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Don't Overlook These Tech Stocks Going into 2024

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As we get closer to rounding out the year investors will be shifting and adjusting their portfolios to incorporate stocks that look poised to have a strong year in 2024.

Tech stocks will continue to be a focal point with the Nasdaq soaring +38% YTD as easing inflation and growing sentiment of a potential soft-landing regarding interest rates continue to propel these equities.

Sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), here are three technology companies that have strengthening outlooks as we move closer to 2024 and may see their stocks be beneficiaries of what is hopefully an end-of-the-year and infamous Santa Clause rally.

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Intel (INTC - Free Report) : The second half of the year rally in Intel stock has been warranted as the semiconductor giant has started to regain its footing in a more competitive than ever landscape as chip companies like AMD (AMD - Free Report)  and Nvidia (NVDA - Free Report)  continue to expand from the evolution of artificial intelligence.

However, Intel has AI chips of its own with the latest being the NCST as the company aims to make artificial intelligence capabilities more accessible across all workloads, from client and edge to network and cloud. Interestingly enough, Intel's stock has climbed +35% over the last six months to easily outperform the broader indexes and AMD’s +4% while even topping Nvidia’s +19%.  

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The turnaround in Intel’s price performance comes as fiscal 2024 earnings are anticipated to rebound and soar 98% next year to $1.88 per share versus end-of-the-year projections and what would be multi-year lows of $0.95 a share in FY23. Total sales are forecasted to rebound and jump 13% in FY24 to $61.31 billion as FY23 end-of-the-year projections of $53.93 billion now call for a -14% dip from 2022. Notably, Intel will be releasing its Q4 and full-year results for FY23 on January 25.

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Zoom Video Communications (ZM - Free Report) : Zoom Video has started to reconfirm that its economic boost during the pandemic was not wasted as many businesses relied on its communication platform for video calls to enhance remote working and collaboration.

Most recently third quarter earnings of $1.29 a share beat the Zacks Consensus by 19% in late November as Zoom Video stated the strong results were bolstered by its all-in-one intelligent collaboration platform with new advanced capabilities like Zoom AI Companion which has continued to evolve customer and employee engagement solutions. It's also noteworthy that at the end of Q3 Zoom Video’s operating cash flow of $493.2 million was up 67% year over year.

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With business activities much stronger than expected, Zoom Video’s current fiscal 2024 and FY25 EPS estimates have continued to trend higher over the last 30 days. More intriguing is that Zoom Video’s stock is up a respectable +8% in 2023 and trades at its most attractive P/E multiple (14.7X forward earnings) since going public in 2019.

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Emerson Electric (EMR - Free Report) : Last but not least, Emerson Electric’s steady earnings growth shouldn’t be overlooked with the global engineering and technology company offering a wide range of products and services worldwide.

Emerson’s economies of scale remain enticing as its measurement and analytical instrumentations, industrial equipment, along with process control software and systems are used in the Americas, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. With such breadth, annual earnings are projected to climb 17% in Emerson's current fiscal 2024 and jump another 9% in FY25 to $5.69 per share. More importantly, over the last 60 days, FY24 and FY25 EPS estimates have now risen 6% and 7% respectively.

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Emerson is also starting to put fears of declining revenue behind it with total sales now forecasted to jump 14% in FY24 and rise another 3% in FY25 to $17.86 billion. Considering the stronger outlook, it’s notable that the Average Zacks Price Target of $105.22 a share suggests 17% upside as Emerson's stock is down -6% in 2023 but is starting to look poised for a sharp rebound.

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Bottom Line

The strengthening outlooks of Intel, Zoom Video Communications, and Emerson Electric shouldn’t be overlooked at the moment making them three intriguing technology stocks to watch as we round out the year.

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