Tech stocks have been hit hard recently. The tech-heavy Nasdaq index was down as much as 10.5% from its 52-week high earlier this week, and many individual stocks have dropped much more. But that volatility is part of investing, and it's a good reminder that investing is best done with a long-term mindset.
Rather than selling when things go south, prudent investors should instead consider adding a few shares to their portfolios while they are trading at a discount. If you're searching for suggestions on some good buys at the moment, MongoDB (MDB 1.66%), Walt Disney (DIS 0.62%), and NVIDIA (NVDA +2.59%) look like good stocks to buy. Here's why.
1. MongoDB: The modern database
Databases play a crucial role in powering applications. They provide the repository where information can be kept, organized, and accessed. Traditionally, databases have stored data in a tabular format (rows and columns). But modern applications generate much more data than legacy software, and that data is unstructured, meaning it doesn't fit neatly into rows and columns.
Image source: Getty Images.
MongoDB is a modern document database that offers greater flexibility, performance, and scalability than traditional relational databases. Specifically, it allows developers to store the large amounts of unstructured data created by modern applications -- think images, videos, and social media posts. And as application usage rises, enterprises can cost-efficiently scale the database to support increased demand. That's much more difficult with relational databases.
Ultimately, this means developers waste less time configuring data. And for MongoDB's clients, that translates into faster development at a lower cost. In fact, compared to legacy solutions, MongoDB enables developers to work three to five times more quickly, while cutting costs by up to 70%.
Given the benefits, it's not surprising that MongoDB has attracted numerous high-profile customers like Adobe Systems, Alphabet's Google, and Electronic Arts. And there's no going back: Applications will continue to produce enormous amounts of data, and enterprises that want to compete in a data-driven world will need to adopt solutions like MongoDB. And with the stock down over 25% from its 52-week high, this looks like a good opportunity for investors to grab a few shares.
2. Disney: The entertainer
Walt Disney may not be at the top of many tech investors' watchlists, but I think it should be. During a period defined by social distancing, business closures, and dramatic change in the media landscape, Disney's performance has been impressive.
Despite launching just 16 months ago, Disney+ has already added over 100 million subscribers. And while the company still trails Netflix by a wide margin in terms of overall subscribers, its treasure trove of popular content (think Star Wars, Marvel, and Pixar) is a big advantage.
But Disney also has other irons in the fire. For instance, Disney-owned Hulu captured over 24% of U.S. Connected TV ad spend in 2020, according to eMarketer, ranking first over rivals like YouTube and Roku. Additionally, many viewers still want access to live TV, and Hulu+ is the leading live TV streaming platform worldwide with over 4 million subscribers.
Going forward, the company is well-positioned for growth. Its ability to release original series like The Mandalorian and WandaVision should continue to draw new subscribers. And Disney has dozen of shows in the works. For instance, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is set to launch on March 19, and Loki is slated for early June.
Likewise, according to CFO Christine McCarthy, Disney World attendance "grew significantly" in the first quarter of fiscal 2021. This is an indication of pent-up consumer demand, and that trend should only intensify as social distancing measures are relaxed.
For those reasons, this could be an opportune time for tech investors to buy a few shares of Disney.
3. NVIDIA: The supercomputing platform
NVIDIA is a semiconductor manufacturer best known as the inventor of the graphics processing unit (GPU). These chips were originally built to bring stunning visual effects to movies and video games, but GPUs are also highly efficient parallel processors, capable of performing thousands of operations at once.
This makes them ideal for accelerating heavy workload applications like artificial intelligence, data analytics, and high-performance computing. That has powered NVIDIA's market share gains in the data center business, and it primed the company for success in trendy tech areas like autonomous vehicles, augmented and virtual reality, and robotics.
Image source: NVIDIA
As a practical example, NVIDIA GPUs have played an important role in the fight against COVID-19, enabling healthcare professionals to rapidly sequence the viral genome, accurately diagnose infections from lung scans, and analyze real-time infection rate data.
Notably, NVIDIA's first-mover status has helped it capture an enormous chunk of the market for data center accelerators. In fact, a report published in May 2019 indicated that the top four cloud service providers used NVIDIA GPUs in 97.4% of compute instances. By comparison, second-place AMD had roughly 1% market share.
In fiscal 2021, NVIDIA's revenue growth accelerated to 53%, driven by strong performance in its gaming and data center businesses. Moreover, the company's operating margin expanded 100 basis points to 27.2%.
Going forward, NVIDIA's reputation for premiere computing products should keep the company ahead of its rivals. And a decade from now, NVIDIA technology could very well power many self-driving cars, autonomous robots, and virtual reality platforms. That's why now looks like a good time for investors to buy a few shares.
