4 Top Tech Stocks to Buy Right Now

In the ever-evolving landscape of technology, the recent market pullback has created some enticing entry points for investors. With the broader market experiencing a downturn, now is an opportune time to consider investing in some of the top technology stocks. Let's dive into four tech stocks that investors might want to consider buying right now.

1. Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) is one of the world's largest digital advertising platforms, leveraging its social media and messaging apps, including Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. The company has made significant strides in artificial intelligence (AI) through its Llama AI model, which has increased user engagement and helped advertisers create more effective campaigns. Last quarter, ad impressions increased by 6%, and the average price per ad jumped by 14%. Meta is also looking to turn Llama into a leading AI assistant with agentic AI capabilities, further enhancing user engagement and opening new revenue streams.

One of Meta's standout strengths is its ability to monetize its user base. The company's global average revenue per user (ARPU) was $14.25 in Q4, significantly higher than its competitors. Additionally, Meta's newest social media platform, Threads, is growing rapidly, adding about 1 million users a day and ending 2024 with 320 million monthly active users. This platform presents a significant opportunity for Meta to build and monetize a new user base, further driving revenue growth.

2. Pinterest

Pinterest (NYSE: PINS) operates an online vision board with over 550 million monthly active users (MAU), predominantly female. The platform is particularly popular outside the U.S., with 101 million domestic MAUs, 145 million in Europe, and 307 million in the rest of the world. Pinterest has been investing aggressively to make its site more shoppable, introducing features like in-app checkout and AI recommendations, and partnering with Amazon and others to bring merchandise catalogs to its sites.

Pinterest's biggest opportunity is closing the ARPU gap between it and its competitors, especially in its rest-of-world market, which makes up 56% of its MAUs but had just a $0.19 ARPU last quarter. To address this, Pinterest has teamed up with Alphabet's Google and local resellers to better monetize this large percentage of its user base moving forward. This partnership is expected to help in increasing the ARPU by leveraging Google's advertising capabilities and local resellers' market knowledge.

3. Netflix

Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) remains the clear leader in the streaming media subscription service industry, both in the U.S. and around the world. The company continues to grow subscribers while strategically phasing out lower-tier subscription plans. With the help of its strong content lineup, Netflix has managed to maintain solid pricing power throughout the years. Several price hikes are planned for this year as well.

The biggest opportunity for Netflix moving forward is with ads. Lower-priced, ad-supported subscription tiers currently help drive membership growth. Last quarter, in countries that have ad-supported subscription tiers, 55% of new signups chose this option. Over time, look for ads to become a bigger part of the Netflix story as it grows out its ad-supported tier user base. It just needs to keep building up that user base. At the same time, it has introduced ads for live events, even on ad-free plans, for programs such as WWE's Monday Night Raw broadcasts.



4. Adobe

Adobe (NASDAQ: ADBE) is a clear-cut leader in software for creative professionals with its programs such as Photoshop, Indesign, and Lightroom. It is also the leading PDF solution company through its Acrobat programs, and it has a digital marketing, analytics, and customer experience solution called the Adobe Experience Cloud. The company has been a solid low double-digit revenue growing business, including seeing 10% revenue growth last quarter.

Adobe has been at the forefront of AI with its Adobe Firefly generative AI models, which help with tasks such as text-to-image creation and generative fill. However, Adobe's AI solutions are currently monetized through a credit-based system, where users consume credits when they use AI features. This system has been criticized for not always delivering expected results, which can frustrate users and potentially limit the adoption and revenue growth from these AI features. Adobe is turning more toward offering multiple subscription tiers, including the launch of a new stand-alone subscription service for Firefly in February. This shift could help Adobe better monetize its AI solutions and drive future revenue growth, but it remains to be seen how effective this strategy will be.

Conclusion

In summary, while both Meta Platforms and Adobe are investing in AI to drive future revenue growth and user engagement, Meta's AI initiatives appear to have a more immediate and direct impact on its core business, particularly through increased ad revenue and user growth on its social media platforms. Adobe's AI initiatives, while innovative, face challenges in monetization and user satisfaction that could limit their short-term impact on revenue growth.

For Netflix and Pinterest, both companies are employing targeted strategies to close the ARPU gap with their competitors. Netflix's focus on ad-supported tiers and price hikes has shown early success, while Pinterest's investments in shoppable features and strategic partnerships are aimed at long-term ARPU improvement.

Investors looking to capitalize on the current market pullback should consider these four tech stocks, each with its unique strengths and opportunities for growth.