4 Things to Know About Tech Investing in 2019

Apple (AAPL) surprised investors by announcing that holiday quarter revenues from 2018 would fall short of expectations, primarily from weak iPhone sales in China.

"Technology stocks are pausing after years of stellar growth," says David Russell, vice president of content strategy at trading platform TradeStation. He says big innovators like Apple have become victims of their own success, struggling to beat revenue estimates and add new customers. Those tussles create challenges for tech and stocks in general in the near term.

"We're back to a world where global central banks are no longer cocooning the market," says Taimur Hyat, chief strategy officer at PGIM, the investment management business of Prudential Financial. "As they unwind quantitative easing, and heightened political and trade war risk leaves market participants jittery, we expect the tech sector and the broader market to see continued volatility in 2019."

But that's not necessarily a bad thing, experts say.

"Through all this, it's important to remember that volatility is the friend of long-term investors: It creates entry points for asset purchases at potentially attractive prices," Hyat says. As 2019 advances, Hyat says a select group of globally diverse tech firms will continue to show strong performance even as market risk persists.


Blake Oliver, senior product marketing manager at Los Angeles-based FloQast, agrees: "Despite the volatility in the market, there are still plenty of opportunities for investors. Much of the volatility over the past year has been driven by tech companies that can't seem to keep consumer's personal information secure – mostly because they profit by sharing and selling that information with others."