Tech Stocks See Resilient Institutional Buying Despite Mixed Earnings

In the third quarter of 2024, institutional interest in technology stocks such as Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), Crowdstrike (NASDAQ: CRWD), and Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD) strengthened significantly, reaching a multiyear high in the first quarter of 2025. While the activity has shown some mixed signals, particularly with increased sell-offs also hitting multiquarter highs, the overall buying trend remains notably bullish. This suggests that any potential market pullback in the second quarter could be perceived as a buying opportunity by investors. A critical aspect of this trend is the diverse array of buyers, which includes fund managers, public and state retirement funds, and private wealth managers.

Strong Support for Apple Amid Price Fluctuations

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As the first quarter of 2025 comes to a close, Apple’s share price faces challenges as it fluctuates around an important resistance level, previously set as an all-time high. This pivot point is crucial for investors to monitor. Notably, support is holding firm at the 150-day EMA, which is often indicative of long-term investor interest, particularly among institutional buyers.

While some Apple insiders sold shares in 2024 and early 2025, this is not concerning for investors given Apple’s practice of share-based compensation. More importantly, the movement in analyst ratings is aligned with the trend in institutional buying and supports the stock’s position at the long-term EMA. Analysts have increased their coverage of Apple, maintaining a Moderate Buy rating, and the consensus price target has risen by 20% over the past year. Notably, Wedbush has set a high price target of $325, indicating a potential upside of nearly 50% from this key support level.

Crowdstrike Faces Headwinds Due to Analyst Update

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Following the release of its fourth-quarter earnings, Crowdstrike’s share price began to decline in mid-February as the company provided weaker-than-expected earnings guidance. This cautious outlook is largely attributed to increased expenditures aimed at advancing technology and driving record quarterly sales. Despite this, Crowdstrike is maintaining sufficient cash flow to operate effectively, invest in its business, and enhance shareholder equity, which has improved rapidly, rising by 42% in fiscal year 2025.

Insider sales at Crowdstrike in 2025 do not raise red flags, as institutional ownership exceeds 70%. Analysts’ sentiment remains bullish, with increasing coverage, a Moderate Buy rating, and a consensus price target that anticipates a 20% gain by the end of the year, with the possibility of retesting all-time highs.

Analysts’ Outlook on Advanced Micro Devices Sparks Debate

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Advanced Micro Devices recently experienced a reset in price targets that resulted in a 15% dip in consensus expectations over the last year. However, the market’s reaction appears overblown, with shares trading below target ranges and indicating a minimum upside potential of 10%, with the potential for 55% upside at the consensus. AMD’s low P/E ratio suggests a fair value of 21X based on 2025 forecasts, while indicating strong value prospects for 2030 at under 9X.

Though AMD did not experience the same meteoric rise from AI advancements as NVIDIA, it stands to benefit from these trends, projecting sustained double-digit growth well into 2030, with bottom-line growth expected to nearly double top-line growth. Key catalysts for 2025 include the growth of AI-capable PC CPUs and a resurgence in the gaming sector. Although overall PC growth is expected to be sluggish, the market for AI-capable CPUs is predicted to increase from 25% to over 40%. The gaming industry is anticipated to recover by year-end, fueled by the rise of AI-enhanced gaming capabilities.

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The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Nasdaq, Inc.