Although it may be tempting to really back up the truck on beat up tech stocks, patience and a long-term investment horizon are needed right now, cautions one veteran tech analyst.
“If you have a long enough duration investment outlook, absolutely you should be stepping in and buying some Amazon and Google today,” said EvercoreISI tech analyst Mark Mahaney on Yahoo Finance Live. “If you have a 9 to 12 month outlook, you will be able to start off buying the highest quality names.”
Putting those trades into motion, well, will take brass balls as was said in the movie “Glengarry Glen Ross.”
The Nasdaq Composite was down 340 points, or 2.6% to 12,696.08 in afternoon trading Thursday as Russia invaded Ukraine and risky positions in tech were taken off the table by traders.
Meanwhile, the Nasdaq 100 flirted with bear market territory — otherwise known as a 20% drop from a recent high.
Selling pressure in tech was seen generally across the board.
Tesla fell 1%. Apple dropped 2%. Amazon, Microsoft and Meta were down more than 1%.
All of these stocks dominated the Yahoo Finance Trending Tickers page, underscoring the increased volatility in the tech sector.
But as they say in investing, it takes two to make a market. Other strategists on Wall Street are taking a more active approach on buying tech stocks on weakness.
“In covering tech stocks since the Tech Bubble/Burst the last few decades, we view these geopolitical shock events as times not to panic (knee jerk reaction this morning is always very scary watching the red screens) but instead selectively focus on the defensive tech stocks with significant free cash flow and oversold tech stalwart names across the tech ecosystem,” said Wedbush Securities tech analyst Dan Ives.
Ives is most bullish on cybersecurity plays inside of tech such as Zscaler and Palo Alto Networks amid concerns of Russia launching cyber warfare versus the U.S. and Europe.
Explained Ives, “With a significantly elevated level of cyberattacks now appearing on the horizon, we believe added growth tailwinds for the cybersecurity sector and well positioned vendors should be a focus sector for tech investors during this market turmoil.”
Brian Sozzi is an editor-at-large and anchor at Yahoo Finance. Follow Sozzi on Twitter @BrianSozzi and on LinkedIn.
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