MU - Micron Technology, Inc.

NasdaqGS - NasdaqGS Real Time Price. Currency in USD
44.66
-0.56 (-1.24%)
At close: 4:00PM EDT

43.94 -0.72 (-1.61%)
After hours: 7:59PM EDT

Stock chart is not supported by your current browser
Previous Close45.22
Open45.30
Bid43.82 x 3200
Ask43.97 x 1400
Day's Range44.62 - 45.70
52 Week Range28.39 - 51.39
Volume14,007,587
Avg. Volume23,443,763
Market Cap49.296B
Beta (3Y Monthly)1.86
PE Ratio (TTM)8.11
EPS (TTM)5.51
Earnings DateDec 16, 2019 - Dec 20, 2019
Forward Dividend & YieldN/A (N/A)
Ex-Dividend Date1996-05-07
1y Target Est54.48
Trade prices are not sourced from all markets
  • GuruFocus.com

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  • Global Tech Fund Manager Bets on Samsung Over Apple and Alphabet
    Bloomberg

    Global Tech Fund Manager Bets on Samsung Over Apple and Alphabet

    (Bloomberg) -- A top-performing global technology fund manager has raised bets on Samsung Electronics Co., making the stock the number one holding in his portfolio, ahead of Apple Inc. or Alphabet Inc.Hyunho Sohn, portfolio manager at FIL Investment Management whose Fidelity Global Technology fund runs about $4.8 billion of assets, said he has been adding positions in the world’s largest memory-chip maker since late 2018. He interpreted the sharp plunge in Samsung’s share price toward the end of that year as an opportunity, and he believes in the long-term growth of the tech giant.“If you ask me why I bought the stock, while the chip cycle was experiencing a downturn, I’d say I have faith in its fundamentals from a long-term perspective,” Sohn said in a telephone interview from London. “Samsung is a typical example of my strategy, which is buying an undervalued stock that the market participants hate temporarily.”Read about Bloomberg Intelligence’s take on the global chip sector hereHis fund, which holds about 60 global technology stocks, has beaten 98% of its peers with an annualized return of about 20% over the past five years, according to Bloomberg-compiled data. The fund’s top five holdings also include Alphabet, Apple, Intel Corp., and Microsoft Corp.The potential growth in demand for memory chips is apparent in the growing needs of cloud storage and service providers alongside the artificial intelligence industry that needs data storage, he said, adding he is also watching the development of 5G networks, which may drive demand for memory chips. Compared with global tech stocks, valuations of Samsung are “still attractive,” he added.Read more: Samsung’s Stock Is Signaling a Bottom for the Global Chip MarketAlthough Samsung’s forward price-to-earnings ratio of 12.6 times is not cheap compared with its historical average, it still lags Micron Technology Inc.’s 14.7 times and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company’s 18.6. On forward price-to-book terms, Samsung is trading at 1.2 times, lower than almost all of its peers.Shares of Samsung have risen about 30% this year as overseas investors bought net 4.3 trillion won ($3.6 billion) of shares, the most sought-after stock on Korea’s KOSPI benchmark this year.Read more: TSMC’s $15 Billion Splurge Galvanizes Hope of 5G-Led ReboundTo be sure, it’s not all rosy for the memory chip sector. Micron, the third-largest player in the industry, released disappointing sales forecasts last month. And Samsung’s third-quarter preliminary earnings guidance announced earlier this month is less than half of its operating profits a year earlier. Chip prices have also been mixed. Contract prices for 32-gigabyte DRAM server modules fell 13.8% in the third quarter from the previous three-month period, while those for 128-gigabit MLC NAND flash memory chips rose 12.3%, according to inSpectrum Tech Inc.“I know we don’t see clear signs of recovery in the memory chip industry yet,” Sohn said. “But for me, based on valuations, long-term growth potential, and balance sheet metrics like free cash flow, Samsung is a stock that I am comfortable with having large positions in. I still see an upside for the stock.”(Adds Sohn’s comment on 5G in paragraph after the first chart)To contact the reporter on this story: Heejin Kim in Seoul at hkim579@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Lianting Tu at ltu4@bloomberg.net, Vlad SavovFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

