Friday wasn't the most memorable day for investors. A scary virus in China is leading to concerns about its impact on the global economy, while there wasn't enough positive news to lift the key market indexes into positive territory.
Yet buoyed by the power of good quarterly results, a pair of tech stocks rose above the general market malaise on the last trading day of the week. Let's pull back the curtain to reveal these two companies, and look at whether their recent performances justify their Friday price pops.
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Intel
Times are certainly not cloudy for IT giant Intel (INTC 2.20%), and that's thanks in no small measure to the cloud.
Cloud services very much helped power Intel's Q4 of 2019 earnings, helping the company's total revenue grow by 8% to just over $20 billion. Non-GAAP (adjusted) net profit saw a very healthy 19% gain to $6.7 billion, or $1.52 per share. Both headline numbers beat the average analyst estimates, the earnings one by a considerable margin.
The company proffered guidance for Q1 and full-year 2020. For the latter period, it's estimating around $72.0 billion in revenue, with adjusted per-share earnings of $5.00. 2019's figures were $70.8 billion and $4.87, respectively.
As a longtime leader in the processor segment, Intel is very well positioned to take advantage of what CEO Robert Swan called the "insatiable appetite for data" of our age. And with its muscular cloud offerings, the company should continue to benefit from what's sure to be sustained high demand for this form of connectivity.
On the back of the results, Intel stock closed 8% higher on Friday, and is now at a nearly twenty year high. Given its position and potential, though, I don't think we've seen the peak, and I'd be quite bullish on Intel shares.
Atlassian
Intel's fellow tech stock Atlassian (TEAM 4.40%) also headed skyward Friday on the lift of good results. Its share price rose by nearly 11%.
The productivity software developer reported its Q2 of fiscal 2020 results after market close on Thursday, and investors really liked what they saw. It kept its excellent revenue growth momentum going, with a top line that came in 37% higher at $409 million. This was on the back of subscription revenue that advanced a sturdy 50%. Non-IFRS, or adjusted, net profit was $124 million ($0.49 per share).
As with Intel and the world's data needs, the project management solutions Atlassian provides have enjoyed strong demand that should last for some time. Everyone is building better, bigger, and faster apps and other types of software; Atlassian's products help these projects get to the finish line faster and more reliably. This stock still feels like a buy to me, even after today's double-digit price jump.
