In this article, we will look at the 5 best big data stocks to buy now. If you want to explore similar stocks, you can go to 11 Best Big Data Stocks to Buy Now.
5. Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ:ORCL)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 69
Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ:ORCL) is an enterprise software solutions giant. On September 20, Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ:ORCL) released Java 19, the latest version of the Java programming language.
On September 12, the company released earnings for the fiscal first quarter of 2023. The company reported earnings per share of $1.03 and generated a revenue of $11.45 billion, up 17.65% year over year. Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ:ORCL) is among the few dividend-paying big data companies. As of September 28, the stock is offering a forward dividend yield of 1.98% and the company has free cash flows of $5.37 billion.
Wall Street sees material upside to Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ:ORCL). On September 13, Deutsche Bank analyst Brad Zelnick reiterated his $110 price target and Buy rating on Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ:ORCL) after the company reported “very solid” first-quarter results. This September, JPMorgan analyst Mark Murphy raised his price target on Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ:ORCL) to $84 from $82 and reiterated a buy-side Overweight rating on the shares.
At the close of the second quarter of 2022, 69 hedge funds held stakes in Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ:ORCL) worth $4.18 billion. This is compared to 61 positions in the previous quarter with stakes worth $4.33 billion. As of June 30, First Eagle Investment Management is the top shareholder in Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ:ORCL) and has stakes worth $1.8 billion in the company.
Here is what First Eagle Investments had to say about Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ:ORCL) in its second-quarter 2022 investor letter:
“Oracle is one of the world’s largest independent enterprise software companies and has been reinventing itself for the cloud-computing environment, a transition pursued primarily through investments in organic research and design and smallish, well-priced acquisitions. That said, Oracle in June closed its largest-ever deal with the acquisition of Cerner, a designer of software to store and analyze medical records and other healthcare data.
Oracle took on additional debt to finance this all-cash acquisition and as a result plans to moderate its stock-buyback program to focus on debt reduction. Despite the weak quarter for the stock, Oracle’s operations remain strong; it reported better- than-expected results for its most recent quarter and issued upbeat guidance for the coming fiscal year.”
4. Datadog, Inc. (NASDAQ:DDOG)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 81
Datadog, Inc. (NASDAQ:DDOG) is a leading global cloud computing company that provides monitoring, analytics, and observability services for developers, information technology operations teams, and business users. Insider Monkey found 81 hedge funds bullish on Datadog, Inc. (NASDAQ:DDOG) at the close of Q2 2022. The funds held collective stakes of $2.71 billion in the company.
On August 4, Datadog, Inc. (NASDAQ:DDOG) announced that it has acquired Datadog announced it has acquired Seekret, an emerging software developer that develops API observability applications. The company noted that with this acquisition it plans to extend its platform to deliver more insightful API observability, governance, and automation for businesses.
Wall Street is bullish on Datadog, Inc. (NASDAQ:DDOG). On September 20, Baird analyst William Power started coverage of Datadog, Inc. (NASDAQ:DDOG) with a buy-side Outperform rating and a $120 price target. The analyst noted that the company has established itself as an industry leader in the cloud space and he sees upside to the stock due to the company’s “leading growth and strong cash flow”. As of September 28, Datadog, Inc. (NASDAQ:DDOG) has free cash flows of $353.8 million.
As of June 30, Durable Capital Partners owns over 3.1 million shares of Datadog, Inc. (NASDAQ:DDOG) and is the most prominent investor in the company. The fund’s stakes are valued at $299.4 million.
Here is what Baron Funds had to say about Datadog, Inc. (NASDAQ:DDOG) in its first-quarter 2022 investor letter:
“Another example is Datadog, the leading infrastructure monitoring, application performance monitoring and log management software platform. Datadog’s stock declined 15% during the quarter, despite reporting sparkling operational results, with revenues accelerating to a growth rate of 84% year-over-year with 33% free cash flow margins, while guiding for 2022 significantly above expectations. Datadog added 4,600 new customers in the quarter, while existing customers continued to increase their spending on Datadog products at a rapid pace with the number of customers using four or more products increasing to 33% from 22% last year. While Datadog’s stock was down, its intrinsic value has undoubtedly increased. This is enabled by rapid innovation (Datadog released 13 new products in 2021) into a market that is benefiting from the secular growth in cloud, digital transformation, and the explosion in complexity as the number of vendors, diversity of technologies and related infrastructure continued to expand.”
3. Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 116
On August 24, Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) announced market-beating earnings for the fiscal second quarter of 2022. The company reported earnings per share of $1.19 and beat EPS estimates by $0.16. The company generated a revenue of $7.72 billion, up 21.7% year over year, and beat Wall Street consensus by $23.14 million.
Wall Street analysts see material upside to the leading big data company. On September 19, Raymond James analyst Brian Peterson reiterated his $225 price target and Strong Buy rating on Saleforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) and also added the stock to the bank’s “Analyst Current Favorite” list. This September, Mizuho analyst Gregg Moskowitz reiterated his $235 price target and Buy rating on Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM).
At the end of Q2 2022, 116 hedge funds held stakes in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM). The total value of these stakes amounted to $7.9 billion. As of June 30, Fisher Asset Management owns more than 15 million shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) and is the top investor in the company. The investment covers 1.83% of Ken Fisher’s 13F portfolio.
Here is what Vulcan Value Partners had to say about Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) in its first-quarter 2022 investor letter:
“Salesforce.com Inc. is the dominant provider of customer relationship management software and technology. Salesforce has high retention rates, pricing power, high free cash flow, and a competitive moat. The company continues to execute well. Margins decreased slightly during the fourth quarter but continue to be on path for material expansion over the long term. Salesforce is seeing increased spending as employees are returning to the office, and we believe the global pandemic has only improved its prospects.”
2. Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 153
Alphabet Inc.’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) Google Cloud Platform is one of the world’s most widely used cloud services. In the second quarter of 2022, Google Cloud’s revenue topped $6 billion, up 35% year over year. Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) is a leader in artificial intelligence and data science and is one of the best big data stocks to buy.
On September 22 leading insurance company, The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV), announced that it is collaborating with Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) to develop a cloud-based data ecosystem that will process and analyze huge amounts of data and aid Travelers’ (NYSE:TRV) to efficiently evaluate risks for large and middle-sized businesses.
On August 3, Tigress Financial analyst Ivan Feinseth raised his price target on Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) to $186 from $183 and reiterated a Strong Buy rating on the shares.
At the close of Q2 2022, 153 hedge funds were long Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) with stakes worth $22.29 billion. As of June 30, TCI Fund Management owns over 2.4 million shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) and is the most prominent investor in the company.
Here is what Madison Funds had to say about Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) in its second-quarter 2022 investor letter:
“Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) continues to perform well, but the price-to-earnings multiple contracted considerably due to concerns about the potential for revenue to be more economically sensitive than it has been historically given the vast size of the business today. Similarly, Adobe and Accenture continue to report strong sales growth, but performance has moderated a bit relative to the extremely robust results generated over the last year or so. In all three cases, we think that the longer-term outlook remains excellent.”
1. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 258
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) offers Microsoft Azure, one of the world’s best-in-class cloud platforms, that is used by enterprises all around the world for data analytics. On September 28, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) announced a strategic collaboration with leading automation company UiPath (NYSE:PATH) to develop cloud automation solutions for enterprises.
On September 22, Wells Fargo analyst Michael Turrin reiterated a buy-side Overweight rating and his $350 price target on Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT). This September, Morgan Stanley analyst Keith Weiss maintained his $354 price target and Overweight rating on Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT).
At the close of Q2 2022, 258 hedge funds held stakes in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT). The total value of these stakes amounted to $56 billion. As of June 30, Fisher Asset Management owns over 28.6 million shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) and is the most prominent shareholder in the company. The investment covers 5.21% of Ken Fisher’s 13F portfolio.
Here is what Baron Funds had to say about Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) in its second-quarter 2022 investor letter:
“Shares of Microsoft Corporation, a leading global provider of software solutions, declined 16.6% in the quarter along with the broader software group as well as due to growing concerns of a potential macro-driven slowdown. This is despite the company posting strong quarterly financial results and successfully absorbing headwinds from the war in Ukraine. The company had 21% revenue growth, 23% operating income growth, and 35% growth in Microsoft Cloud (all year-over-year in constant currency), which now represents 47% of total revenues.
As discussed above, we continue to believe Microsoft remains a durable and growing business as companies across all industries look to digitally transform, taking advantage of the continuously expanding solution set Microsoft has to offer.”
You can also take a look at Top 10 Cloud Stocks To Buy and 13 Best Cloud Stocks To Buy Now.