  • China Surveillance Giant Expects Client Losses From U.S. Ban
    Bloomberg

    China Surveillance Giant Expects Client Losses From U.S. Ban

    (Bloomberg) -- Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Co. warned it may lose customers in overseas markets because of its U.S. blacklisting, underscoring the extent to which curbs on the sale of American technology may hurt the world’s largest video surveillance business.Executives at the Chinese camera provider, which reported profit in line with estimates, said clients may hold off on purchases while they gauge the impact of those restrictions. But the company is large enough to withstand U.S. sanctions and develop its own technology in the longer term, they said. Its own home market remains a rich vein of revenue as the U.S. business shrinks, a trend that may persist, Huang Fanghong, a Hikvision senior vice president, said on a call Saturday. Its shares gained as much as 5.4% Monday -- the most in more than a month on an intraday basis.Hikvision found itself in the cross-hairs of the Trump administration this month after it joined other Chinese companies -- including Huawei Technologies Co. -- on an Entity List that prevents American firms from supplying it with components and software. The seller of video cameras used around the world in surveillance was accused of involvement in human rights violations against Muslim minorities in the far-western region of Xinjiang. On Monday, brokerages including Citigroup and CICC cut their projections on Hikvision’s 2020 earnings growth.“While management says they expect the worst is over, we believe some customers may have concerns on the impact of the Entity List,” Citigroup analysts wrote.Hikvision executives say they had anticipated the action and stockpiled enough key parts to keep operations going for some time. The company has also said it didn’t foresee major impact on its business as a result of the ban.In Huawei’s case, for instance, some suppliers including Intel Corp. and Micron Technology Inc. developed workaround solutions to the prohibition. Most of Hikvision’s American suppliers are continuing to do business with it, while abiding by export regulations and without the need for special licenses, according to Huang.“We have made a great deal of preparations, from a year ahead of the ban,” Huang said. “There’s no way for us to fully discuss the impact from the entity list in 10 days. We need more time to talk to our suppliers and customers. A steady component supply is key in this process, no matter if we decide to use original materials or a replacement design.”The U.S. decision, which came on the eve of sensitive trade negotiations, takes President Donald Trump’s economic war against China in a new direction: the first time his administration has cited human rights as a reason for action. It deals a potentially heavy long-term blow against Hikvision, which has steadily switched to Chinese-made components in recent years but still relies on the likes of Intel, ON Semiconductor Corp. and Texas Instruments Inc., particularly for higher-end chips.Still, as much as 80% of Hikvision’s sales are insulated from the U.S. ban, analysts Charles Shum and Simon Chan of Bloomberg Intelligence wrote in an Oct. 8 note.“Hikvision’s sales may continue to rise over the next year despite the Trump administration’s decision,” they wrote. “It can also source alternative parts, though with a weaker performance, from local suppliers in the medium term.”Hikvision reported Friday that net income grew 17% to 3.81 billion yuan ($538 million) in the September quarter, while revenue grew 23%. The company forecast growth of 5% to 20% in net income this year.Hikvision was added to the Entity List alongside SenseTime Group Ltd. and Megvii Technology Ltd., two giant enterprises Beijing is counting on to spearhead advances into a revolutionary technology. Hikvision doesn’t play as outsized a role in China’s ambitions but it’s a key partner to Beijing as well as governments around the world. Its cameras are used from Paris to Bangkok and Urumqi, and are considered pivotal to crime prevention as well as helping build “smart cities” or networked urban environments.Longer term, U.S. sanctions threaten to crimp some of the explosive growth Hikvision has managed this decade, in large part due to China’s effort to put in place the world’s largest surveillance and monitoring network. The company may find itself short of the components it needs to build advanced systems, unless Chinese chipmakers succeed in developing more advanced chips -- another of Beijing’s stated policy ambitions in tech.Thanks to cheap but capable cameras, the Chinese company has enjoyed double-digit growth over the past eight years. Demand for its surveillance cameras, video storage and data analysis services has boomed particularly in its home market. Overseas, the company competes against Canon, Hanwha Techwin and Bosch.(Updates with shares and analysts’ actions from the second paragraph)To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Gao Yuan in Beijing at ygao199@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Edwin Chan at echan273@bloomberg.net, Colum MurphyFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

  • Earnings: XLNX and TXN Stocks in Focus This Week
    Market Realist

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    Major chip companies Texas Instruments (TXN) and Xilinx (XLNX) released their earnings last week and saw their stocks fall.

  • 5 prominent U.S. companies are most at fault for the earnings recession
    MarketWatch

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  • Semiconductor Stocks Rally, But Is A True Recovery On The Horizon?
    Investor's Business Daily

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  • Intel Q3 2019 Earnings Preview: Will INTC Stock Climb?
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  • GlobeNewswire

    Micron Appoints Paul Marosvari as Chief Accounting Officer

    BOISE, Idaho, Oct. 17, 2019 -- Micron Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq: MU), today announced that the company has named Paul Marosvari as Micron’s vice president and chief accounting.

  • Don't Ignore The Fact That This Insider Just Sold Some Shares In Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)
    Simply Wall St.

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  • When To Buy Growth Stocks: Micron, Salesforce Formed This Pattern For Big Profits
    Investor's Business Daily

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  • RBC: 3 Semiconductor Stock Giants Primed for Gains
    TipRanks

