Once high-flying stocks have continued to take a beating. One of the sectors where this has been the most apparent is in tech. In this segment of Backstage Pass recorded on Jan. 28, Fool contributors Jon Quast, Rachel Warren, Jason Hall, and Toby Bordelon talk about innovation.
Jon Quast: I was thinking about this question, Toby, is the tech boom over forever? I was reminded that the bad guy in The Incredibles movie, you guys seen that? The old Pixar film, the bad guy Syndrome, what is he saying?
Rachel Warren: Yeah.
Jon Quast: He's going to make everybody super. Then when everybody is super, nobody will be. I feel like it's that way with tech. Isn't everybody a tech company now? To say that it was a tech boom, they're all technology companies. McDonald's is investing in AI for their drive-through. All companies are tech companies.
I'm super bullish on innovation. I think that that is going to always continue wherever innovation may lead us. But one thing I wanted to share, and this isn't to say go out and buy the stock today. It is a stock that I recently bought.
It is the newest addition to the Jon Quast portfolio, but this is 23andMe. This is a super big bull when it comes to data, I love big data. This is the genetic data set that I want to invest in.
Almost 12 million people have their whole genome sequenced by this company. In human history, we've never had access to this data set and 23andMe has got it.
Jason Hall: We'll finally figure out what the hell to do with it. They have a massive amount.
Jon Quast: That's the thing. Over 40 programs right now developing some personalized medicine based on the genetic data. This is an innovation that has never happened in human history and we can invest in it now. I just think that's really cool. Across the stock market, there's innovations.
Some things that we're not even thinking out right now, or thinking about the quantum computing, when that actually comes forward, like they're saying it could, that's going to revolutionize everything. Innovation, I'm bullish on, tech boom, maybe we shouldn't have been using that term.
Toby Bordelon: VC-fueled tech-boom may be over, but the innovation boom is just getting started. That's Jon Quast. 23andMe off by 75%, off of its high of last year. If you loved it in January 2021, you love it even more now. Potentially you might want to look at it.
Jon Quast: It's a $2 billion company and it has $700 million in cash. I like that. [laughs]
Toby Bordelon: That's not bad, they reported earnings I saw Feb. 10. Those of you who are out there might be considering them. Few weeks, we'll have more info. It's good to know.
