After a dismal 2022, tech stocks have bounced back aggressively this year.
Driven by excitement over artificial intelligence (AI), signs that a recession could be averted, and falling inflation, the Nasdaq has charged 30% higher so far this year, easily outpacing both the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average.
While the Nasdaq has pulled back in the last couple of weeks, there's plenty of upside potential left, especially if the economy continues to improve. If you're looking to take advantage, here are two tech stocks that look ready for a bull run.
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1. Advanced Micro Devices
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD 2.37%) has a long history of outperformance in the semiconductor sector, and the company has steadily grabbed market share from Intel in the PC sector and also competes with Nvidia in the graphics processing unit segment, which is used for applications like gaming, autonomous vehicles, and artificial intelligence.
AMD's latest round of results was weak on a year-over-year basis as the semiconductor sector has been in a downturn, but the company did make progress on a sequential basis, showing that the worst of the slowdown seems to be behind it.
Revenue in the quarter was $5.36 billion, which was down 18% year over year and flat sequentially, while adjusted earnings per share fell 45% to $0.58.
Its data center, PC-focused client, and gaming segments also saw revenue decline, while the embedded segment, which focuses on chips for commercial and industrial applications, saw revenue increase 16% to $1.5 billion.
AMD's stock has started to rebound on signs of strength in the chip sector and on anticipation of its MI300 accelerators, which are due out in the fourth quarter.
The MI300 should position AMD as the best alternative to Nvidia in AI chips, and the surging demand that Nvidia is experiencing and reportedly having trouble fulfilling sets up an opportunity for AMD.
While the stock has already jumped this year in anticipation of the AI boom, there could be more gains once the MI300 comes out and as demand in areas like data center, PCs, and gaming strengthens.
2. Salesforce
Salesforce (CRM 0.42%) was one of the first cloud-based software companies, and it's steadily grown to establish itself as a leader in customer relationship management. The company also made several acquisitions in the last few years, including Slack, Mulesoft, and Tableau, but the stock has surged this year thanks to a renewed focus on profitability.
That shift was forced in part by slowing growth and a flagging stock price but also by the urging of activist investor Starboard Capital. While the company's growth has slowed, margins have greatly improved thanks to layoffs and other cost-cutting moves. It's also moving into generative AI with its Einstein GPT interface.
In its first-quarter earnings report, revenue rose 11%, or 13% in constant currency, to $8.25 billion, but adjusted earnings per share rose 72% to $1.69, and there are signs that the company can achieve further margin expansion.
In July, Salesforce announced list price increases for the first time in seven years. At an average of a 9% increase, the price hikes should flow directly to the bottom line, and the company is likely to receive little pushback as it has added a number of new releases and features since the last price hike.
Meanwhile, Starboard CEO Jeff Smith, whose company took an activist stake in Salesforce several months ago, said the company has the opportunity to expand its margins by 10 more percentage points.
Salesforce should also benefit from a rebound in demand for cloud software as the economy picks up, and its investments in AI also give the stock promising upside potential. At a forward price-to-earnings ratio of less than 30, the stock looks like a good bet to keep moving higher.