    RBC: 3 Semiconductor Stock Giants Primed for Gains

    The tech industry generates both profits and headlines, but as the last year has shown, it’s not always the right investment for the faint-hearted. The semiconductor sector has shown extreme volatility in the past 18 months, as it is highly sensitive to the US-China trade war. Semiconductor chips are the third largest export from the US, and much of that trade is with China; the sector has bounced up and down in line with news of new tariffs, possible deals, broken talks, and resumed negotiations.Long-term, however, chips have been an excellent investment. The industry as a whole is up over 430% in the last 10 years, so the key here is patience more than quick returns. Most of the major chip companies have already warned that 2H19 results will miss the estimates, and shares are down in response. But is this the time to buy the dip?There are some who say it is. Len Jelinek, senior director of semiconductor manufacturing for IHS Markit, says, “Every market downturn has ended with the arrival of a technical innovation that spurred a major increase in demand… Now another historic innovation is set to take its place among these advances: 5G. However, 5G's impact will spread far beyond the confines of the tech industry, impacting every aspect of society and driving new economic activity that will spur rising demand for microchips.” His firm predicts a semiconductor rebound next year, with 5.9% industry growth for 2020. In dollar terms, the forecast is an industry increase from $422 billion to $448 billion, as the global switch to 5G brings renewed growth as tech adapts and upgrades – and replaces outmoded chips.The profit potential inherent in 5G, and consequent increased demand, has caught the attention of RBC Capital’s 5-star analyst Mitch Steves. Steves is an expert on the tech sector, with a 72% success rate on his stock reviews, and an impressive 19.9% average return on his recommendations. He’s weighed in on three major players in the US semiconductor scene, and explained what makes each of them a compelling buy. We’ve dipped into TipRanks’ database to find out what he has to say.Advanced Micro Devices (AMD)The smallest of the three chip companies that Steves reviewed, AMD boasts a market cap of $33.6 billion and brought in $6.48 billion in revenues last year. In recent weeks, AMD received a much-needed confidence booster from Microsoft, which announced that the latest version of its 15-inch Surface Laptop 3 will be powered by AMD’s new Ryzen chip. Microsoft’s move offers precedent for other computer manufacturers looking to shift away from the Inte chips that have long dominated the PC market.AMD’s gaming prospects are strong, as well. The company has announced a new line of Radeon chips that will compete with Nvidia’s mainstream offerings, although not in the high-end GPU market. If successful, the new RX 5500 should keep AMD’s GPU market share stable, providing a ready profit stream.Perhaps the most important development for AMD’s future line-up, however, is in the server processor segment. The company has plans for two new chips to target the server and data center markets. Releases are planned for the next 12 months, at a pace that will put AMD ahead of its competitors, and on track to see company-wide sales increase in coming years. Expectations are for a 4% gain in 2019, and an impressive 25% gain in 2020.Steves is definitely bullish on AMD. He writes, “Recent concern that AMD Ryzen 3 is having reliability issues is unfounded... If the stock remains at current levels and does not move notably higher before Q3 earnings, we would buy the stock more than usual.”Elaborating on the chip maker’s prospects, he describes the upside scenario as: “AMD rapidly gains share in the server market and sees continual high double-digit growth in Computing and Graphics. This creates a revenue base north of $10B and operating margins expand into the 20%+ territory. With a successful next-generation product launch, this allows the company to gain 30%+ share of the server market and we think the stock would be worth more than $60.”For now, Steves gives AMD a $44 price target, indicating confidence in a 45% growth potential over the next 12 months. The analyst consensus on AMD is a Moderate Buy, based on 8 "buy," "12 hold," and 1 "sell" ratings. The average price target of $33.29 points to an 8% upside. (See AMD stock analysis on TipRanks)Micron Technology (MU)Micron is the second-largest US semiconductor company, and the fifth largest globally. The company recorded an impressive $31.8 billion in sales for 2018, netting $5.09 billion in profits. Despite 16% earnings beat in its fiscal Q4 report, MU shares slipped in the last week of September. Investors were worried about a weaker outlook for NAND, and lower supply growth in DRAM.On the positive side, however, Micron is shipping its first 1z-nanometer chips, marking a production shift from 1x and 1y output. Demand for the company’s products is expected to increase in the coming year, as consumers grow more comfortable with the shift to solid-state drives. Micron is also expected to gain market share on non-volatile memory express and subsequent improvements in SSD sales.As for new technologies, Micron is in the center of the 5G rollout and is heavily exposed to the automotive industry. We discussed 5G above; regarding automotive, as car makers increase the computer components in cars – especially in the advent of autonomous vehicles – chip demand will increase rapidly. Micron is well-positioned to make gains in this segment.For the near-term, MU is forecast to hold steady in market share and sales. By 2021, however, the company is expected to see gains approaching 18%. This longer-term forecast makes sense of Mitch Steves’ comments on the stock. He writes, “We remain positive on Micron but keep our price target unchanged as we think the pricing flow through will take a quarter or two longer than expected (fundamentally, we think investors over-shot the near-term but the long-term could exceed new models). Positively, we think we’re past the bottom on NAND and DRAM is beginning to bottom.” Steves’ unchanged price target is $55, implying a 21% upside potential.Overall, MU’s Moderate Buy consensus comes from 16 "buy," 8 "hold," and 2 "sell" ratings assigned in the last three months. The stock’s $55 price target matches Steves’ forecast. (See Micron stock analysis on TipRanks)Nvidia Corporation (NVDA)Our final stock from Steves’ list is also the tenth-largest chipmaker in the world, counting by total sales. Nvidia recorded $12.8 billion in sales for 2018, which brought the company $4.1 billion in net income. Strong sales and income also support a dividend, another plus for investors. The annualized yield is decidedly modest, at 0.33%, but it does pay out 64 cents per share per year, and the company has been growing that payout reliably over the past six years.Nvidia is well known among gamers for its high-quality GPU chips, and the company holds a dominant position in that segment. Gamemaker Activision Blizzard has at least four upcoming titles that will be using Nvidia’s RTX platform, and important boon for the chip maker. As new titles come out, gamers are likely to upgrade their GPU chips to support them.The automotive sector is another plus for Nvidia. As autonomous vehicle technology comes ever closer, the car makers have more and more need for fast AI chips. Nvidia reported a $209 million jump in this segment in its last quarter, as it looks at sustained growth in chip sales for the automotive AI market. All in all, gaming and automotive will give Nvidia sales boosts in the near term. Market watchers see a 19% gain in the offing for 2020, and a further 16% in 2021.RBC's Steves takes all of this into account when he writes, “Our checks suggest that gaming demand is tracking slightly ahead of plan and we think Data Center is coming back in Q4. We raise our estimates and increase our price target to $217 (from $190). We think NVIDIA will be the best-performing large cap in our universe over the next 6–9 months.”Steves sums up his upbeat stance on NVDA in a single sentence: “We think results will be better than expected but our adjustments are modest in nature, as we hope that expectations do not getTo find more good ideas for chip stocks trading at fair value or better, visit TipRanks’ Best Stocks to Buy, a newly launched feature that unites all of TipRanks’ equity insights.

  • 5 Technology Stocks Set to Beat Estimates in Q3 Earnings
    Zacks

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  • Waiting It Out Remains the Best Call for OKTA Stock
    InvestorPlace

