According to Fundstrat’s Tom Lee, the U. S. economy has tremendous amounts of green flags to prevent a recession from occurring in the coming years.
In Lee’s opinion, a strong job market, continual decreases in inflation expectations, and falling rent prices are all contributing factors that bode well for stock market growth. The robust labor force growth, averaging 1.9% annually since 2021, has provided a resilient economy during the Federal Reserve’s recent monetary tightening efforts. Moreover, the significant decrease in consumer inflation expectations indicates long-term stability. Lastly, the reduction in rent prices from their 2021 peaks supports overall economic health and stock market growth.
Therefore, these three technology stocks are the ones to buy now for strong returns in the long term.
Cloudflare Incorporated (NET)
Cloudflare Incorporated (NYSE:NET) is an IT service management company that specializes in content delivery network services, cloud cybersecurity, and web domain registration services. Yahoo! Finance reports 25 analysts predicting a 1-year price range on NET stock between $43.00 and $90.00, with a mean of $70.00.
Cloudflare boasts impressive financials with revenue of $308.4 million for Q2 2023, growing at a 31.4% 1-year CAGR, and excellent profitability with a 75.5% gross profit margin. The company has signs of exceptional management, as operational expenditures are well managed evident in a 15.2% levered FCF margin.
NET has made partnerships across a variety of industries for future growth. The company partnered with Cowbell, a cyber insurance provider for mid-sized enterprises. Also, SpaceX has partnered with Cloudflare to improve network speeds on SpaceX’s internet satellite service, Starlink. Another deal with IBM implements Cloudflare’s Bot Management software on IBM Cloud Internet Services (CIS).
NET is a technology stock with long-term upsides due to its impressive financials, projected industry growth, and its ability to develop partnerships across various industries.
Opera Limited (OPRA)
Opera Limited (NASDAQ:OPRA) is a Norwegian conglomerate holding company primarily known for its various desktop and mobile browsers.
OPRA stock is up 133.00% year to date (YTD). The software market is currently worth $338.20 billion and projected to grow to $414.70 billion in 2028. The company reported a quarterly revenue of $94.13 million that grew 20.94% year over year (YOY). Diluted EPS was also reported to be $0.14, which grew by 333.33%, and the net profit margin of 14.38% grew by 291.73%.
Throughout this past year, Opera has made many advancements in integrating AI into its services. A major announcement is the partnership between OpenAI to develop Opera’s AI-generated content (AIGC) ambitions. This gives it access to OpenAI’s market-leading application programming interface (API) and AI models, as well as direct support from OpenAI’s team.
Since this announcement, Opera has released its Aria AI to assist users for research, coding, and customer support. Aria has been released for all of Opera’s major products, including its Opera One (desktop), Opera GX (desktop), Android, and iOS browsers.
Yahoo! Finance reported four analysts in August, all of which rated OPRA stock as a “buy” or “strong buy”. The mean 1-year price target on OPRA stock from these analysts resulted in $20.25, with a low of $18.00 to a high of $23.00.
International Business Machines (IBM)
Founded 112 years ago, International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) manufactures and sells computer hardware, middleware, and software. Yahoo! Finance reports 16 analysts predicting a 1-year price range on IBM stock between $110.00 and $162.00, with a mean of $143.75.
The global information technology industry is forecast to grow to $11,866.34 billion by 2025 at a 9% CAGR. A range of IT services bolsters the IT sector growth. Also, cloud computing services are likely to drive demand and revenue for IT services.
IBM’s latest AI launch, WatsonX, offers a promising boost to the company’s stock growth. The platform capitalizes on cost-effective, large language models such as ChatGPT, making it accessible for AI adoption for businesses.
Moreover, WatsonX’s versatility in training AI models, generating code, and leveraging large language models positions IBM for substantial market expansion. Collaborations with open-source AI initiatives like Hugging Face further showcase IBM’s groundwork for future plans.
IBM is a must-buy tech stock right now for a good long-term investment because of its strong financials, plans, and forward-looking goals.
On the date of publication, Michael Que did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines