Technology stocks are continuing a long downward slide triggered partly by the Federal Reserve's plan to bring inflation levels down from their 40-year highs by raising interest rates and tightening the money supply. Since the start of 2022, the Nasdaq Composite has receded by 28%, and the sell-off will likely proceed until investors can get a clearer picture of the economic outlook.
Periodic stock market corrections are inevitable, and as savvy investors, we should look to take advantage of them when they occur. After all, many great companies are now trading at steep discounts and could generate excellent returns for patient investors over the long run. On that note, here are two tech stocks investors should pounce on right now.
1. Microsoft
Software giant Microsoft (MSFT -0.18%) has fallen by 21% year to date despite its ongoing successes on the operational front. In its fiscal 2022 third quarter, which ended March 31, the company's sales grew 18.4% year over year to $49.4 billion, and its adjusted earnings per share increased by 13.8% to $2.22. That impressive top-line growth was led by its Intelligent Cloud business segment, where revenues soared by 26% to $19.1 billion. The company's GAAP gross profit margin dropped by 36 basis points to 68.4%, but its operating margin expanded by 38 basis points to 41.3%.
For the fiscal year, Wall Street analysts project the company's top and bottom lines to increase by 18.4% and 15.7%, respectively. In fiscal 2023, analysts' consensus expectation is that sales will climb another 14%, and earnings per share will rise 15.3%. These growth rates, combined with Microsoft's $12.5 billion in cash and cash equivalents and $63.6 billion in free cash flow generated in the past 12 months, make the software titan a compelling buy at the moment.
Even better, Microsoft currently trades at 27.6 times earnings, well below its 5-year average price-to-earnings multiple of 34.6. When investors are presented with a chance to buy shares of a best-in-class tech company at a discounted valuation, they shouldn't hesitate to seize the opportunity.
2. Zoom Video Communications
Shares of videoconferencing juggernaut Zoom Video Communications (ZM 0.31%) have cooled off from their red-hot rise earlier in the COVID-19 pandemic. The stock has fallen by 42% since the beginning of 2022, and it's down by more than 70% over the past year. Nevertheless, although its growth rates were underwhelming in its most recently reported quarter, Zoom remains a highly profitable business that possesses promising commercial prospects over the long run.
In its first quarter, total sales climbed 12.3% year over year to $1.07 billion, and adjusted earnings per share declined 22% to $1.03. The company's GAAP operating margin also contracted by 630 basis points to 17.4%. But despite some growth hiccups, the business is holding up just fine in a post-lockdown world. The number of Zoom customers spending more than $100,000 with it over the trailing 12-month period rose by 45.9% year over year to 2,916 as companies embraced remote work and flexible hybrid models.
Commanding 48.7% of the global videoconferencing market, Zoom seems well-positioned to sustain solid growth in an industry that is projected by the researchers at Fortune Business Insights to grow at a compound annual rate of 11.3% through 2029 to a value of $14.6 billion. And given that the company is trading at an all-time low price-to-sales multiple of 7.9, I believe investors who buy the stock today will enjoy a favorable margin of safety.