    Waiting It Out Remains the Best Call for OKTA Stock

    Seemingly in recent years, technology-related initial public offerings fall into two camps: those who perform stunningly well, and those that crumble badly. Identity management specialist Okta (NASDAQ:OKTA) definitely belongs in the former category. In April of 2017, OKTA stock started off with an IPO price of $17. Today, shares are a little bit shy of $116.Source: Michael Vi / Shutterstock.com Despite a general slowdown that started in August of this year and was exacerbated last month, Okta Inc stock has nevertheless enjoyed an overall brilliant performance. Since this January's opening price, OKTA has gained over 89% in the markets. And in the current month, shares are up nearly 18%.It's one of the few bright spots in an environment mostly focused on the unpredictable U.S.-China trade war negotiations. Further, the narrative behind this conflict helps bolster the argument for OKTA stock.InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading TipsWhile the headlines focus on the economic aspect of the trade war, what gets lost is how we got here. Unbalanced trade deficits, as well as China's stealing of intellectual property (IP) from American tech firms like Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU), have long dogged prior administrations. Contrary to the traditional strategy, though, President Donald Trump has thrown diplomacy out the window, instead opting for geopolitical hardball. * 7 Tech Stocks You Should Avoid Now But underlining this nasty and ongoing dispute is the need for digital security. OKTA specializes in identity management, which involves much more than making sure only the right people can access specific information. Rather, the company recognizes that we live in a digitally interconnected world. Their technologies facilitate collaboration while still protecting IP and other valuable assets.In the past, this has driven Okta Inc stock. But is there enough room today for a repeat performance? Okta Stock Is Interesting, but Not at This PriceOver the past few years, we've seen tech upstarts like Twilio (NYSE:TWLO) impose an outsized influence relative to their size. OKTA stock operates under a similar principle.Undoubtedly, one of the top attributes for the company is its scalability. Rather than an individual company investing in its own security protocol, it often makes economic sense to outsource this function. As a specialist, OKTA can provide cost-effective solutions quickly, thus driving the case for Okta stock.At the same time, being a specialist has some drawbacks. Because these types of companies operate in a relatively narrow focus, they lack robust revenue diversity. If growth slows down in a key market, it could lever a larger-than-normal impact. And that's what I believe happened with OKTA stock in recent months.In August, management released its earnings result for the second quarter. On paper, the company beat both per-share profitability and revenue expectations. However, Okta stock slipped on the announcement, and tumbled days later.Sure, the company produced some impressive numbers. But on a longer-term timeframe, those figures are becoming less impressive. Click to EnlargeFor instance, in Q4 2016, OKTA rang up $49.3 million in sales, which represented nearly 82% growth year-over-year. In Q4 2017, the company delivered revenue of $77 million, but a growth rate of "only" 56%. One year later, the sales tally increased to $115.5 million, but the growth rate declined again to just under 50%.In the Q2 2019 report, OKTA drove home $140.5 million, while sales growth slipped to 48.5%. Of course, all companies experience growth declines as they progress nominally. But with OKTA stock having gained so much, investors wanted to see more.They didn't get it, which resulted in volatility for shares. Low Barrier to EntryAnother potential risk factor for Okta Inc stock is the relatively low barrier to entry for the target industry.Ironically, the attribute that makes OKTA stock so compelling - effective security solutions for corporations - is what makes it vulnerable to competition. Interestingly, management has invested funds into blockchain technology to bolster its security offerings.Currently, few players can do identity management quite like Okta Inc. But tellingly, the blockchain is an open source innovation. Thus, another upstart with a better way of doing business could end up disrupting this space.And it's almost inevitable that identity management will attract more competitors. Looking at OKTA's cost of goods sold, they're very low relative to top-line sales. With quarterly gross margins consistently coming in above 70%, this is not the most capital-intensive industry.That's not to say that you should ignore OKTA stock indefinitely. But at the current price, I think the risks outweigh the rewards.As of this writing, Josh Enomoto did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. More From InvestorPlace * 2 Toxic Pot Stocks You Should Avoid * 7 Beverage Stocks to Buy Now * 10 Groundbreaking Technologies Created by Universities * 5 Semiconductor Stocks Worth Your Time The post Waiting It Out Remains the Best Call for OKTA Stock appeared first on InvestorPlace.

  • Micron Stock: Why Analysts Think It Is Undervalued
    Market Realist

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    Micron (MU) stock was up 4.21% on Friday and closed at $45.10. MU was trading 12.2% below its 52-week high of $51.39 for a market cap of $49.9 billion.

  • JPMorgan, Netflix, IBM, Micron and Wells Fargo are part of Zacks Earnings Preview
    Zacks

    JPMorgan, Netflix, IBM, Micron and Wells Fargo are part of Zacks Earnings Preview

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  • 10 Tech Stocks to Buy Now for 2025
    InvestorPlace

