The stock market is in bull mode, and it seems as if every time the market looks poised for a correction, the stocks that make up the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC 0.10%) are there to turn things around. That's exactly what happened on Friday, as the Nasdaq bounced back from early losses to rise 0.1% as of 11 a.m. EDT.
A couple of stocks are largely responsible for the optimistic view among Nasdaq investors. DocuSign (DOCU 1.02%) vaulted higher after a strong earnings report, while Broadcom (AVGO 0.61%) settled for more modest gains following its release of financials late Thursday. Both stocks have seen big gains in the past year, and both are poised to keep up their positive momentum well into the future.
DocuSign puts it in writing
Shares of DocuSign surged higher by almost 6% on Friday morning. That was enough to send the electronic signature and contract management specialist to a new all-time high, and investors were excited about what's to come for the company.
DocuSign's second-quarter numbers were strong. Revenue climbed 50% year over year on a 52% rise in subscription-based revenue. Billings climbed 47%, and gross margin jumped 4 percentage points to 82%. Adjusted earnings per share came close to tripling, going to $0.47 per share, with free cash flow rising at an annual pace of greater than 60%.
DocuSign also foresees continued growth. Projections for full-year sales of $2.078 billion to $2.088 billion were promising, with $2 billion of that coming from subscriptions. DocuSign expects gross margin levels to remain near 80%.
More than half a dozen stock analysts looked positively at the latest developments. The biggest change came from analysts at Needham, who boosted their price target on the stock by $65 to bring it to $340 per share. With DocuSign executing so well in e-signatures and looking to expand into adjacent contract management functions, investors are happy with the progress the company is making.
Image source: Getty Images.
Broadcom keeps heading higher
Elsewhere, shares of Broadcom were up nearly 2%. The semiconductor giant was able to do better than most had expected in its fiscal third quarter, and it sees good times lasting for a long time to come.
Broadcom's numbers showed the health of the semiconductor industry. Revenue of $6.78 billion was up 16% year over year. Adjusted earnings were up closer to 30% to $6.96 per share, which was quite a bit better than most investors had anticipated. Broadcom's semiconductor solutions business stood out, with 19% segment sales growth that outpaced the 10% gains for its infrastructure software business.
Broadcom's guidance was also encouraging. Fourth-quarter revenue should come in at around $7.35 billion, which would be about 2% higher than most of those following the stock expect and work out to roughly 14% year-over-year sales growth. CEO Hock Tan pointed to "multiple secular growth markets in cloud, 5G infrastructure, broadband, and wireless" that should help Broadcom's business prosper through the end of the year and beyond.
For investors, Broadcom has a lot to offer. It's rare to find healthy dividend income and growth potential in tech, but Broadcom has both, and it could have a lot more of both for long-term investors in the stock.
