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Soaring inflation in the United States, rising commodity prices, and Russia’s war on Ukraine have all led investors concerns about the upcoming Q1 earnings for all sectors. On Tuesday, the U.S. Labour Department’s numbers indicated that the consumer price index (CPI) rose 8.5% for the year ending March, the highest rise since the period ending in December 1981.

Moreover, inflation rose to 1.2% from February to March after an increase of 0.8% in February.

The Fed has already indicated that it plans to tighten its balance sheet by around $95 billion every month, and has already implemented the first interest rate hike. Chairman Jerome Powell has also signaled six more interest rate hikes expected this year and three more hikes next year.

Tightening the balance sheet refers to the Fed selling off its assets in an attempt to control inflation and a hawkish monetary policy stance.

In this scenario, the tech-heavy Nasdaq (NDX) index has seen a widespread sell-off of technology stocks resulting in the index declining 15.5% year-to-date.

However, Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives is not worried. The analyst believes that “fears around a fundamental tech slowdown are way overdone relative to our recent tech checks in the field.” Ives thinks that news of the rate hike is already priced in tech stocks, and it is now time to “aggressively own tech names.”

Using the TipRanks database, we looked at Ives’ picks which the rest of Wall Street is also bullish about. Let us take a look at these three top stocks.

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL)

Shares of Apple have fared relatively well versus its peers amid this tech sector selloff as the stock has dropped only 7.8% year-to-date. Moreover, many analysts are bullish about the stock and believe it will do well despite lingering supply constraints.

In a bid to address some of these constraints, the iPhone maker recently shifted its manufacturing of the iPhone 13 to India, in a move to diversify the production of the flagship model outside China.

For Citigroup analyst Jim Suva, the geopolitical risks aside, he continues to see "several positive drivers" for Apple. According to the analyst, demand for Apple’s products continues to be strong as people move away from cheaper Android phones toward mid-end and premium-priced products.

Suva brushed aside news of production cuts at AAPL as “nothing unusual at this point in the product cycle given Apple tends to overshoot on build estimates to ensure sufficient supply.” The analyst is of the opinion that AAPL’s current valuation does not reflect new product launches including a virtual or augmented reality (VR or AR) headset device and the Apple Car possibly in 2025.

The analyst has a Buy rating and a price target of $200 on the stock, implying an upside potential of 19.3% at early morning trading levels on Wednesday.

Even analyst Ives views AAPL as “both a Rock of Gibraltar defensive tech name as well as the best 5G tech play in the market with a massive product cycle that is gaining more steam.” Similar to Suva, Ives also has a Buy rating and a price target of $200 on the stock.

Other analysts on the Street are also upbeat about AAPL with a Strong Buy consensus rating based on 23 Buys and five Holds. The average AAPL stock forecast is $193.36, implying an upside potential of 15.1% from early morning trading levels on Wednesday.

Adobe (NASDAQ: ADBE)

Shares of Adobe have been swept up in the tech sector selloff and have tanked 24.4% year-to-date even as the software company delivered upbeat Q1 FY22 results. Adobe posted record total revenues of $4.26 billion, up 17% year-over-year, beating analysts’ expectations of $4.24 billion.

Adjusted earnings came in at $3.37 per share in Q1, surpassing the consensus estimate of $3.34. However, it was the company’s Q2 outlook that disappointed analysts. ADBE has projected net revenues to be $4.34 billion, while analysts were expecting revenues of $4.41 billion. Furthermore, adjusted earnings are projected to be $3.30 per share, compared to the Street’s estimate of $3.35 per share.

Deutsche Bank analyst Brad Zelnick is convinced by the enormous creative total addressable market (TAM) for ADBE “which has been ever expanding beyond expectations, its many levers for durable growth, as well as the even greater opportunity in Digital Experience.”

The analyst is convinced that the Digital Experience (DX) market is “ripe for consolidation – especially in a post-pandemic, cookieless world – with Adobe one of only two logical winners.”

As a result, Zelnick reiterated a Buy rating on the stock but lowered the price target from $660 to $575, implying 34.7% upside potential at early morning trading levels on Wednesday.

The rest of the analysts on the Street echo Zelnick, and are also bullish on the stock with a Strong Buy consensus rating based on 21 Buys and five Holds. The average ADBE stock forecast is $567.64, implying an upside potential of 33.1% from current levels.

Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT)

Shares of Microsoft have slumped 15.7% year-to-date as the macroeconomic concerns have weighed on investors’ minds. The question then begs, will macroeconomic headwinds drag down this software giant?

