this via its Data-to-Everything platform. For the most part, the company helps organizations gain actionable insights from their data regardless of scale. In the age of information, this would serve as a vital service for businesses looking to refine their business strategies. Accordingly, this would position Splunk to continue benefiting from the pandemic-fueled exposure it gained over the past year. Seeing as Splunk posted stellar figures in its fourth-quarter fiscal after yesterday’s closing bell, investors could be watching SPLK stock.
Diving right into it, the company raked in a total annual recurring revenue (ARR) of $2.36 billion for the quarter. This marks an impressive 41% year-over-year increase. Additionally, Splunk saw its cloud ARR surge by 83% over the same period. In terms of cloud revenue for fiscal 2021, the company posted a 77% increase compared to its fiscal year 2020. No doubt, Splunk continues to ride the boom in corporate cloud spending.
In closing, CFO Jason Child cites continuous cloud adoption as a driving force for Splunk’s long-term success. Time will tell if this holds to be true. For now, will you be keeping SPLK stock in your sights?
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Oracle Corporation
Last but not least, we will be looking at software giant, Oracle. The company offers a suite of integrated applications and secure, autonomous infrastructure via its Oracle Cloud platform. Specifically, these applications help organizations by providing sales, marketing, human resources, finance, and manufacturing solutions. Notably, Oracle announced yesterday that its third-quarter earnings call will be held next Wednesday after market close. This could place ORCL stock on investors’ radars.
For one thing, the company has had a busy month throughout February. For starters, it expanded its hybrid cloud portfolio earlier in the month with the Oracle Roving Edge Infrastructure. The upgrade means that customers can employ Oracle’s secure and scalable cloud services even “in the most remote areas of the world.” Subsequently, the company posted on two occasions regarding its clients in the healthcare sector. On February 11, it revealed that several leading healthcare organizations across the U.S. adopted its services.
According to Oracle, said clients cater to over 26 million Americans annually. Similarly, the company announced that Northwell Health, one of the largest New York health systems is also a client. Overall Oracle continues to expand its services while aiding the healthcare industry amidst the pandemic. Could it be wise to watch ORCL stock ahead of its earnings next week? Your guess is as good as mine.