    10 Tech Stocks to Buy Now for 2025

    Editor's note: "10 Tech Stocks to Buy Now for 2025" was previously published in September 2019. It has since been updated to include the most relevant information available.The tech sector endured some pretty tough times last year. Even Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG, NASDAQ:GOOGL) and Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) struggled.But if we put these troubles aside for a moment and focus on the longer-term outlook, a different picture emerges. Stretching out to 2025, some of these big-name tech stocks begin to look very attractive indeed -- especially at their current price levels.InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading TipsIn order to pinpoint which tech stocks will be leading the way seven years from now, I turned to a recent report from RBC Capital. Its "Imagine 2025" portfolio selects the tech stocks the firm believes will be winning on a long-term basis. "We believe the following names are best positioned to outperform over a seven-year time horizon through 2025," writes the firm.What does this mean for now? It means longer-term investors should think twice before selling the stocks listed below, while other investors may want to keep a close eye on the following stocks as potential buy on the dip opportunities. * 7 Beverage Stocks to Buy Now Here are the top tech stocks primed to outperform over the next few years: Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL)Source: Shutterstock As I said above, Alphabet has not been immune to the market's choppiness but that doesn't mean it's still not one of the top stocks to buy.At the end of the day, this is still a killer stock pick with a "strong buy" analyst consensus on TipRanks. This is with a $1,346 average analyst price target."AMZN and GOOGL, in particular, appear to have invested the most in AI competencies and have the Big Data access and Compute Power infrastructure to benefit most from AI and ML developments," writes RBC Capital.And Google has an extra string on its bow: its self-driving car unit Waymo. Alphabet disclosed that Waymo reached the 10 million miles of autonomous vehicle driving milestone."GOOGL appears particularly well situated to lead autonomous vehicle innovations, given its substantial investments in Waymo autonomous vehicle technology," it said.Luckily for Alphabet, RBC believes autonomous vehicles will be arguably one of the biggest applications of AI.Interested in GOOGL stock? Get a free GOOGL Stock Research Report. Nvidia (NVDA)Source: Shutterstock Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) is pushing the boundaries of technology and this should pay off over the years to come.Even though Nvidia is suffering over the last six months, the long-term picture remains very compelling making this one of the top stocks to buy and hold.For example, Jefferies analyst Mark Lipacis (Track Record & Ratings) says Nvidia remains "a top play on secular themes" in AI, gaming and autonomous vehicles. He tells investors to "buy the confession." * 10 Super Boring Stocks to Buy With Super Safe Returns "While there are no guarantees of a winner in the AI race, we think Nvidia is well ahead of its peers and is continuing to gain traction due primarily to the value of Cuda software," says RBC Capital. It estimates over one million engineers working with Cuda and calls it "the secret sauce that underlies the entire ecosystem." Get the NVDA Stock Research Report. Amazon (AMZN)Source: Atomic Taco Via FlickrYou probably aren't surprised to see Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) on this list. The eCommerce company is consistently innovating for the future, be it through acquisitions, technology or entering new markets.One interesting advancement for the company is in the field of robotics. "Amazon appears particularly well situated to lead robotics innovations, given its ongoing investment in Kiva logistics robots," points out RBC Capital.The company already deploys something to the tune of 100K Kiva robots, basically a robot army. And it's now looking increasingly likely that a very large percentage of Amazon's distribution workforce will be complemented with these robots by 2025.As RBC concludes, the impact of this should be greater operational efficiency for AMZN stock.Another interesting trend to consider when you're looking at tech stocks to buy: AI-powered Voice Recognition will likely improve significantly from current levels, allowing even better use of internet apps via voice commands. Again, Amazon should be a major beneficiary of this trend.Notably, AMZN boasts one of the best ratings on the Street. This comes with a $2,215 average analyst price target. Get the AMZN Stock Research Report. Rapid7 (RPD)Source: Shutterstock If you are looking for cheaper long-term stocks to buy, look no further than Rapid7 (NASDAQ:RPD). This company uses a unique data- and analytics-driven approach to cybersecurity.The stock is highlighted by RBC as an attractive name in the cybersecurity space, particularly following the recent acquisition of Komand. The company snapped up Komand in 2017 to boost its security orchestration and automation offering."The need for well-designed security and IT automation solutions is acute; resources are scarce, environments are becoming more complex, all while threats are increasing," says Corey Thomas, CEO of Rapid7."Security and IT solutions must evolve through context-driven automation, allowing cybersecurity and IT professionals to focus on more strategic activities." * 10 Best Cloud Growth Stocks Right Now Plus RBC's Matthew Hedberg (Track Record & Ratings) is behind the stock. "Success has continued to highlight the power of the platform approach with impressive cross-sell metrics driven by combining security and IT Ops" concludes the analyst. Get the RPD Stock Research Report. Splunk (SPLK)Source: Web Summit Via Flickr"Within our software universe, we would highlight Splunk (NASDAQ:SPLK) as a likely winner in the big data category," writes RBC Capital.Splunk basically turns machine data into answers. It produces software for searching, monitoring and analyzing machine-generated big data, via a web-style interface.In part, these answers are generated through the firm's machine learning system. Splunk provides