Morgan Stanley analyst Keith Weiss does not think so. His channel checks have indicated MSFT’s “strong positioning across key growth and defensible spending categories.” The analyst pointed out that besides macroeconomic uncertainties, other headwinds for the stock include a slightly higher impact of foreign exchange fluctuations and normalization of growth when it comes to MSFT’s Server Products.

However, Weiss thinks that these headwinds could very well be offset by MSFT’s cloud services (Azure) as the company stands to benefit as more enterprises transform to the cloud. MSFT is the analyst’s preferred name and he has a Buy rating and a price target of $372, implying an upside potential of 31.8% from early morning trading levels on Wednesday.

Other analysts on the Street echo Weiss and are bullish with a Strong Buy consensus rating based on 27 unanimous Buys. The average MSFT stock forecast is $374.88, implying an upside potential of 32.4% from early morning trading levels on Wednesday.

Bottom Line

It is obvious from analyst Ives’ list that other Wall Street analysts also share his view and overall, the large-cap tech stocks seem to be poised to sail through the macroeconomic headwinds.

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Shares of fallen chip maker Intel (INTC) have fallen considerably over the past few quarters.

With the stock looking to hit at a multi-year level of support at around the $45 per-share range, questions linger as to what the firm's next course will be as it attempts to move forward with its plan to retake the lead in processors.

Undoubtedly, it's hard to play in the chip space if you've fallen behind by so much. With new rivals, including the likes of Apple (AAPL) and Microsoft (MSFT), building their own chips, Intel's glory days seem to be in the rear-view mirror.

Even if the company can get back up to speed with its current architecture roadmap, the total addressable market could shrink as more firms look to in-house internal hardware components. Indeed it's not a significant trend in the tech space for a firm that once was vital in the hardware space.

There's never been a better time to reduce one's reliance on other firms' supply chains. Simply put, the next five years seem very uncertain, as the company risks falling victim to rising competition that looks to have been given a bit of a jolt by the COVID-19 pandemic. I am neutral.

Historic Turnaround Effort

Though Intel is still in the early innings of its multi-year plan to retake the lead in the chip space, its newly appointed CEO Patrick Gelsinger already appears to be raking it in, with a whopping ~$180-million pay package in 2021. That's a rich sum, especially early on in the man's tenure.

If Gelsinger can steer Intel stock back to its former glory, I'm sure investors will be happy with Gelsinger's big payday. Until then, time is of the essence for the firm whose stock has underperformed the S&P 500.

With shares of INTC falling into single-digit earnings multiple territory, the name is likely to gain the attention of technically inclined value investors.

Of course, it's hard to evaluate the company as it navigates between the line of value and value trap. For that reason, I'm hesitant to load up on shares until the company can share updates on its long-term investment plan.

How Intel Can Retake the Lead

Intel is still in the race, though its valuation would suggest otherwise. At writing, Intel stock trades at a mere 9.7 times trailing earnings and 2.5 times sales.

With Apple's M2 line of chips on the horizon, it's clear that Apple is looking to change the game. It's raising the bar on per-watt performance. So much so that it could make its last generation of chips look bad.

At this juncture, I think it's incredibly unlikely that a Mac computer will have anything other than an Apple-made ARM-based chip. The company has invested way too much, and every year, the M-series could increase the gap between its own performance and that of its peers.

Despite losing its spot in the latest and greatest Apple-powered computers, Intel still has a world of share to spread its wings in the PC market. Intel is spending considerable sums to close the gap with its rival AMD (AMD). The company knows it needs to sprint to get ahead, which is a major reason it recently decided to pour €33 billion into European R&D.

A commoditized industry is at risk of becoming more commoditized, in my books. Just how much of a discount is warranted on the old players like Intel remains a mystery for now.

Still, I think a lot of the negativity and doubt surrounding Intel's future is already mostly baked into the share price. A single-digit P/E multiple leaves a low bar ahead of a firm that's more than capable of surprising.

In any case, the stakes are high in the semi market, but so too are the potential rewards, as various trends like IoT (Internet of Things) fuel the appetite for processing power across a broader range of devices.

Wall Street's Take

According to TipRanks’ consensus rating, INTC stock comes in as a Moderate Buy. Out of 28 analyst ratings, there are seven Buy recommendations, 13 Hold recommendations, and seven Sell recommendations.

The average Intel price target is $52.67, implying 12.2% upside potential. Analyst price targets range from a low of $40 per share to a high of $70 per share.

Bottom Line on INTC Stock

Intel may be an underdog, but it's still generating ample cash flow from its PC and server CPU markets.

Though it may have to get more competitive with pricing, I think too many investors are counting the firm out of the game, when it's still on track to hit its goal over the coming three years.

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