After the S&P 500 index closed at 4,124 on May 13, 2023, investors have three stocks to ride the uptrend. The widely held index at 4,500 is within reach, needing a gain of 9.1% more. After rising by 18% from its Oct. 2022 low, the uptrend pattern did not break.
Investors would want to consider companies that have quality and growth. Demanding value is not an option because stock investors will pay a premium for the moderate economic growth ahead.
Companies with strong growth prospects will outperform the sector regardless of the economy.
In a bearish scenario, expect the economy to weaken slightly. This is a soft landing where the central bank’s interest rate increases suffices to stop the economy from overheating. Once banks conquer high inflation, the economy will rebound at a steady pace.
Apple (AAPL)
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) is the best of the technology stocks to buy.
Bloomberg reported it will raise $5 billion through a five-part debt offering of bonds. The 30-year bond will have a yield that is around 135 basis points higher than the 30-year U.S. Treasury.
Apple wants to take advantage of its strong credit rating as a corporate issuer. It does not need the funds to spend more on content for Apple TV+ or research and development.
Instead, it may enhance its earnings per share by buying back shares. Expect strong demand for Apple debt. This is more attractive than buying U.S. government debt. As the debt ceiling unfolds, investors would prefer holding Apple’s debt.
In the second quarter, Apple posted revenue of $94.8 billion. Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook said that despite the challenging macroeconomic environment, Apple still posted a record in services revenue.
It also posted a record March quarter for iPhone sales. iPhone sales accounted for $51.33 billion in revenue.
Alphabet (GOOGL)
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) won back skeptical investors when it hosted Google I/O on May 10. In hardware, Pixel Fold and Pixel Tablet offer customers devices with larger screens and performance.
Bard AI Chatbot stole the show, compelling investors to scoop up GOOG stock. Alphabet will remove the waitlist, speeding up the chatbot’s available to everyone. People from over 180 countries and territories may use Bard.
Bard AI will have a profound impact on Google products. It will include image capabilities, coding features, and app integration.
While Microsoft will offer ChatGPT on Office software, it will charge a few. Google users may draft emails and documents with the help of Bard.
Shareholders were previously fearful that Alphabet’s Google would lose search engine market share. The I/O event reversed that negative sentiment. The company will need people to share positive feedback on Bard AI.
That would further allay fears that Microsoft ChatGPT and its Bing search engine would take any of the advertising that Google earns from the search market.
NVIDIA (NVDA)
Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) is the leading hardware provider for powering generative artificial intelligence models and custom large language models.
They need a set of cloud services to enable businesses to build their AI models.
Google launched the A3 supercomputer that has up to 26 exaFlops of AI performance. The machine has eight Nvidia H100 “Hopper” GPUs.
The chips accelerate the training and serving of generative AI applications. Other companies are racing to build AI solutions. Nvidia is ramping up production of AI GPUs to an additional 10,000 wafers in 2023. Taiwan Semiconductor will produce the chips.
At a Technology, Media and Telecom conference in March 2023, Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress said that AI is at an inflection point.
Generative AI, including ChatGPT, offers tremendous benefits for consumers and enterprises. With enterprise CEOs focused on AI, expect Nvidia to raise its revenue guidance for 2023.
On the date of publication, Chris Lau 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.