What are we looking for?
U.S. technology stocks demonstrating strong earnings and revenue growth, utilizing Trading Central’s Quantamental factor-investing methodology.
In the run-up to U.S. presidential elections, the technology sector often faces increased volatility owing to uncertainty around potential changes in regulatory and tax policies. Despite these risks, tech stocks have historically performed well, as seen in 2020 when the sector surged because of pandemic-driven demand for digital services. Similarly, the tech sector rallied before Donald Trump’s 2016 election. Republican wins are generally viewed as favorable for deregulation, while Democratic victories may bring tighter scrutiny on data privacy and monopolistic practices. Nevertheless, long-term growth drivers like cloud computing, AI, and semi-conductors are expected to help maintain the sector’s resilience, regardless of the election outcome.
This week, we focused on the technology sector to highlight top U.S. tech stocks with strong Trading Central Quantamental momentum and growth factor ratings, and which are demonstrating upward trends in both price and earnings.
The screen
Using Trading Central’s Strategy Builder, we screened for U.S.-listed technology stocks with a minimum market capitalization of US$5-billion, focusing on mid- to large-cap stocks within the sector, while avoiding smaller, potentially more volatile stocks.
Next, we focused on identifying tech stocks with strong earnings momentum, specifically those showing both EPS and revenue growth of over 10 per cent in the most recent quarter compared with the same period last year.
Finally, we applied Trading Central’s Quantamental rating system, which ranks stocks on a scale from 0 to 100, with 100 being the most bullish. To qualify, stocks needed a minimum score of 50 out of 100 for both momentum and growth factors.
For informational purposes, we have also included the four-week, year-to-date and one-year price return.
More about Trading Central
Trading Central is a global leader in financial market research and investment analytics for retail online brokers and institutions. Its product suite provides actionable trading ideas based on technical and fundamental research covering stocks, exchange-traded funds, indexes, forex, options and commodities. Strategy Builder, our stock screener is available through leading retail brokers in Canada and worldwide.
What we found
Topping our list is mobile-technology company AppLovin Corp., APP-Q which provides mobile app developers with tools to market, monetize, and analyze their apps. AppLovin tops the list owing to its strong growth metrics and performance momentum. The California-based company reported 305-per-cent EPS growth and 44-per-cent revenue growth last quarter, with high momentum and growth factor ratings of 80 and 93, respectively. The stock has surged 236.9 per cent year-to-date and 48.7 per cent in the past four weeks, making it the top-performing stock in our list.
Nvidia Corp., NVDA-Q a leading designer of advanced GPUs for gaming, AI, and data centres, stands out in the list due to its large market cap, impressive revenue and EPS growth. With a market cap of US$2.92-trillion, it is by far the largest company on the list. The company’s revenue growth of 122 per cent and EPS growth of 168 per cent last quarter are among the highest on our list, showcasing Nvidia’s ability to capitalize on the booming demand for AI and data-centre technologies. Additionally, its strong Trading Central growth factor rating of 92 further highlights the California-based company’s robust long-term growth potential.
Celestica Inc., CLS-T a Toronto-based company that specializes in producing complex electronic components and systems reported 80-per-cent EPS growth and 23-per-cent revenue growth last quarter. With Trading Central’s growth and momentum factor ratings of 69 and 64, respectively, Celestica has delivered a robust year-to-date performance of 78 per cent and a 106-per-cent rise over the past year, despite a large decline of approximately 36 per cent from the July 16 record high. The stock price has rebounded over 26 per cent off its Aug. 5 low.
Trading Central’s Strategy Builder offers a backtesting feature to assess how an investment strategy would have performed historically. Over a five-year period with quarterly rebalancing, the described screen delivered an impressive 31 per cent annualized total return, compared with 18 per cent for the Nasdaq Composite Index.
The investment ideas presented here are for information only. They do not constitute advice or a recommendation by Trading Central in respect of the investment in financial instruments. Investors should conduct further research before investing.
Gary Christie is head of North American research at Trading Central in Ottawa.