3 Tech Stock Movers & Shakers Right Now

In the fast and furious world of tech, it’s essential to stay ahead of the curve. So, we took to the Street to uncover some of the biggest tech stocks creating a buzz on the trading floor right now.

Story continues below

Using the TipRanks Trending Stocks and news sentiment features, we identified tech companies with a ‘Strong Buy’ analyst consensus rating right now. This tool enables us to pinpoint the top tech stocks with the biggest Street support. So, let’s dive in to gain some deeper insights into these 3 top stocks:

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)

US Multinational tech titan Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) has been one of the biggest trendsetters this week. While the software company is no stranger to publicity, there has been a great deal of positive buzz surrounding the Windows giant. One key reason is because Microsoft just announced a landmark deal, with plans to purchase web-hosting service GitHub for a staggering $7.5 billion. The acquisition sent shocks through Silicon Valley as it marks ‘the second-largest acquisition in Microsoft’s history’.

In light of this deal, Evercore ISI analyst Kirk Materne maintained his buy rating and $120 price target on Microsoft shares. Materne emphasized how ‘GitHub is a key platform for most corporate software developers and Microsoft’s purchase is a smart strategic deal to double down on developers. The acquisition will give Microsoft, and Azure, an even more prominent position in the developer community.’

Meanwhile 5-star Argus analyst Joseph Bonner elevated his price target from $107 to $116. He explained that the ‘purchase is the biggest sign yet of the monumental shift in Microsoft’s strategy and orientation under Satya Nadella, its CEO.’ He sees this as part of Nadella’s strategy ‘to shift the company to an open-source ethos that dovetails with its Azure cloud services business rather than seeking to protect Windows software at any cost’.

The software pioneer currently has a Strong Buy analyst consensus with 17 recent buy ratings, 1 hold rating and 1 sell rating. In fact, based on data from these 19 best performing analysts, the stock has an average 12-month price projection of $113.69 (11% upside potential).

Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE)

Cloud software publisher, Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE) has received a resounding Strong Buy consensus rating from the Street. The company provides software for property and insurers. The stock has a 12-month average monthly target of $98.60 (7% upside potential) with a high of $100 and a low of $93.

Guidewire has received some upbeat publicity for its Q3 earnings report. The figures re veal the company boosted its revenues by 14% from the same quarter in 2017 and rallied to $140.5 million. Five-star JPMorgan analyst Sterling Auty has just boosted his price target from $89 to $100 (13% upside potential). He reinforced his Buy rating since ‘cloud signings were good in Q3.’

Auty justified to investors that ‘the results are better than expected, but the cloud/subscription transition and accounting rule changes will generate noise in estimates and results over the next two years.’ He added ‘that investors should focus on the growth in cloud customer signings and cash flow.’

Similarly, Piper Jaffray analyst Alex Zukin is bullish on the stock and reinforced his Buy rating and lifted his price target from $95 $100. Zukin cited how Guidewire has reported solid Q3 results with significant continued strength in Europe.’

Salesforce.com (NYSE:CRM)

US Cloud Computing company, Salesforce.com (NYSE:CRM) is another compelling stock pick with some serious support from the Street. Salesforce has just released its fiscal Q1 earnings report. The company announced very impressive revenue of $3.01 billion. This figure is up 25% year over year and easily crushed the consensus estimate of $2.94 billion.

It’s worth noting that the company has also been busy with a succession of lucrative partnerships. Salesforce has already forged partnerships with industry heavy weights like Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and there are other growth drivers in the pipeline. The company just hit the headlines for the largest acquisition in its history of $6.5 billion for software company MuleSoft. Another recent partnership is with Amica Mutual Insurance company, at the same time as Guidewire to help improve ‘customer satisfaction.’

The analyst sentiment for Salesforce- a ‘Strong Buy’ stock is also impressive. Top-performing Barclays analyst Raimo Lenschow maintained his Buy rating, with a price target of $150 (12.3% upside). Lenschow cited the ‘healthy Q1 results, with large strategic deals’ and how these ‘highlight the company’s transformation to a strategic provider offering a broad-based System of Intelligence.’ The analyst reiterated to investors how ‘with revenue growth accelerating for all major cloud offerings, the story will continue’.

Similarly, JPMorgan analyst Mark Murphy maintained a Buy rating for Salesforce with a price target of $133 (5% upside potential). Murphy emphasized how ‘the bull thesis gained momentum with last night’s results’. He relayed to investors how ‘large deal traction and public-sector strength is driving estimates higher’.

An ad to help with our costs