Speculative tech stocks have been among the most impressive outperformers over the past decade. Indeed, investors betting on outsized growth and interest rates staying low have been rewarded.
Of course, the environment has significantly changed. The Federal Reserve and Bank of Canada both seem intent on reining in inflation. Doing so will likely result in aggressively rising interest rates, at least in the near term.
What does this mean for speculative tech stocks like BlackBerry (TSX:BB)(NYSE:BB) and Lightspeed (TSX:LSPD)(NYSE:LSPD)? Let’s discuss.
Top speculative tech stocks: BlackBerry
BlackBerry extends intelligent security services and software to governments and enterprises across the globe. This company secures over 500 million endpoints, including more than 195 million vehicles.
The market capitalization of this former smartphone maker still sits around $4.9 billion, which has been on the decline in recent months for good reason. A speculative buying frenzy took shares of this tech stock on what many saw as an unsustainable rise early last year. Since settling down toward a sub-$5 billion valuation, many growth investors may see some upside with this stock.
Besides the short-squeeze mania that continues in pockets of the social media world, there are real catalysts investors are watching with BlackBerry. This is a company that, despite losing market share to competitors, has made some intriguing partnerships. Accordingly, as this company grows its security-focused software business, there is the potential for a longer-term rally in this stock.
That said, in this macro environment, BlackBerry stock may suffer. Investors looking for high-quality growth have many options. Accordingly, this stock certainly fits within the realm of speculative tech stocks right now.
Lightspeed
Another company I’d put in the same bucket is Lightspeed. Lightspeed Commerce is a one-stop commerce platform for merchants to scale, simplify, and develop exceptional customer experiences. A few weeks back, this company posted Q3 2022 financial results.
The company saw $152.7 million in total revenue — a 165% growth rate year over year. In addition, Lightspeed’s subscription revenue rose 123% to touch $68.6 million. And transaction-based revenue grew 249% to hit $75.8 million. Moreover, Lightspeed completed the acquisition of Ecwid in this quarter.
Powered by the leading omnichannel capabilities of Lightspeed, the company’s customers displayed remarkable resilience and grew at roughly two times the industry average. This company’s modern cloud-based platform keeps driving tremendous value in target verticals for the merchants. And the company’s solid GTV performance for the quarter is evidence of this.
In spite of the various challenges, Lightspeed expects to post solid year-over-year growth for Q4. Accordingly, there are some investors that may view this dip as a buying opportunity.
However, given where the market is right now, investors may want to be cautious with both these stocks. Aggressive investors may delight in cheaper prices. That said, even cheaper prices may be on the horizon.
