When investors look for stocks that could help make them rich by retirement, they often turn to tech stocks. This comes with good reason; high-flying tech stocks often operate businesses that offer cutting-edge products and services. The potential growth in those companies often entices investors to take a chance on their stock, even if it’s a little more volatile. In this article, I’ll discuss three top tech stocks that could help make you rich by retirement.
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This is my favourite tech stock
If I could only invest in one tech stock right now, it would be Constellation Software (TSX:CSU). Many of the newer visitors on The Motley Fool may not be familiar with this company, but it’s one you should familiarize yourself with immediately.
Constellation Software is a tech conglomerate. It acquires vertical market software (VMS) businesses. Because Constellation Software operates in the background, as opposed to a consumer-facing business, it may explain why so many Canadians aren’t aware of it.
Since its initial public offering (IPO) in 2006, Constellation Software stock has gained nearly 19,600%. That makes it one of the best-performing stocks in Canadian history. What’s even more impressive is the fact that Constellation Software continues to grow at such a steady rate, despite how much it’s already grown in total. Over the past year, this stock has generated a return of about 60%. If that’s not the kind of performance you want in your portfolio, I’m not sure what would be.
Another excellent stock for your portfolio
Shopify (TSX:SHOP) is another stock that Canadians should consider investing in today. For those that don’t know about this company, it offers merchants of all sizes a platform to operate online stores. Shopify’s breadth of its offering is what, I think, separates it from its competitors. Shopify is able to cater to everyone from first-time entrepreneurs to large-cap enterprises. Even more importantly, however, Shopify has shown that it can help its smaller merchants grow over time.
Shopify stock has been very polarizing over the past few years. From 2015 to the end of 2021, this was a stock that nearly every growth investor held in their portfolio. Over that period, the stock gained as much as 6031%. However, after it hit those levels, Shopify stock plummeted. It fell more than 80% between November 2021 and September 2022. However, I believe that was more due to the broader economic conditions than it reflected Shopify’s business.
In 2023, Shopify stock gained more than 100%, suggesting to investors that its rough days may be behind it. It also suggests that larger investors and the market as a whole recognize that Shopify should be valued much higher than it has been as of late.
If you’re having trouble picking an individual stock
Finally, if you’re newer to the stock market or just having a hard time deciding on a single stock to add to your portfolio, you could turn to exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Think of these as a basket of companies. One huge benefit in holding an ETF as opposed to individual stocks is that you could lower your overall risk by spreading it across a larger number of companies. If this is a route that intrigues you, then I’d suggest looking at the Evolve FANGMA Index ETF (TSX:TECH).
This ETF holds the big six American tech stocks. That includes Amazon, Netflix, Meta Platforms, Microsoft), Apple, and Alphabet. Generally speaking, these companies are massive and should remain important players in the tech space for the foreseeable future. They also operate ever-evolving businesses that could grow your portfolio.
