One of the best pieces of investing wisdom anyone ever offered was Warren Buffett, when he said: "It's far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price." Even better than that, though, is finding that wonderful company ... at a wonderful price!
Of course, as it's been a full nine years since the stock market took off on this amazing bull run, stocks that fit that description have become harder to find -- but not impossible. Here are two tech stocks that are not only wonderful companies, but trade at darn near wonderful prices too. Let's take a closer look at HP Inc. (HPQ +0.59%) and Skyworks Solutions (SWKS 2.96%) to see why they would make wonderful additions to any portfolio.
HP has found a way to grow its top and bottom lines by double digits in the tough PC and printer markets. Image source: Getty Images.
The case for HP
Don't tell HP that personal computers are dead, or that the consumer and commercial printing markets are flat. In the company's second quarter, net revenue rose 13% year over year to $14 billion, and adjusted earnings per share (EPS) grew 20% to $0.48. Both of HP's major divisions, personal systems and printing, experienced double-digit percentage sales growth. Personal systems primarily sells PCs, laptops, and tablets. Its sales increased 14% to $8.8 billion. The printing division supplies printers and printing supplies to the commercial and consumer markets, and sales in this department increased 11% to $5.2 billion.
On the Q2 conference call, CEO Dion Weisler said one way the company had driven growth in a tough PC market was through "careful segmentation" and targeting specific niche markets.
"One example is healthcare, where safety, security, and regulatory compliance are critical. We recently introduced a portfolio of products purpose built for healthcare providers by optimizing clinical workflows with RFID readers and improving collaboration capability for telemedicine."
Weisler also bragged about HP's innovative hardware, saying, "This past quarter, we introduced the world's first Chromebook detachable, the world's widest curved all-in-one, and the world's first detachable and tablet with an integrated privacy screen."
Given the company's trailing 12-month adjusted EPS of $1.83, HP shares trade at a more-than-reasonable P/E ratio of less than 13, just a little more than half of the S&P 500 index's P/E ratio. The company also pays a decent dividend that yields 2.4%, and has a low payout ratio of about 30%, meaning it's safe, and offers plenty of room for growth. Given its double-digit sales growth, its compelling valuation, and its solid yield, HP is a compelling buy in this long-in-tooth bull market.
The case for Skyworks Solutions
Skyworks Solutions makes analog semiconductors that power connectivity in smartphones, tablets, smart home products, and industrial applications. As such, the company stands on the cusp of benefiting from two huge trends: the shift to 5G mobile networks and the Internet of Things (IoT).
Skyworks Solutions stands to profit immensely from the IoT and shift to 5G wireless networks. Image source: Skyworks Solutions Inc.
Research firm IDC predicts spending on the IoT will surpass $1 trillion by 2020 and will reach $1.1 trillion in 2021. In Skyworks Solutions' 2017 annual report, the company noted that by 2025, there will be about 75 billion IoT devices, and data traffic is expected to grow at a 40% compound rate over the next five years. Whether these projections are off or not, the overall point is that the number of devices participating in the connected economy is growing -- and will continue to grow -- for some time. That virtually assures growing demand for Skyworks' products, making it one of the better IoT investments in the stock market.
Skyworks semiconductors are key to allowing smartphones to connect to wireless networks, whether 3G, 4G, or 5G, and each successive network represents an incremental addition to the need for Skyworks products in those phones. Smartphones will soon have to be equipped to handle 3G, 4G, and 5G networks, meaning more Skyworks products in each phone, which should make the arrival of 5G extremely lucrative for it. In the company's Q2 conference call, transcribed by S&P Global Market Intelligence, CEO Liam Griffin said that with 5G, "the opportunities to be in the double-digits top line are absolutely there."
The company's Q2 revenue rose 7% year over year to $913.4 million, and non-GAAP EPS grew 13% to $1.64.Given the explosive trends Skyworks is poised to ride, and its solid top- and bottom-line growth, investors might expect Skyworks to trade at a lofty valuation -- but they would be wrong. With a trailing 12-month adjusted EPS of $7.03, shares are currently fetching a price just below $100, giving the stock a low P/E ratio of 14. This makes Skyworks one of the most compelling values in the stock market today in my book, which is why I have allocated a large portion of my personal portfolio to its shares.
Pick up great stocks on the cheap
While it is hard to find good bargains on Wall Street now, they are still out there for those who diligently seek them out. Both HP and Skyworks Solutions are commanding their industries and growing their bottom lines by double-digit percentages. Despite that, both sell at valuations far below the market average. I have made both of them core positions in my own portfolio, and believe investors could do far worse than giving them a closer look.