the Machine Learning Toolkit, a guided workbench to create and test flexible models that can handle any use case."A key value of creating models in Splunk is that users can seamlessly apply them to real-time machine data" says RBC Capital.Plus RBC isn't the only firm singing the stock's praises. This "strong buy" stock has a $155 average analyst price target. Get the SPLK Stock Research Report. PayPal (PYPL)Source: Shutterstock If we turn to financial tech stocks to buy, analysts are upbeat on"moderate buy" stock PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) right now. This is with a $135 average analyst price target.First of all, PayPal offers massive scale. And second, it boasts a unique two-sided model among tech stocks, with both consumers and merchants onside. This means the company can control the entire consumer experience."PayPal's unique assets enable the company to tap into the long-term global shift to digital commerce" says RBC Capital. * Are These 10 High-Yielding S&P Dividend Stocks Traps or Treasures? Plus the firm sees the company as a champion of democratizing finance around the globe. "We believe its growing platform of assets will open up the ~2B people around the world who lack financial services."Similarly, top Oppenheimer analyst Glenn Greene (Track Record & Ratings) notes PYPL's "unique" competitive position. He is even more confident in the stock following recent partnerships and anticipates high-teens revenue growth and 20%-plus EPS growth for the next several years. Get the PYPL Stock Research Report. Apple (AAPL)Source: Shutterstock RBC Capital sees a long runway for Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) stock."We think AAPL could be a major beneficiary of AI and VR/AR-related trends, which could generate significant tailwinds for its services business," it writes. It notes that the latest iPhones are equipped with the ability to recognize patterns, make predictions and learn from experiences.What's even more interesting is that by 2025 we could be looking at the first real "iPhone generation." 2025 is 18 years from the launch of the first iPhone.For people who grew up with iOS devices, Apple could have data on every app a person installed, on every flight, book and purchase, as well as academic records, health statistics, family background and more.Now imagine an AI trained on this data set. "This AI would truly be a 'personal' assistant. A hyper-customized neural network that would be so powerful, it would make an existing services pool very strong and usher in a host of new offerings that can only be imagined" says the firm. Get the AAPL Stock Research Report. Synopsys (SNPS)Source: Shutterstock That makes this one of the best stocks to buy in the chip sector is that it is pretty much a guaranteed winner of future tech trends. Someone needs to design AI chips and that someone is Synopsys (NASDAQ:SNPS).Synopsys is essentially an "arms dealer" for AI and all things chip related says RBC Capital."By helping design complex chips, Synopsys is in the thick of AI in terms of design," the firm writes. And the best part is that it doesn't even matter what new companies come along they will still need Synopsys. * 7 Important IPO Stocks to Watch for the Long Run "As new and existing companies continue to push the edge of technology, Synopsys will be helping the companies design each chip regardless of it being a GPU, CPU, FPGA, Digital Chip, Analog chip or otherwise" the firm explains.Even now, the stock looks bullish with a "strong buy" analyst consensus and $109 average analyst price target. Get the SNPS Stock Research Report. Micron (MU)Source: Shutterstock One of the great secondary chip stocks to buy is Micron (NASDAQ:MU). All future trends result in data creation and Micron is perfectly positioned for this with its DRAM/NAND memory portfolio."The incredible amount of data generated by AI, AR/VR and autonomous driving would require significantly higher memory, both NAND and DRAM, leading to strong and long-term tailwinds for MU" writes RBC Capital.Plus we could be looking at a compelling entry point. Indeed, Deutsche Bank's Sidney Ho (Track Record & Ratings) points out that shares appear cheaper right now. He recently reiterated his "buy" rating with a $55 price target.And the tech stock still retains its "moderate buy" analyst consensus rating. This is with a $59 price target. Get the MU Stock Research Report. Microsoft (MSFT)Source: Shutterstock Last but not least, make sure to make room for Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT). This is a company that ticks all the boxes when it comes to the best stocks to buy for future trends"Leading hyperscale hybrid cloud platform with big runway of growth in AI, IoT, Gaming and other services" explains RBC on the stock's inclusion in its 2025 portfolio.Like GOOGL and AMZN, MSFT stock benefits from 1) massive amounts of raw compute power; 2) large data sets; and 3) ability to hire the smartest data scientists on the planet.It picks Microsoft as the No. 1 AI company in the public cloud space. This is thanks to the company's rapidly growing Azure cloud platform. * 8 Stocks to Buy Offering Both Dividends and Growth "We believe Microsoft is in an enviable position vs other public cloud competitors as their customers can also leverage AI and ML capabilities on premise, something [Amazon's] AWS and [Google's] GCP can't deliver natively," said RBC Capital.Also note the stock's killer "strong buy" rating with 20 out of 21 analysts bullish on the stocks prospects. Top this off with a $153 average analyst price target for upside of 17% and I would say Microsoft is one of the most appealing tech stocks to buy and hold onto! Get the MSFT Stock Research Report.TipRanks.com offers exclusive insights for investors by focusing on the moves of experts: Analysts, Insiders, Bloggers, Hedge Fund Managers and more. See what the experts are saying about your stocks now at TipRanks.com. As of this writing, Harriet Lefton did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. More From InvestorPlace * 2 Toxic Pot Stocks You Should Avoid * The 10 Best Stocks to Buy for May * 7 Stocks Worth Buying When They're Down * 7 of the Best ETFs to Buy for a Slowing Economy The post 10 Tech Stocks to Buy Now for 2025 appeared first on InvestorPlace.

