How Tech Stocks Lost Their COVID-19 Crown

When circumstances on Wall Street don’t line up with expectations, a lot of garbled stories emerge.

That’s what’s going on right now to explain why technology-rich portfolios are down anywhere from 5% to 35% from their peaks while the S&P 500 hits record after record. After all, technology stocks like Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) led the market through its pandemic upheavals.

They were growing at a healthy rate before the lockdowns and their expansion still beats just about everything else on the market. Some people say they got ahead of themselves, racing so far ahead of their fundamentals that they simply aren’t attractive investments at this price. I’m sympathetic but think reality is a little more complicated.

Wall Street will always pay a premium for projected growth. The faster the growth rate, the more the premium can stretch. When prices stretch too far, even a juggernaut stock stops attracting more buyers than sellers.

Remarkably, that’s not where technology stocks are. The sector, as a whole, remains compelling on a growth-adjusted basis.

It simply isn’t the only game on Wall Street anymore. Technology has some serious competition for investor attention now.

The Pandemic Wasn’t a Perfect Circle

Start with assumptions about what the pandemic did to the corporate landscape. People who talk about the “K-shaped economy” only have it right in broad terms.

Yes, technology companies don’t get sick and many actually helped facilitate life under lockdown conditions. They made a lot of money while conventional retailers, restaurants and hotels froze.

I’m talking about all of this on my Millionaire Makers radio show (Spotify)(Apple) and video channel (YouTube). Subscribe now so you never miss an episode… or an opportunity!

But all in all, woe in the brick-and-mortar world just wasn’t enough to drag the entire market down. Earnings across the S&P 500 are tracking close to 8% above 2019 levels this year.

That’s not a zero-sum reset after an earnings crash. And it’s no longer a question of easy year-over-year comparisons either.

These companies went on making more money than ever across the two-year cycle. As the pandemic recedes in the rear view, the only thing the market remembers is the longer-term trend of progress.

The pandemic was savage and shocking but, from a shareholder perspective, things actually look better now than they did before COVID-19 even got its name. That’s why we invest.

Tech Lost Its Crown, But Isn’t A Loser

Of course, there were winners and losers in that cycle. Restaurants and retailers needed to pivot fast just to survive, while health care and technology stocks stayed on track.

This doesn’t make restaurants and retailers a strong buy now. Many are still struggling to find their way in a world of home delivery and online convenience.

Even counting Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), consumer discretionary stocks are still tracking an 11% earnings decline from 2019. That isn’t an attractive situation at any price.

I wouldn’t buy the sector here at a lofty 39X earnings. Negative growth isn’t worth a premium. We should be getting these stocks at a deep discount.

There are good stocks here, don’t get me wrong. AMZN is rich at 57X earnings, but it’s also grown that earnings pool 140% through the pandemic cycle.

If you like traditional retail here, Home Depot Inc. (NYSE:HD) and Lowe’s Companies Inc. (NYSE:LOW) are the most attractive big names. The housing boom is good to them.

HD looks like it will end up with 26% more profit at the end of this year than it earned in 2019. The pandemic didn’t even leave a mark. 

Here at a 25X multiple, that growth rate is traditionally enough to make HD a strong buy. And LOW, with 74% earnings expansion, looks even better at barely 20X earnings.

Cheaper stocks growing faster than the competition are what Wall Street really loves. The rest is just chatter.

We can do this sector by sector. Tech doesn’t look bad at a 26X multiple on 24% two-year growth. Health care is only a little less attractive with 12% in projected post-pandemic progress priced at 17X earnings.

Drill down to individual stocks and you’ll find your sweet spots. That’s what we do every day in my Value Authority and newly launched Triple-Digit Trader. We don’t buy sectors. We buy stocks.

But knowing which sectors have a reason to be hot gives us a way to identify opportunities when the hot spots cool off. Tech stocks are lagging the market now. They’ll catch up when the tide turns.

Other “hot” spots will cool off. The financials, as a group, are still no bargain at any price, with earnings tracking down 11% from pre-pandemic days thanks to the Fed’s emergency interest rate moves.

I like J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) here at 12X earnings and a two-year growth rate of 22%, however. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE:GS) also has a lot going for it to merit a recommendation.

And the best sector of all right now? The materials producers. They obtained their fastest growth between 2019 and 2021 and still are valued more cheaply than the S&P 500 as a whole. 

This is where the heat in the post-pandemic economy really is. Inflation is a good thing here, not a drag. We’ll be talking more about these stocks as the year goes on.

P.S. Orlando MoneyShow, Championsgate Resort, June 10-12: The MoneyShow is back in person! Speakers not only include me but Larry Kudlow, Mark Skousen,  Bob Carlson, Jon Najarian, Jeffrey Saut, Jeff Hirsch and Louis Navallier. Click here to register or call 1-800-970-4355 and mention priority code 052705 to attend free.