BlackBerry and Bombardier made waves in June, as the two Canadian giants were booted from the S&P/TSX Composite Index. The company made the transition from a hardware giant in the late 2000s and early 2010s to a sleek software firm. Its exposure to cybersecurity and automated vehicle software were some of the reasons I was bullish on BlackBerry for the rest of this decade. BlackBerry may be in flux, but that does not mean that there aren’t some great tech stocks still available right now.
This tech stock still offers cybersecurity exposure
Earlier this year, I’d discussed why investors should look to stash stocks in the cybersecurity space. ResearchAndMarkets recently projected that the global cybersecurity market would grow from $149 billion in 2019 to $208 billion in 2023. This would represent a CAGR of 11% over the forecast period.
Absolute Software (TSX:ABT) is a fantastic tech stock to target in this space. The company develops, markets, and provides cloud-based endpoint visibility and control platform for the management and security of devices, applications, and data. Shares of Absolute have climbed 57% in 2020 as of close on June 24.
The company released its third-quarter fiscal 2020 results on May 11. Total revenue increased 5% year over year to $26.1 million. Moreover, its Annual Contract Value Base climbed 7% to $101.4 million. In the year-to-date period, net income rose to $8.4 million over $5.5 million in the first three quarters of fiscal 2019.
Absolute maintained its revenue outlook for fiscal 2020 and boosted its adjusted EBITDA forecast in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. Better yet, this tech stock also offers a quarterly dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a 2.3% yield.
One more tech stock to stash for the long term
Lightspeed POS (TSX: LSPD) is a Montreal-based company that provides commerce-enabling SaaS platform for small and midsize businesses, retailers, restaurants, and golf course operators. Shares of Lightspeed have dropped 7% in 2020 so far. However, the stock has surged 114% over the past three months. It released its fourth-quarter and full-year 2020 results on May 21.
In Q4 2020, Lightspeed saw total revenue rise 70% year over year to $36.3 million. This was powered by recurring software and payments revenue, which increased 70% to $31.8 million. For the full year, Lightspeed reported revenue growth of 56% over the previous fiscal year. Meanwhile, its net loss fell to $53.5 million over a net loss of $183.5 million in fiscal 2019.
There were promising signs for Lightspeed’s business in fiscal 2020. Its customer locations climbed 49,000 to 76,500 this past year. Unfortunately, the businesses that are powered by Lightspeed are certain to take a hit due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Restaurants have been especially hit hard due to the lockdowns across the developed world. Still, Lightspeed looks strong entering fiscal 2021.
