Discover the 2 best Nasdaq-100 stocks of the past year. They soared 164% and 219%, and Wall Street says both stocks are still buys

THE Nasdaq-100 measures the performance of the 100 largest companies listed on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange. The index is generally considered a barometer of growth stocks. It has climbed 38% over the past year, led higher by Nvidia (NVDA 3.77%) And Crowd strike (CRWD 2.45%). But Wall Street analysts still forecast gains for shareholders of both stocks.

• Nvidia stock has climbed 219% over the past year, but the median price target of $1,000 per share implies a 13% upside from its current price of $885 per share. Additionally, while 59 analysts cover the company, none currently recommend selling.
• CrowdStrike stock has soared 164% over the past year, but the median price target of $400 per share implies a 28% upside from its current price of $310 per share. Additionally, while 49 analysts cover the company, none currently recommend selling.

Here’s what investors should know about Nvidia and CrowdStrike.

Nvidia: 219% return over the past year

Nvidia reported spectacular fourth-quarter financial results, crushing estimates for both revenue and bottom line. Revenue soared 265% to $22.1 billion, gross margin increased 10 percentage points and non-GAAP net income jumped 486% to $5.16 per diluted share. This dynamic is mainly explained by strong sales growth in the data center segment, itself driven by the explosive interest in artificial intelligence (AI), particularly generative AI.

Looking ahead, Grand View Research predicts that AI spending across hardware, software, and services will grow 36% annually through 2030, and Bloomberg predicts that generative AI spending in the same categories will grow by 36% annually through 2030. 34% per year until 2032. Nvidia is well positioned. to benefit from it in all cases. Its graphics processing units (GPUs) power “all of the most advanced AI systems, giving the company an estimated market share of more than 80%,” according to the Wall Street Journal.

Additionally, Nvidia is participating in other parts of the AI ​​economy. It has successfully diversified its data center hardware portfolio with high-speed networking equipment and central processing units (CPUs) specifically designed for AI. Nvidia has also moved into subscription software and cloud services. For example, DGX Cloud enables companies to provide the infrastructure, software and supercomputing services needed to build and manage AI applications across a range of use cases, from recommender systems to autonomous robots.

It’s also worth noting that Nvidia recently introduced new products and systems at its annual GPU Technology Conference (GTC). The main releases were platforms featuring its latest GPU architecture, Blackwell. The company called Blackwell “the most powerful chip in the world” in a press release. Additionally, CEO Jensen Huang said: “Generative AI is the defining technology of our time. Blackwell is the engine powering this industrial revolution.

Nvidia currently values ​​its addressable market at $1 trillion, and Wall Street expects the company to grow its earnings per share by 35% annually over the next three to five years. That estimate makes its current valuation of 74 times earnings somewhat expensive, but not as expensive as investors might assume given that shares have more than tripled over the past year. Even so, the numbers I just provided imply a PEG ratio of 2.1, but I would personally feel more comfortable buying the stock at a PEG ratio below 2.

CrowdStrike: 164% return over the past year

Cybersecurity software provider CrowdStrike looked strong in the fourth quarter. Revenue increased 33% to $845 million and non-GAAP net income more than doubled to $236 million. Management expects this momentum to continue in the coming quarters. In fact, CrowdStrike is one of only three publicly traded enterprise software companies forecasting 30% revenue growth this year, according to Morgan Stanley.

CrowdStrike is the market leader in endpoint security software, and recent data from International Data Corp. (IDC) suggest that the company is also gaining market share faster than its competitors. CrowdStrike’s success in endpoint security stems from what management believes is the most effective artificial intelligence and easiest-to-deploy cybersecurity software on the market, and that bodes well for shareholders for two reasons.

First, endpoint security is one of the fastest-growing product categories in the cybersecurity software market, which means CrowdStrike has a powerful tailwind. Second, the brand authority the company has cultivated in endpoint security is driving market share gains in other product categories, including identity protection, cloud security, and Security information and event management (SIEM).

Additionally, during the latest earnings conference call, management cited early momentum with new data protection and IT automation software modules, as well as excitement over its new generative AI assistant Charlotte HAVE. These products expand CrowdStrike’s addressable market and further strengthen its position as a supplier consolidator. To be more precise, many companies deploy more than 60 cybersecurity point products, but CrowdStrike reduces complexity by allowing companies to eliminate point products and consolidate them onto a single platform.

Looking ahead, Wall Street analysts expect CrowdStrike to grow revenue by 29% annually over the next five years. In this context, its current valuation of 24.7 times sales seems reasonable. Investors should consider purchasing a small position in this growth stock here.