The tech market has been in recovery mode this year after an economic downturn caused a sell-off in 2022. Easing inflation and advances in technology, such as artificial intelligence (AI), have Wall Street particularly bullish. As a result, now is an excellent time to consider expanding your tech holdings before it's too late.
Thanks to its ever-developing nature, the tech market can be a lucrative place to invest. The sector is known for its wealth of growth stocks that can almost guarantee long-term gains.
So if you're looking for a reliable way to expand your portfolio, here are three top tech stocks to buy in August.
1. Apple
Shares of Apple(NASDAQ: AAPL) gained 310% since 2018, more than many of the biggest names in tech. The company attracted millions of customers with its priority on quality and its interconnected ecosystem of products. Consumers have proven their preference for Apple's devices time and time again, most recently amid macroeconomic headwinds.
According to Counterpoint Research, U.S. smartphone shipments declined 24% year over year in the second quarter of 2023. Consequently, companies like Samsung and Motorola experienced stagnating or declining market share. But the same period saw Apple outperform its competitors by growing its market share from 52% to 55%.
The iPhone's growing dominance strengthens Apple's long-term outlook since the smartphone has become its best tool for attracting consumers to its other products and services. With recent expansions into virtual/augmented reality (VR/AR) and AI, the company likely has a lucrative future, making its stock a compelling buy this month.
2. Amazon
Few companies were hit as hard as Amazon(NASDAQ: AMZN) last year. Reductions in consumer spending brought steep declines in its e-commerce earnings, with its stock plunging 50% in 2022. However, improving inflation and an expansion into AI have regained investor support.
Since Jan. 1, shares have climbed about 58%. The monster rally has come as the company strengthened its position in the $137 billion AI market, projected to have a compound annual growth rate of 37% through 2030.
This year, Amazon added several new AI services to its cloud platform, Amazon Web Services (AWS), attracting thousands of customers.
Companies like Sony and Ryanair signed on to AWS, drawn in by AI tools such as Bedrock, which uses a language model similar to OpenAI's ChatGPT to help clients create custom chatbots and image generators. Its other AI tools cater to software developers and the healthcare industry.
Moreover, Amazon is diversifying its position in AI by developing its own chips. The company is quickly expanding in the industry and has the resources to potentially outperform the competition over the long term, making its stock too good to ignore.
3. Advanced Micro Devices
Recent technological advances have made it crucial to add a chipmaker to your list of holdings. High-growth industries such as cloud computing, AI, VR/AR, and others will increasingly require powerful chips, with demand likely to soar.
As a result, semiconductor companies like Advanced Micro Devices(NASDAQ: AMD) are well positioned to significantly benefit from the growth of multiple markets.
AMD's stock skyrocketed some 500% in the last five years as its hardware has become integral to many devices and online platforms. The company produces custom chips that exclusively power Sony's PlayStation 5 and Microsoft's Xbox Series X|S game consoles. AMD's graphics processing units (GPUs) are used to run data centers worldwide, hosting cloud services like Microsoft's Azure and Alphabet's Google Cloud.
The current boom in AI has bolstered AMD's outlook, with the company heavily investing in the sector. In June, AMD unveiled its most powerful GPU to date, meant to compete directly with Nvidia's offerings. If the new chip can match the competition's performance and launch at an attractive price, it could be a massive win for AMD.
With solid positions across tech and a focus on AI, August is a good month to consider AMD shares.
10 stocks we like better than Apple
When our analyst team has a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*
They just revealed what they believe are the ten best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Apple wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.
*Stock Advisor returns as of July 27, 2023
Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Dani Cook has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Advanced Micro Devices, Alphabet, Amazon.com, Apple, Microsoft, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
