With the stock market falling more than 10% in two days, we have officially witnessed a stock market crash. Stocks, meanwhile, remain volatile given uncertainty over the impact of tariffs and the ongoing trade war.
While I would not rush into stocks, this could be a good time to start dipping your toe slowly into high-quality names that you’d want to own for the next decade or more. Let’s look at three tech stocks that fit that bill.
1. Nvidia
Despite semiconductors being exempted (for now) from the tariffs slapped on Taiwan, Nvidia (NVDA 1.56%) has not been spared in the recent market sell-off. However, it is still the best-positioned company in the world when it comes to benefiting from the buildout of artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure. It’s also left the stock trading at a very attractive valuation with a forward price-to-earnings ratio (P/E) of under 21 times based on this year’s analyst estimates and a price/earnings-to-growth (PEG) ratio below 0.4. Stocks with PEGs under 1 are generally viewed as undervalued, so Nvidia’s stock is very cheap based on this metric.
Nvidia’s graphic processing units (GPUs) have become the backbone of AI infrastructure due to their fast processing power, while the company’s CUDA software platform and AI-specific libraries and tools that make them easily programmable for AI workloads have created a wide moat for the company. With AI still viewed as a once-in-a-generation opportunity, it is still a high spending area for companies despite the recent market turmoil.
Cloud computing companies, which help customers customize foundation AI models and deploy them on their infrastructure, have been leading the way with spending to keep up with demand. Meanwhile, companies building their own foundation AI model have also been spending big on AI infrastructure. Enterprises have been looking to use hybrid cloud solutions when it comes to AI, needing to beef up their on-premises infrastructure. With AI infrastructure still poised to increase, Nvidia’s stock looks like a solid long-term option.
Image source: Getty Images.
2. Amazon
Another stock that has been punished is Amazon (AMZN -1.28%), with the recent market sell-off taking the stock to one of the cheapest valuations in its history. As of this writing, it is trading at a forward P/E of around 27 times.
Amazon is the world’s largest e-commerce retailer and the world’s largest cloud computing company by market share. The company is investing heavily in AI to improve both its businesses. Its cloud computing segment, Amazon Web Services (AWS), is the biggest beneficiary so far, with the segment seeing 19% revenue growth last year. Meanwhile, it’s spending big to keep up with growing demand, with a capital expenditure (capex) budget of around $100 billion this year. The company’s services for helping customers customize their own AI models and apps using its own and third-party foundation models have been a strong growth driver. Meanwhile, the company has developed its own custom AI chips that can help performance and use less energy, helping to save on costs.
Amazon has also brought AI to its e-commerce businesses, which is helping the company become more efficient. It is doing things like using AI to optimize routes for its delivery drivers and deploying AI-powered robots that can recognize damaged items before they are shipped, and those are saving the company money. Along with its strong, high-margin, sponsored ad business, Amazon is seeing nice operating leverage. This could be seen last quarter as its North American e-commerce segment revenue rose 10%, while the segment’s operating income soared 43%.
Amazon is a high-quality company on sale.
3. Alphabet
Alphabet (GOOGL -2.11%) (GOOG -2.05%) is the dominant player in search with Google, but that’s not all the company does. It has a vast digital advertising network, where it serves ads both to its own sites as well as third parties. Google is the world’s largest digital advertising platform, while its YouTube streaming service is the fourth largest. The company continues to have an opportunity with AI as it develops its own AI chatbot with Gemini, incorporates AI into its search results, and provides AI Overviews.
In addition, Alphabet owns the third-largest and one of the fastest-growing cloud computing companies with Google Cloud. Revenue for this segment jumped 30% last quarter, but like other cloud providers, growth could have been even more if it were not capacity-constrained. The company is also in the process of buying cloud cybersecurity company Wiz, which should help differentiate this business even more. It has also developed its own custom AI chip, which, when used together with GPUs, helps improve AI inference times and lower costs.
Alphabet has also taken the lead in the robotaxi market with Waymo, which is the only service currently offering paid rides in the U.S. While it’s still early in the game, Waymo has been gaining significant traction in its early markets and is now expanding more rapidly into new cities. This business has a lot of potential. In addition, it is also at the forefront of quantum computing with its Willow chip.
Trading at a forward P/E of 16 times, Alphabet’s stock is in the bargain bin.
John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Geoffrey Seiler has positions in Alphabet. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.