It is difficult to find high-growth companies trading at attractive valuations, especially in the technology sector, where stocks usually trade at rich valuations. The rich valuations happen because they tend to outperform the broader market on the back of disruptive products and services that may fuel rapid long-term growth.
Not surprisingly, the average price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 Index stands at 38.4 as compared to the Dow Jones Industrial Average's average P/E ratio of 26.3 and the S&P 500's average multiple of 36.6.
However, there are a few tech companies that continue to trade at attractive valuations despite crushing the broader market. Qorvo (QRVO 2.27%) and Jabil (JBL -1.46%) are two stocks that have made investors significantly richer over the past five years.
QRVO data by YCharts
For example, a $1,000 investment in Qorvo five years ago would be worth almost $3,100 now. A similar investment in Jabil would be worth close to $2,700 now. The good part is that both companies could at least equal, if not outperform, their stellar gains in the coming years. Let's take a look at the reasons why it still makes sense to invest $1,000 in these tech stocks.
Qorvo: Riding the 5G wave
Qorvo is benefiting from multiple hot tech trends right now, but its biggest catalyst remains the 5G smartphone market. The chipmaker's revenue in fiscal 2021 (which ended on April 3) shot up 24% year over year to $4.02 billion. It finished the year with a gross profit margin of 46.9%, up substantially over the prior year's figure of 40.8%.
Qorvo credited the "higher demand for our 5G mobile solutions, 5G base station products, and Wi-Fi products" for this impressive showing. The good news is that all these verticals are still in their early phases of growth. For instance, 5G smartphone shipments are expected to jump from an estimated 239 million units in 2020 to 1.12 billion units by 2025, according to Taiwan-based Market Intelligence & Consulting Institute.
Image source: Getty Images.
With Qorvo getting just over 71% of its total revenue from the mobile products segment last quarter, the 5G smartphone boom is going to move the needle significantly for the company. After all, the chipmaker supplies its wireless components to the leading players in the 5G smartphone space, including Apple (AAPL 0.52%). The iPhone maker produced 30% of Qorvo's total revenue last fiscal year.
This sizable reliance on Apple is a good thing for Qorvo as the tech giant is on fire in the 5G smartphone era. The iPhone 12 has been a runaway hit among consumers looking to make the move to a 5G device from their older iPhones, and there are at least 800 million customers in Apple's installed base that have yet to make the move to 5G. As a result, Apple is going to be a long-term catalyst for Qorvo's mobile business thanks to the massive iPhone volume opportunity at hand.
Its relationship with other smartphone OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) such as Samsung and Xiaomi will also come in handy in the long run, as these companies are dominant players in the 5G smartphone market along with Apple.
More importantly, the improved 5G smartphone volumes will help Qorvo generate faster revenue and earnings growth. That's because the radio-frequency (RF) content in mid-range 5G smartphones is doubling over their 4G predecessors, while high-end devices are witnessing an additional $5 to $7 in wireless content.
Thanks to the 5G tailwind, Qorvo is anticipated to record 16% annual earnings growth for the next five years, up from the 6% annual growth seen in the last five years. This makes it an attractive growth stock to buy right now at 29.7 times trailing earnings, which is lower than the Nasdaq 100 Index's rich multiple we saw earlier.
Jabil: Diverse growth drivers should lead to better times
Jabil has made a fine comeback this year after the novel coronavirus pandemic derailed the company's growth in 2020. The contract electronics manufacturer delivered a solid third-quarter earnings report in June, recording 14% year-over-year revenue growth to $7.2 billion. Non-GAAP earnings had shot up to $1.30 per share during the quarter from $0.37 per share a year ago.
Even better, Jabil upgraded its full-year guidance on the back of impressive momentum in the cloud, mobility, semiconductor, automotive, and connected devices markets. These end markets are on track to grow nicely for Jabil this year and beyond.
In mobility, for instance, Jabil expects $4.1 billion in revenue this fiscal year, up 24% over fiscal 2020. That's not surprising as 20% of the company's total revenue comes from manufacturing casings for Apple's iPhone and iPad. We have already seen that Apple's 5G iPhones are selling like hotcakes, and they can keep doing so thanks to an upgrade supercycle that's currently playing out. This should rub off positively on Jabil's prospects as well since it has a close relationship with Apple.
However, Jabil draws its revenue from a wider number of verticals. The automotive and transportation segment, for example, is expected to deliver $2.2 billion in revenue this year, up 29% from last year. This business seems to have solid long-term potential as the global automotive contract manufacturing space is expected to clock 7.2% annual growth through 2027, according to a third-party estimate.
Similarly, Jabil provides contract manufacturing services to connected device manufacturers, semiconductor capital equipment makers, cloud computing customers, and networking and storage providers, among others. Grand View Research estimates that the global contract electronics manufacturing market could be worth $800 billion by 2027 as compared to $417 billion at the end of 2019.
Not surprisingly, Jabil's bottom line is expected to grow at nearly 20% per year for the next five years, as it seems to be on track to take advantage of the huge end-market opportunity that lies ahead. And now would be a great time to buy this tech stock as it is trading at just 14 times trailing earnings, which makes it way cheaper than the indexes discussed earlier. What's more, Jabil's forward earnings multiple of just 9.3 makes it even more attractive, giving investors another great reason to consider putting $1,000 in the stock.
