Technology investors might still be licking their wounds from a dismal 2022 when the Nasdaq-100 index plunged by 33%. But we're in a new year, and the index is off to a hot start with a gain of 20% so far.

There's still a long way to go -- it will have to rise another 27% from here to reclaim its all-time high -- but there are signs economic pressures are easing, which should help elevate the broader market.

With that in mind, there are plenty of quality stocks that could benefit from an improving environment. Wall Street is overwhelmingly bullish on two in particular, according to the analysts tracked by The Wall Street Journal. Here's why it's not too late to buy them.

1. Sea Limited

The consumer has been the biggest casualty of high inflation and rising interest rates, which has dealt a blow to companies reliant on consumer spending. Sea Limited (SE 0.05%) is one of them, as the majority of its revenue comes from e-commerce and gaming. 

To make matters worse, investors punished its stock because the company focused heavily on growth at the expense of profitability, and that's deemed a risky strategy in challenging economic circumstances. But to Sea Limited's credit, it answered that call by delivering a surprise $422 million in net income in the fourth quarter -- a major improvement from losing $616 million in the prior-year period. 

It slashed its sales and marketing expenses by 61% year over year, and trimmed its investments in research and development to get there. While that led to a slowdown in revenue growth to just 7%, it placed the company on a more stable footing to tackle 2023. Perhaps more importantly, the strategy won applause from investors, who sent its stock soaring after it delivered its Q4 results. 

Sea Limited is also grappling with a slowdown in its second-largest segment -- digital entertainment, led by its Garena game studio, developer of the mobile smash hit Free Fire. Gaming peaked in 2021 while people in much of the world were following pandemic-related social restrictions, so revenue for that segment fell 10% in 2022. 

Thankfully, that was offset by yet another strong year for its larger e-commerce business, which saw a 63% increase in revenue last year. It was driven by Shopee, a hybrid consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer platform that dominates Southeast Asia, and is quickly growing in emerging markets like South America.

If consumers find relief later this year thanks to falling inflation and a pause in the Federal Reserve's interest rate hikes, Sea Limited could see its overall growth accelerate once again. And its stock will be better positioned for upside than ever before thanks to the company's focus on profitability. 

Wall Street might be preparing for that reality -- of the 33 analysts tracked by The Wall Street Journal, 20 have given Sea Limited stock their highest-possible buy ratings, and just two analysts have given it sell recommendations. 

2. Zscaler

Each year, global consulting firm PwC surveys thousands of top corporate executives to gauge their sense of the economy, the political landscape, and the impending threats to their businesses. 

The 2023 edition of the survey revealed that 25% of the 4,410 respondents thought their companies would be either highly or extremely exposed to cyber risks over the next five years. And when asked what action they'd take to protect against geopolitical risks over the next 12 months, increasing their investment in cybersecurity was the top answer. 

That's one reason Wall Street is extremely bullish on stocks like Zscaler (ZS 1.28%). It's a specialist in zero trust technology, which is designed to protect critical networks from malicious actors in a business world that is increasingly operating online.

Cloud computing technology is great because it makes running a global organization almost borderless -- it connects employees in offices all around the world, and even those who are working from home. But when a worker accesses critical applications online, the company may have difficulty telling whether it's really the person they think it is, or if their employee's credentials have been compromised. That's the downfall of a simple username-and-password access system.

Zero trust is exactly what it sounds like. It treats all users as malicious, so when they attempt to sign in, it analyzes their location and the device they're using to make sure it's really them. Plus, it only connects them to the specific applications they're authorized to access, so if there is a breach, the hacker can't jump across to other assets within the network.

That's why, even in these complex economic times, Zscaler continues to grow rapidly. It expects to generate $1.56 billion in revenue in its fiscal 2023 (which will end July 31). That would amount to a 43% increase from its fiscal 2022.

The Wall Street Journal tracks 38 analysts covering Zscaler stock, and 22 of them have given it their highest-possible buy rating. And of the bunch, not a single analyst recommends selling. That's a bullish consensus worth paying attention to, especially since this company will likely benefit from rising demand for advanced cybersecurity tools for years to come.