  • 7 Semiconductor Stocks to Buy Now
    InvestorPlace

    7 Semiconductor Stocks to Buy Now

    If it were not for the U.S.-China trade war escalating and then de-escalating throughout the last year, semiconductor stocks would trend higher. Instead, the sector is struggling to hold a trading range that started early this summer. The outlook weakened after various chip companies warned that the second half would come in weaker than expected. Investors need to decide if the strength in chip sales earlier this year was due to customers hoarding supply ahead of tariffs. Or will the refresh in smartphones, led by Samsung, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Huawei and others, give a lift in demand?The uncertainties in chip sales through the rest of the year are already adding volatility to semiconductor stocks. Already trading at low price-to-earnings multiples, value investors seeking growth in the chip sector have several companies to pick from. And since chip stocks may enjoy strong profit growth when demand rebounds, they do not need to pay investors a dividend. Instead, they may grow cash levels and increase capital expenditures when the market improves. * 10 Super Boring Stocks to Buy With Super Safe Returns There are seven semiconductor stocks that investors should consider buying now at current levels.InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips Semiconductor Stocks to Buy: Micron (MU)Source: Charles Knowles / Shutterstock.com Micron stock fell from $50 to the low $40s after the company released fourth-quarter results that beat consensus estimates. Investors fretted over the significantly weaker NAND outlook. Bit growth -- one way to represent the projected increased in demand -- will slow in 2020 due to excess supply. Still, for 2019, DRAM supply growth is trailing demand while cost reductions for the fiscal year are moderating. This suggests a demand-supply equilibrium for both NAND and DRAM. Plus, Micron is not slowing down on product innovation.Micron shipped the first 1z-nanometer products, giving it feature size leadership. 75% of its production was 1x while 1Y output will increase. Its 96-layer 3D NAND is becoming a bigger portion of its mix, which should lift profit margins. It is also using replacement gate dyes for the first time, which reduces the replacement gate transition.Near-term worries over excess supply conditions could pull MU stock to below $40 for an extended period. But the market demand for its product will only grow in the coming years. Consumer solid-state drives are now mainstream for computers. Non-volatile memory express -- an interface protocol built for SSDs -- will lift Micron's market share. In mobile, NAND shipments tripled year-over-year. As 5G rolls out, LP5 DRAM demand will increase. Data center and graphics are a strong market and Micron is at the heart of the business. And in automotive, weak sales will not hurt revenues from this segment. Auto companies are adding more computer components, which will lift demand. Nvidia (NVDA)Source: michelmond / Shutterstock.com Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) is well above the $135 lows set in June 2019. Investors continued to accumulate Nvidia stock after its second-quarter report posted on Aug. 15. Chief among its growth segments is its dominance in the GPU market for PCs. Gaming companies continue to support the company's RTX platform. In Q2, a growing number of AAA titles announced support for RTX, including Activision Blizzard's (NASDAQ:ATVI) Call of Duty, Cyberpunk 777, Watchdogs: Legion and Wolfenstein: Youngblood.With RTX cards' inclusion in hundreds of original-equipment-manufacturer laptops will give the GPU segment a strong lift in revenue. Nvidia's solution offers energy efficiency through the Turing architecture and Max-Q technology enables a thin and light form factor.Nvidia reported a 30% jump in the automotive segment, to $209 million. Adoption of its artificial intelligence cockpit solutions plus autonomous driving projects will lead to the sustained growth the company enjoys. Volvo (OTCMKTS:VLVLY), Daimler's (OTCMKTS:DMLRY) Mercedes-Benz models and Toyota (NYSE:TM) are all employing the end-to-end platform.The gaming market will continue to add meaningfully to results. RTX-enabled games continue to grow -- and more will come. Although game sales weakened, game developments and better pricing will lead to higher sales. And that will result in avid gamers upgrading their GPUs to support those titles. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD)Source: JHVEPhoto / Shutterstock.com Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) earned Microsoft's (NASDAQ:MSFT) vote of confidence after Microsoft chose it to power the Surface Laptop 3. Although this will not add meaningfully to AMD's revenue, it does set a framework for PC manufacturers to follow. AMD's mobile Ryzen offers powerful computing, graphics computing and a great battery life. All of this is wrapped in an ultra-slim form factor.On the gaming front, AMD announced the Radeon RX 5500 to compete against Nvidia's mainstream GTX graphics cards. The refresh replaces the RX 570 and RX 580 GPUs which have been on the market for three years. AMD stock did not move after the announcement because markets are still waiting for a high-end competitor to Nvidia. AMD launched a 7-nanometer RDNA graphics card lineup but gave no hint on when the second-generation version will come. As long as AMD does not lose market share to Nvidia, it should still make decent profits from the GPU market.AMD's new generation of server processors will accelerate its market share growth. It has two chips planned: Epyc Milan and Epyc Genoa. Genoa will target the server and data center markets and will be on the SP5 platform. The company also shared some details on the Zen 3 and Zen 4 architecture. Zen 4 will come in a year and might come on the new 5-nanometer or 6-nanometer process. At this pace, AMD will have a significant lead over the competition. Broadcom (AVGO)Source: Sasima / Shutterstock.com Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) issued a conservative outlook and tone in its third-quarter earnings call. The company said that infrastructure software customer demand remains stable, especially in North America and Western Europe. While semiconductor solution revenue fell 5% year-over-year to $4.4 billion, it rose 6% quarter-over-quarter. Even though the U.S.-China trade conflict lingered in the period, Broadcom did not see the business deteriorate further. This gave management the confidence to forecast $22.5 billion in revenue in fiscal 2019. $17.5 billion will come from semiconductor solutions.Broadcom's semiconductor business is fundamentally strong. Since it is in the business of building connectivity solutions from CPUs to memory in data centers, higher bandwidth demand will drive its growth. With the semiconductor solutions segment representing 79% of its total revenue, the business may rebound from here. That is, if the sector is at a bottom, a ramp-up in orders from North American customers will lead to a rebound in AVGO stock.Its constant commitment to research and development will result in the development of new semiconductor technology. For example, expect higher demand for better performance in connectivity, through increased bandwidth. And as applications transition, it will increase the demand for Broadcom's semiconductor products. Intel (INTC)Source: JHVEPhoto / Shutterstock.com Despite a weak quarterly report that sent the stock to below $45, Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) traded recently at close to $50. Investors forgave the company for the recent business slowdown because Intel stock trades at an inexpensive P/E of 11.8. It also pays a modest dividend that yields 2.5%. What might investors look forward to as Intel faces heavy competition from AMD?Intel has a roadmap of products. Its Cascade Lake processor is on 14-nanometer technology. Even though it is behind AMD's 7-nanometer processor, Cascade Lake has useful features that will appeal to customers. Deep-learning boost technology is inference technology built into the CPU. Optane persistent memory may attract over $10 billion worth of business from the data center market. Optane has a new memory controller on its CPU and supports massive memory sizes, such as 128 gigabyte and 512 gigabyte densities.In the first half of 2020, it will launch the Cooper Lake CPU, followed by Ice Lake in the second half of 2020. Getting two CPU platforms out in a single year is a new approach for Intel. But this cannot come soon enough. These CPUs will be on 10-nanometer processors and already show the promise of high yields. In the short term, investors need to patiently wait for updates on the development of Optane. Intel is in the R&D investing phase but ramping up this business will happen later. NXP Semiconductors (NXPI)Source: Lukassek / Shutterstock.com In the short-term, the NXP Semiconductors (NASDAQ:NXPI) stock price depends on the market's sentiment. But in the long term, as management earns investor confidence in its ability to drive growth, the stock will rise. The supplier of secure connection chips already rose from around $90 in June to above $110, thanks to its strong second-quarter earnings report.NXP has four major end markets for growth. In automotive, advanced driver-assistance systems and electrification will increase chip sales. More OEM car manufacturers seek solution innovations. And as cars add more technology content, NXP stands to benefit from this trend. In the industrial and internet of things segment, the company faces a fragmented customer base. Processing needs are transforming the market, so NXP stands out because it offers scalable solutions.Mobile is still a growing market. And even though sales for high-end smartphones are slowing, phone makers continue to demand features. In driving more innovation, NXP management expects continued growth from this market.Communication infrastructure is a clear growth driver. While the uptake for 5G will trickle in the near term, the shift to the faster network cannot be stopped. The U.S. telecom market is already investing in the change but is rolling it out one city at a time. But once any issues are worked out, 5G implementations will lift NXP's growth. At a forward P/E of under 13, NXPI stock is inexpensive. Qualcomm (QCOM)Source: Akshdeep Kaur Raked / Shutterstock.com Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) tried but failed to break out above $80 throughout 2019. At a recent price of around $77.50, the stock offers a dividend that yields 3.2%. The stock's upside is getting held back on government scrutiny over its alleged monopoly practices.Qualcomm is expanding its reach beyond smartphone devices and is getting into the laptop market in a big way. Microsoft said that the Surface Pro X will offer an all-day battery life. This feat is due to the 13-inch unit having a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx processor called SQ1. Microsoft also boasts that this is the thinnest Surface device ever. In effect, SQ1 ushers in a new era in mobile tablet and laptop computing. Qualcomm also competes with SoftBank's (OTCMKTS:SFTBY) Arm Holdings with the SQ1. Still, it does not compete with AMD's mobile solution since customers may opt for a Surface 3 laptop if they want an AMD-powered system.For the upcoming third quarter, Qualcomm expects revenue in the range of $9.2 billion to $10.2 billion. GAAP diluted earnings per share will be $3.57-$3.77. At 18.5 times forward P/E, investors should consider Qualcomm stock.As of this writing, Chris Lau owned shares of NXPI. More From InvestorPlace * 2 Toxic Pot Stocks You Should Avoid * 10 Super Boring Stocks to Buy With Super Safe Returns * 10 Winning Stocks to Buy and Stick With for the Long Haul * Don't Give Up on These 4 Cannabis Stocks The post 7 Semiconductor Stocks to Buy Now appeared first on InvestorPlace.

