Technology

Microsoft and 7 Other Top Tech Stocks Analysts Want You to Buy Now

Trey Thoelcke

Published: March 6, 2021 6:15 am

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week with a goal of finding new ideas for investors and traders alike. The calls seen in the past week show that analysts still favor tech stocks, even though the sector has soared in the past year but struggled lately.

These analysts favored the following eight top tech stocks last week.
[in-text-ad]

Microsoft

Citigroup resumed coverage of Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) on Wednesday, and the firm has a $292 target price, which would imply upside potential near  26%. This call came just after the tech giant claimed to be the target of Chinese hackers. Wedbush boosted its price target to $300 a share last month, but the consensus target was last seen at $273.43. All but seven of the 34 analysts surveyed recommend buying shares.

The stock has pulled back around 6% from last month’s all-time high of $246.13 per share but is still well up from the 52-week low of $132.52 from last March. The share price is only about 4% higher year to date, while the Nasdaq more than 1% lower in that time.

Cisco

Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) was upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan, which cited an expected recovery in IT spending. The firm also raised its price target to $55 from $50 on Friday. DZ Bank upgraded it to Buy with a $52 target last month, and the street-high target price is $59, which represents around 28% upside potential. Nineteen of the 27 analysts surveyed recommend buying shares, and the mean price target is $51.10.

The share price increased almost 4% this past week and is up about the same amount for the year to date. Shares hit a 52-week high of $49.34 almost a month ago, and they have traded as low as $32.40 during the panic selling of March 2020.

On Semiconductor

BofA Securities announced a double upgrade for On Semiconductor Corp. (NASDAQ: ON), to Buy from Underperform, on Monday. The firm also has set a $48 price objective. The $41.28 consensus price target is well above the most recent close. The street-high target is up at $50 and represents about 29% upside potential. Analysts on average recommend buying shares, and they have for at least three months.

This week, the shares saw a new 52-week high of $42.38, but the ended the week more than 9% lower to $ at $38.81. They have changed hands as low as just $8.17 apiece in the past year. Note that the stock is up over 18% year to date, much better than the broader market in that time.

24/7 Wall St.
5 Stocks to Buy Trading Under $10 With Sensational Upside Potential

Barclays upgraded Oracle Corp. (NYSE: ORCL) from Equal Weight to Overweight on Friday, and it also cited improving IT spending. The firm hiked its price target to $80 from $66 as well. Citigroup was not impressed, however, initiating coverage with a Neutral rating and a $65 target earlier this week.  Yet, 26 out of 36 analysts surveyed recommend buying the shares. The consensus price target is just $66.78, which is less than the recent share price, but the street-high target is $82.
[in-text-ad]
The cloud and enterprise software giant is scheduled to post its latest quarter earnings this coming week. The share price popped more than 8% last week, much of that gain after the Barclays upgrade. The stock has a 52-week trading range of $ 39.71 to $71.72. That high was seen on Friday.

Qualcomm

On Thursday, JPMorgan upgraded its Sell rating on Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) to Overweight, though it lowered its price target from $185 to $170. Piper Sandler upgraded it from Neutral to Buy on the same day and lifted its price target from $150 to $160. The analysts have a consensus price target of $172.27, which would be a multiyear high. The street-high target is $200, and analysts on average recommend buying shares.

While the company announced a new line of wireless audio chips this past week, the stock retreated more than 4%, pulled along with the broader market. Shares have traded as low as $58.00 in the past year, and the share price is almost 15% lower than at the beginning of the year.

24/7 Wall St.
BofA Securities Has 5 Very Safe Stocks to Buy Now That All Pay 6% or Higher Dividends

Snowflake

Also on Thursday, Deutsche Bank upgraded Snowflake Inc. (NYSE: SNOW) stock to Buy from Hold, and it lifted the price target from $270 to $300, in part because the dual class share structure has been eliminated. Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and Citigroup hiked their targets too, to $270, $275 and $295, respectively, after a mixed earnings report with a positive outlook. That suggests the analysts see up to 23% upside from here, even though the consensus recommendation is to hold shares.

Since coming public last September, the stock is up only 15% or so, as the share price has slipped marginally since the beginning of the year. The post-IPO trading range is $208.55 to $429.00, with that high seen in early December.

Twitter Inc. (NYSE: TWTR) was upgraded on Monday at Cleveland Research to Buy from Neutral. Later in the week, Goldman Sachs, Pivotal Research and Keycorp boosted their price targets to $112, $95 and $90, respectively, suggesting as much as 67% upside. All three have Buy-equivalent ratings. However, analysts on average recommend holding shares, and they have a consensus price target of $67.13.
[in-text-ad]
Last week, the social media giant announced a crackdown on COVID-19 vaccine misinformation. Shares ended Friday at $66.95, after retreating about 13% during the week, but they are still up over 23% from the beginning of the year. Again, the Nasdaq is 1% or so lower year to date.

Western Digital

Citing NAND memory demand, Goldman Sachs upgraded its Neutral rating on Western Digital Corp. (NASDAQ: WDC) to Buy on Friday. The firm also lifted its price target to $85 per share from $56. Barclays and Morgan Stanley also have hiked their price targets, to $75 and $84, respectively. The consensus recommendation is to buy shares, and it has been since at least the start of the year. The consensus target price is $69.86.

The stock ended last week’s trading at $68.07 per share. That was down more than 3% for the week, but still nearly 23% higher year to date. Shares have traded as low as $27.40 in the past 52 weeks, and as high as $72.98. That high was seen early last week.

And More

In addition to these eight analyst calls, note that Goldman Sachs recently raised the price targets on stocks of four other tech companies that delivered the goods in a big way during earnings season and still look to have some very solid upside potential.

BofA Securities feels four top medtech companies are all poised for potential positive news and developments in the near future. Their stocks could be good additions to growth portfolios looking to add positions in the sector.

And it appears that some top hedge funds that were shorting tech IPOs as soon as they could are now piling back into the shares. Four such companies offer stellar technologies and applications, and their stocks make sense for aggressive investors looking for solid ideas.