You should look beyond their high P/Es

Article Excerpt

Technology stocks such as Alphabet (see page 31) and the three we analyze below tend to trade at somewhat high multiples to their earnings. That can scare away many more-conservative investors. However, all of these firms are market leaders in their niche fields, which helps shield them from the chip shortages that are hurting tech companies like HP and HP Enterprise (see page 35). Their high research spending also helps justify their elevated p/e’s. ADOBE INC. $423 is buy. The company (Nasdaq symbol ADBE; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 472.4 million; Market cap: $199.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 14.2; No dividends paid since June 2005; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.adobe.com) makes software that lets computer users create, edit and share documents in the popular PDF format. It also makes a variety of electronic-publishing programs. Adobe’s decision a few years ago to switch to selling its programs as ongoing subscriptions instead of one-time purchases continues to pay off for investors. The company also continues to benefit…