Last week brought news of several big tech earnings reports and product debuts. There was a lot of buzz around giants Google (GOOG) and Apple (AAPL) in particular. But those heavyweights weren’t the only tech stocks that turned heads last week and that you should keep a close eye on during this week’s trading.
Let’s take a look at three other hot tech stocks to watch — Facebook (FB), Salesforce.com (CRM) and Amazon (AMZN):
Facebook Stock (FB): The reason you should watch Facebook this week is obvious. It’s earnings come out on Tuesday.
The social media star is sitting near an all-time high, trading at around $80 this morning. Facebook’s stock has soared almost 50% since the start of 2014. Put another way, shares are worth around four times what they were just over two years ago. Now many investors are just waiting for Facebook to march all the way up to the triple-digits.
But expectations are pretty darn high for the third quarter earnings report. Analysts consensus is for a 55% increase in revenues and an even faster 60% jump in earnings per share. CNN Money‘s recent article, “Can Facebook Live Up to the Hype?” was certainly asking the right question.
Salesforce.com Stock (CRM): The next in our list of hot tech stocks to watch hasn’t had quite the same kind of stellar returns as Facebook stock this year, but it did post a sharp rise last week. Shares of CRM are barely beating the broader market with an 9% gain year-to-date. But investors should still keep an eye on Salesforce.com– the leader in the customer relationship management software — considering the stock booked a 7% climb last week alone.
That upwards momentum comes just a couple of weeks after its monster annual Dreamforce conference, where the company unveiled a new analytics platform and put on quite a show.
Amazon Stock (AMZN): The third on our list of hot tech stocks to watch doesn’t have recent positive momentum in its corner — but that’s precisely why investors may want to tune in.
Amazon stock got slapped around big-time last week after the company posted its worst quarterly loss in over a decade and topped that off with a sub par holiday forecast. AMZN stock fell 8% on Friday alone. That just added insult to injury. Amazon stock was already having a rough year, and losses are nearing 30% for all of 2014.
According to InvestorPlace’s Dan Burrows, investors would be smart to snatch up some shares of Amazon stock on the dip. As he aptly put it:
“When it comes to investing in Amazon stock, you have to realize that running at a loss isn’t a bug, it’s a feature.
As with Bond villains, CEO Jeff Bezos won’t stop growing Amazon until it reaches world domination. (The company, for its part, says it simply has too many great opportunities to ignore.) One day, AMZN’s high-spending days will come to an end, and that will open a firehose of profits for shareholders and Amazon stock to enjoy.”
It’s hardly an easy call, however, whether it’s smarter to try to snag some shares of Amazon at a relative discount or ride the upwards momentum of a company like Facebook. With AMZN you risk suffering additional losses, but with FB, you risk buying the top.
Either way, these two tech stocks, plus CRM, should be on your radar as this week’s show is just getting started.
As of this writing, Robert Martin did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
