During the past twelve months, technology equities recorded sharp appreciation. The advance traces to two forces – a surge in demand for artificial intelligence products and a halt in Federal Reserve rate increases. Three sub-fifty-dollar names – a payments platform, an aerospace contractor, and a Bitcoin miner – posted one month returns that exceeded the Nasdaq Composite’s twelve month gain of seven percent.
All figures reflect the close on 12 February 2024.
Growth-oriented technology companies usually expand revenue faster than profit; they commercialize new hardware, software, or services. Owners obtain direct exposure to advances in artificial intelligence, cloud infrastructure, electronic commerce along with renewable power. The cohort shows wider price swings than mature corporations or broad indexes.
Sector – Financial Services
Price: $47.00
Market capitalization: $0.30 billion
One-month total return: 157 %
Sezzle began operations in 2017. The Minneapolis firm supplies a digital installment platform that competes with credit cards. Merchants embed the checkout option on web sites or mobile applications. Consumers pay for purchases in four equal, interest free installments over six weeks. Sezzle earns revenue from merchant discount fees. Rising policy rates compressed valuations across the buy-now-pay-later segment during 2022 and early 2023. The stock rebounded when futures markets priced in rate cuts for 2024. The platform served 2.6 million active consumers through 30,000 merchants on 30 September 2023.
Sector – Aerospace & Defense
Price: $5.30
Market capitalization: $0.20 billion
One-month total return: 107 %
Intuitive Machines, based in Houston, designs lunar landers, orbital services in addition to surface payloads. The company pursues NASA contracts that support robotic and crewed missions to the Moon but also Mars. On 26 April 2023 the firm announced a $719 million award from NASA covering spacecraft development, autonomous navigation, and near-space communications. The agreement spans five years and underpins the Joint Polar Satellite System.
Sector – Semiconductors
Price: $2.61
Market capitalization: $0.15 billion
One-month total return: 92 %
Pixelworks, headquartered in Portland, Oregon, supplies motion compensation chips and software for cinema, mobile next to projector displays. Fourth-quarter 2023 revenue rose twenty five percent year-over-year to $18.5 million. Mobile revenue reached a record $11.9 million, up forty four percent. Growth followed the launch of flagship smartphones and a multi year partnership with Walt Disney Studios. The Universal Pictures release âArgylleâ used Pixelworks TrueCut Motion technology for theatrical exhibition.
The screen lists equities by thirty day percentage return. Each company trades below fifty dollars per share on either the Nasdaq or the New York Stock Exchange.
The commentary, opinions, analyses appear for informational purposes only. Consult the full disclaimer for additional details.
As of the publication date, the author held no position in any security mentioned.