With the risk-on sentiment that started last November continuing to sweep equity markets, it's a good time to be buying stocks. Increasing hopes for a rate cut amid continuing signs that inflation has been tamed are fueling one of the best rallies in recent memory. The benchmark S&P 500 index is up more than 20% in three months, and tech stocks, in particular, are enjoying a good start to the year.
While it can be tempting to jump on anything that's moving amid such widespread investor optimism, there are some tried and tested ways to find the true standout stocks. By using MarketBeat's research tools, we can zero in on two tech stocks in particular. Let's jump in and take a closer look.
Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE: CRM)
Having endured a horrible 2022, shares of software giant Salesforce bounced back during pretty much all of 2023. Many of our readers will remember the numerous bullish calls we made on Salesforce in the last few months. It's about time we did it again. The company started this year with a 110% rally under its belt. And with another 10% gain since then, it's clearly showing no signs of slowing down.
In what is surely one of the more remarkable turnarounds from the tech industry, Salesforce shares are now less than a 10% move from their previous all-time high. And according to Wall Street analysts, CRM stock should be hitting that high any day now.
Less than two weeks ago, the team at Bank of America named Salesforce one of their top picks for 2024. With tech as a whole set to benefit from a decline in rates, must-have pieces of software like Salesforce stand to do well from the fresh, growth-fueled demand. They also feel that, even with the ongoing rally, Salesforce remains attractively valued against its peers.
On Monday, their stance was echoed by the Oppenheimer team, who reiterated their Outperform rating on Salesforce while boosting their price target to $325. Needless to say, were shares to hit this in the coming weeks, they'd be at fresh all-time highs.
MongoDB, Inc. (NASDAQ: MDB)
Mongo is another enterprise-grade software platform going through something of a resurgence. Like Salesforce, it's been rallying hard for over a year and is also closing in on its previous all-time high. A 35% jump in the last month alone bodes particularly well for the coming weeks, and it's not surprising that the consensus rating on MarketBeat has it at a Moderate Buy.
While Salesforce might have made it onto Bank of America's list of top picks for the year, MongoDB was at the top of Baird's list. The company is closing in on its first-ever profitable quarter, with expectations rising that this is the year it makes the jump.
There have been some concerns raised about the slowdown in the company's revenue growth, but this month's earnings report, encapsulating the return to risk-on sentiment since last November, should put paid to that. It's a company known for its high-performing sales team, and since the advent of artificial intelligence (AI), the market need for Mongo's database software has only become more acute.
Look for shares to continue rallying beyond the $500 mark, with a run at 2021's high near $600 a real possibility if it can deliver a strong earnings report. Some concern is warranted with the stock's relative strength index (RSI) at 70, indicating overbought conditions, but such is the bullish momentum in the market right now. We're inclined to say there's a lot more room for this one to run.
