It's been a rough year for the stock market as a whole, but it's been especially rough for tech stocks. The Nasdaq Composite Index -- which tracks the tech-heavy Nasdaq -- is down close to 30% YTD as of June 23.
Regardless of the performance of the broader market, there are some must-have stocks for your portfolio that you can grab during the current tech stock sell-off.
1. Apple
You'd be hard-pressed to find someone who doesn't think Apple (AAPL -1.22%) is a good company. Apple products may not be everyone's preference, but the company's current and historical impact on technology and society is undeniable. Even as the most valuable company in the U.S., the company isn't showing any signs of slowing down and still finds ways to continue its admirable growth.
Apple's financial success has largely depended on the iPhone, which accounts for over half of its net sales. The iPhone will continue to be Apple's bread and butter, but I believe one of its biggest growth opportunities, even with its current size, is its slow-but-sure entrance into the financial services space.
Apple crept into the financial space by releasing Apple Pay in 2014 and took it a step further when it released its Apple Card in 2019. But, its recent move -- Apple Pay Later, which gets the company into the growing buy now, pay later space -- is the sign it's ready to make a bigger move.
The company is also seeking a larger piece of the streaming pie, inking a deal with Major League Soccer (MLS) to exclusively stream every single MLS match on the Apple TV app beginning in 2023. In addition to the matches, the app will provide fans with original programming and content they won't receive anywhere else.
Apple still trails behind other popular streaming platforms like Netflix, HBO Max (part of Warner Bros. Discovery), and Disney+, but as the industry continues to transform, there's room for Apple to continue its growth in the space.
2. Amazon
Amazon (AMZN -2.56%) continues to dominate the e-commerce industry. The company's flagship subscription service, Amazon Prime, has over 200 million subscribers worldwide. However, I believe Amazon's growth ability won't rely on its e-commerce business, but on Amazon Web Services (AWS).
AWS is the world's largest cloud computing provider, and some of the biggest brands in the world rely on it for their operations. Operating at such a large scale requires sophisticated data centers, and those data centers require expensive chips, with customers inevitably incurring some costs. Other tech giants like Intel and Nvidia have dominated the chip market, but Amazon has begun developing its own chips, which it says are faster and 40% cheaper.
More products are increasingly reliant on semiconductors to not only function well, but to function at all. The number of semiconductors in cars is expected to approximately double from 2013 to 2030, and the semiconductor industry is expected to grow globally by 10% in 2022 to over $600 billion. As Amazon continues to invest in faster, cheaper chips, it will be in a position to use its size and reach to take advantage of an industry that is becoming a necessity and growing rapidly.
