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Maximize Retirement Portfolio Return With These 4 Tech Stocks

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Investing for retirement involves a careful balance between risk and reward, seeking assets that can protect and grow your wealth over time. Equity investments are a cornerstone of many retirement portfolios due to their potential for long-term growth and the ability to outpace inflation. While equities come with risks, they historically offer higher returns compared to fixed-income assets like bonds or certificates of deposits.

For retirement planning, the emphasis often revolves around creating a balanced portfolio that can generate a steady income while preserving capital. Traditional approaches tend to favor safer investments, but in today's low-interest-rate environment, they might not suffice. Equities have increasingly become an integral part of retirement strategies, offering growth potential and income generation.

We believe tech stocks present an intriguing avenue for retirement portfolios. During the pandemic, technology emerged as a key driver of the global economy, transforming how we work, communicate and access services. This sector's resilience during volatile times and promising long-term growth prospects make it the right choice to fortify the retirement portfolio.

The rapid adoption of cloud computing, along with the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, has been a key growth driver. The accelerated deployment of 5G technology — the next-generation wireless revolution — is likely to fuel further growth. Moreover, blockchain, the Internet of Things, autonomous vehicles, augmented reality or virtual reality and wearables offer significant growth opportunities.

Picking the Right Stocks

It is difficult to pick the right stocks from a wide range of available investment opportunities. This is where the Zacks Stock Screener comes in handy. With the help of this screener, we have filtered four stocks that are incredible for retirement investment planning. These stocks sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Also, the stocks have a VGM Score of A or B. Per Zacks’ proprietary methodology, stocks with such a favorable combination offer solid investment opportunities.

Our Picks

Zoom Video Communications Inc.’s (ZM - Free Report) cloud-native unified communications platform, which combines video, audio, phone, screen sharing and chat functionalities, makes remote working and collaboration easy. The stock currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 and has a VGM score of B.

Zoom is gaining significant traction from the hybrid working wave, which has accelerated the need for digital transformation among enterprises. The company is benefiting from steady growth in its subscriber base and enterprise customer base, backed by the strong demand for offerings like Zoom Phone. The launch of AI-driven solutions like Zoom Doc and Zoom AI Companion holds promise. Zoom’s expanding international presence is a key catalyst. The company’s freemium business model helps it win customers rapidly, which it can later convert into paying customers.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fiscal 2024 earnings has been revised upward by 18 cents to $4.94 per share in the past 30 days, suggesting year-over-year growth of 13%. The long-term estimated earnings growth rate for the stock stands at 33.5%.

CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (CRWD - Free Report) is a leader in next-generation endpoint protection, threat intelligence and cyberattack response services. The company is benefiting from the rising demand for cyber-security solutions due to a slew of data breaches and the increasing need for security and networking products amid the growing hybrid working trend.

Continued digital transformation and cloud migration strategies adopted by organizations are key growth drivers. The company’s portfolio strength, mainly the Falcon platform’s 10 cloud modules, boosts its competitive edge and helps add users. Additionally, strategic acquisitions such as Bionic and Reposify are expected to fuel growth.

The stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 and has a VGM Score of B. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fiscal 2024 earnings has been revised upward by 12 cents in the past 30 days to $2.94 per share, which calls for an increase of 90.9% on a year-over-year basis. The long-term expected earnings growth rate for the stock is pegged at 36.1%.

CrowdStrike Price and Consensus

CrowdStrike Price and Consensus

CrowdStrike price-consensus-chart | CrowdStrike Quote

Workday, Inc. (WDAY - Free Report) is a provider of enterprise-level software solutions for financial management and human resource domains. The company’s cloud-based platform combines finance and HR in a single system that makes it easier for organizations to provide analytical insights and decision support.

Solid momentum in the human capital and financial management portfolio is driving Workday’s top line. In addition, the company’s cloud-based business model is increasingly gaining traction. A strong emphasis on the integration of generative AI into Workday products and the development of various AI-driven applications to drive more value is a positive factor. The partnership with Accenture to expedite the development of financial management solutions is likely to improve commercial prospects.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fiscal 2024 earnings has been revised upward by 12 cents to $5.70 per share in the past 30 days, suggesting year-over-year growth of 56.6%. This Zacks Rank #2 stock has a VGM Score of B and has an estimated long-term earnings growth rate of 26.5%.

Datadog, Inc. (DDOG - Free Report) is a monitoring and analytics platform for developers, IT operations teams and business users in the cloud age. The company’s business runs around its portfolio of more than 400 out-of-the-box integrations, including public cloud, private cloud, on-premise hardware, databases and third-party software.

The company is benefiting from customer additions and the increased adoption of its cloud-based monitoring and analytics platform, driven by accelerated digital transformation and cloud migration across organizations. Contributions from a solid cloud partner base, including Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services, remain a key growth driver, along with an expanding portfolio.

The stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 and has a VGM Score of B. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2023 earnings has been revised upward by a couple of cents in the past 30 days to $1.53 per share, which calls for an increase of 56.1% on a year-over-year basis. The long-term expected earnings growth rate for the stock is pegged at 28.5%.

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