Like millions of other people across the UK, I tuned in recently to witness a great World Snooker Championship final between Belgium’s Luca Brecel and Englishman Mark Selby.
The latter is one of the greatest players in the game and is a former four-time world champion. But he has his detractors due to what some would say is a risk averse, pragmatic playing style – not the best thing for a game that can take a number of hours to finish.
While his style does not give an inch to his opponent, the reality is that Selby is much more than a defensive player. He actually has all the tools needed for a great player, as evidenced by the 147 maximum break he hit in the final – the first person ever to achieve such a feat. In short, he is much more than a one trick pony.
One investment sector that has proven to be more than a one trick pony in recent times is technology.
Seen as the poster child for growth, the impression of the sector has started to change since the Covid-19 lockdowns of 2020. In fact, many experts would say tech has replaced the likes of healthcare and energy as a safe haven asset.
It has been a key topic in our discussions recently, as we look for ways to navigate the likelihood of recession – in short, could its defensive traits shine through once again?
Returns for 2022 would point to the contrary, as rising rates, moderating growth and the global reopening created a perfect storm for the sector.
The technology-heavy Nasdaq 100 index shed around a third of its value in 2022, while some individual stocks are down even more with many names trading at a significant discount.
But this is no repeat of the dotcom bubble, in those days the internet was in its infancy, many companies had no cash flows in their business models and had no customers.
Cloud-based architecture and digital payment technology are now the bedrock of people's lives, while AI, the metaverse and cybersecurity are also likely to become increasingly relevant in the future.
Defensive capabilities are on show
We have already seen their resilience in the first quarter of this year, with both Microsoft and Alphabet kickstarting the tech season by beating consensus expectations with their quarterly results, both of which saw their respective share prices rise as a result.
It feeds the argument that mega-cap tech is very profitable, high margin, generally trades on reasonable multiples, and has boat loads of cash on its balance sheets.
Research from Alliance Bernstein shows that while the Faangs may be the divas – glamourous but temperamental – and the smaller, unprofitable tech firms have not helped the perception of the sector, there is also a host of high-quality, profitable companies that operate behind the scenes and support the growing defensive nature of the sector.
