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4 Stocks to Watch as PC Shipments Continue to Grow

The PC market, which includes laptops and tablets, got a fresh lease of life following the coronavirus pandemic. The COVID-19 outbreak saw millions working and learning from home, thus helping PC sales to bounce back after years.

With the COVID-19 pandemic far from over, PC sales have continued to show improvement even into this year. After a successful first quarter, PC sales once again grew in the second quarter, making it a great year so far.

PC Sales Grow in Q2

According to IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker, shipment of PCs that include laptops and tablets, desktops and notebooks, reached 83.6 million units, jumping 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. However, growth somewhat slowed from the first quarter but are still higher than the pre-pandemic levels.

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The report also mentions that desktop PC growth outpaced portable computers. One of the main reasons behind that was the shortage of microchips that impacted the supply of notebooks.

HP Inc. HPQ was the best performer, recording sales growth of 2.7%. Lenovo Group Ltd. LNVGY took the second spot, while Dell Technologies Inc. DELL came in third.

The second-quarter growth comes after an impressive first quarter. According to a report from Canalys, PC shipments surged a whopping 53.1% in the first quarter to 122.1 million units on a year-over-year basis.

PC Sales Poised to Grow

PC sales have been on the decline for the past few years now, with smartphones eating into the market share. However, the pandemic breathed life into the age-old PCs as the whole world worked and learnt from home. Although things are somewhat getting back to normal, the work and learn-from-home culture is the new normal now. Also, the pandemic is far from over and remote working and learning are likely to stay here for a longer time. Thus demand for PCs is likely to continue.

Besides, the videogame market has been helping PC sales. Videogame sales are on an all-time high, thanks to the pandemic once again. According to an earlier report from Canalys, installed PCs and tablets market will reach 1.77 billion by 2021 end, up from 1.64 billion in 2019. Tablets too have seen huge demand during the pandemic and the market is likely to grow in 2021.

Stocks to Watch

Apple, Inc. AAPL designs, manufactures and markets smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables and accessories worldwide. Its signature products include iPhone, Mac and iPad.

The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 57.9%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 1.6% over the past 60 days. Apple has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Alphabet Inc. GOOGL has been one of the best performers in the PC market lately. One of the biggest reasons behind this is the success of Chromebooks, which has revolutionized the PC market once again. The company sold the maximum number of PCs in the third quarter

The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 52.6%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 0.2% over the past 60 days. Alphabet has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Dell Technologies Inc. is a provider of information technology solutions.The company's operating segment consists of Client Solutions, Enterprise Solutions Group and Dell Software Group. The Client Solutions segment includes sales to commercial and consumer customers of desktops, thin client products, notebooks as well as services and third-party software and peripherals of Client Solutions hardware.

The company’s expected earnings growth rate for next year is 4.9%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 8.4% over the past 60 days. Dellhas a Zacks Rank #3.

HP Inc. is a leading global provider of personal computing and other access devices, imaging and printing products, and related technologies, solutions and services to individual consumers, SMBs and large enterprises, including customers in the government, health and education sectors.

The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 53.5%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 4.8% over the past 60 days. HP has a Zacks Rank #3.


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