  • Top Margin-Expanding Companies From the US and China
    GuruFocus.com

    Top Margin-Expanding Companies From the US and China

    Trump and Chinese officials reach first phase of landmark trade deal Continue reading...

  • What to Expect from Q3 Earnings Season with Big Banks Set to Report?
    Zacks

    What to Expect from Q3 Earnings Season with Big Banks Set to Report?

    What to Expect from Q3 Earnings Season with Big Banks Set to Report?

  • Prepare for an All-Out Graphics War With AMD Stock
    InvestorPlace

    Prepare for an All-Out Graphics War With AMD Stock

    In the battle for domination in the graphics niche, the prominent players are Intel (NASDAQ:INTC), Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD), Micron (NASDAQ:MU) and Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA). Investors in AMD stock are betting on a company that's kept up with the competition through thick and thin, but there's no room for complacency in the tech war.Source: Sundry Photography / Shutterstock.com With new product releases to get excited about, Advanced Micro Devices stock holders can rest easy knowing that the company is still on the leading edge of the GPU (graphics processing unit) battlefront. But can AMD continue to push the boundaries and add value amid an uber-competitive tech landscape? Behold … AMD's Nvidia KillerThe GPU niche has grown considerably in recent years, with leading manufacturers leapfrogging past each other to make the fastest, most powerful devices on the market. To quote Columbia University's Michalis Polychronakis and co-researchers Giorgos Vasiliadis and Sotiris Ioannidis:InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips * 10 Super Boring Stocks to Buy With Super Safe Returns "Driven to a large extent by the ever-growing video game industry, graphics processors have been constantly evolving, increasing both in computational power and in the range of supported operations and functionality."Not long ago, it seemed as if the graphics-card battle had been won decisively when AMD came out with the Navi 10 GPU, which is hosted inside the company's RX 5700 graphics card series. Sporting a streamlined graphics engine, multi-level cache, and all-new compute units, the redoubtable Navi 10 offered the most seamless streaming and most powerful encoding to date.No wonder they called it the "NVIDIA Killer": the Navi 10's release was an event that delighted techies while giving the AMD stock price its nice little bump, at least temporarily. Moreover, the Navi 10 is a mid-tier offering, meaning that it's competitive not only in terms of raw performance, but also when measured via a performance-versus-price ratio.As if that weren't enough to knock out the competition, AMD plans to release its next-generation GPUs, known as the Navi 21 and Navi 23, in mid-2020. As a higher-end product, the Navi 23 in particular will feature improved performance and most likely a higher price point, and is very likely a direct response to Nvidia's similar RTX 2080 Ti. Buy AMD Stock to Win the Graphics RaceAMD keeps coming up with the best graphics cards and processors on the market, and a stake in Advanced Micro Devices stock is very likely to benefit from the company's ambitious vision and nearly flawless execution of that vision. Serious desktop gamers are practically drooling at the newly-released Radeon RX 5500, which is touted on the company's website as AMD's most evolved high-performance desktop-gaming GPU:"Powered by the groundbreaking 7nm RDNA architecture with Radeon Image Sharpening and Radeon Anti-Lagtechnology, Radeon RX 5500 delivers extremely efficient, ultra-responsive, high-fidelity gaming… The Radeon RX 5500 GPU powers high fidelity gaming for immersive explosions, physics, and lighting effects, bringing realism to life."If you're a gamer, that's probably music to your ears; if you're an AMD stock investor, hopefully you can at least appreciate the verve and the vividness of that description of the RX 5500. You see, desktop computers might seem old-fashioned in the era of the smartphone, but serious gamers take their desktop computers seriously -- and Advanced Micro Devices takes its graphics technology seriously too, in case you couldn't tell by now. The Takeaway on Advanced Micro Devices StockWhatever the future of gaming technology might bring, Advanced Micro Devices is bound to remain on the cutting edge and AMD stock should, if I'm correct in my assessment, be a solid performer amid a constantly evolving -- and seemingly never-ending -- war of the GPUs.As of this writing, David Moadel did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. More From InvestorPlace * 2 Toxic Pot Stocks You Should Avoid * 10 Super Boring Stocks to Buy With Super Safe Returns * 10 Winning Stocks to Buy and Stick With for the Long Haul * Don't Give Up on These 4 Cannabis Stocks The post Prepare for an All-Out Graphics War With AMD Stock appeared first on InvestorPlace.

  • 3 Semiconductor Stocks to Buy in the Fourth Quarter of 2019
    Zacks

    3 Semiconductor Stocks to Buy in the Fourth Quarter of 2019

    All three major U.S. indexes jumped Thursday on the back of some positive U.S.-China trade war news. Even if a deal isn't reached anytime soon the semiconductor industry seems sure to be a solid long-term play...

  • Sector ETFs to Face Risk if Trade Talks Stall
    Zacks

    Sector ETFs to Face Risk if Trade Talks Stall

    These sector ETFs will be hurt the most if trade talks between the United States and China do not get through.

  • Benzinga

    'Fast Money Halftime Report' Traders Weigh In On Lowe's, Micron And More

    On CNBC's "Fast Money Halftime Report," Meghan Shue said she likes SPDR S&P Biotech (NYSE: XBI ). She thinks it's an area that has less political risk, pretty good earnings, a good innovation ...