Weekly tech check: Western Digital rises on AI demand, while Paycom drops on valuation concerns

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The tech sector has been under pressure due to broader economic concerns and slower global growth. With inflation remaining persistent, investor sentiment has been cautious, affecting growth-focused stocks. Despite this, certain segments, especially in AI and cloud computing, continue to show strong demand, boosting companies in that segment.

Tech companies with heavy exposure to China, such as Apple and Intel, are also dealing with challenges from a slowing Chinese economy. As market conditions remain uncertain, the sector is balancing both risks and opportunities moving forward.

The Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund ETF (NYSEARCA:XLK [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/XLK#hasComeFromMpArticle=false#source=section%3Amain_content%7Cbutton%3Abody_link%7Cfirst_level_url%3Anews]), which tracks major U.S. tech stocks, saw a notable rise of 2.08%, reflecting investor optimism amid recent market volatility.

Let’s take a look at this week’s top gainers and losers in the tech industry:

Top weekly gainers:

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/WDC]) +22.86% rose due to robust [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4499850-strong-hdd-cycle-prompts-significant-target-hikes-on-western-digital-seagate-morgan-stanley] demand for hard disk drives, driven by expanding cloud infrastructure and AI-related applications.

Fair Issac (NYSE:FICO [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/FICO]) +21.85% jumped it accounced a new direct license [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4501424-fico-stock-soars-credit-rating-bureau-stocks-drop-after-license-model-shift] model for its credit scores, cutting out middlemen.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/MU]) +19.43% rose after [https://seekingalpha.com/article/4827599-micron-is-a-steal-at-all-time-highs] strong Q4 results, driven by AI data center demand, robust Cloud Memory growth, and undervaluation.

Seagate Technology Holdings (NASDAQ:STX [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/STX]) +16.22% gained on strong demand for HDDs and expected margin expansion [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4500819-top-hardware-stocks-as-morgan-stanley-says-industry-will-be-stronger-for-longer] in the coming years.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/LRCX]) +13.62% rose after [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4499904-nvidia-leads-chip-stocks-higher-to-start-the-week] Deutsche Bank upgraded the stock to Buy and raised its price target to $150.

Top weekly losers:

Paycom Software (NYSE:PAYC [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/PAYC]) -7.20% fell due to [https://www.aaii.com/investingideas/article/307467-why-paycom-software-inc8217s-payc-stock-is-down-512] high valuation concerns, average momentum, and a recent decline in market demand.

Jabil (NYSE:JBL [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/JBL]) -6.38% fell due to [https://finance.yahoo.com/news/why-jabil-jbl-shares-falling-191542551.html] a large insider sale by director Steven Raymund, who sold 12,400 shares valued at $1.5 million.

Tyler Technologies (NYSE:TYL [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/TYL]) -5.09%

Godaddy (NYSE:GDDY [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/GDDY]) -4.53% fell after UBS lowered its price target on the stock, citing concerns [https://finance.yahoo.com/news/godaddy-gddy-stock-trades-down-185042229.html] over competition from artificial intelligence.

Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/WDAY]) -4.13%

U.S. Tech-based ETFs to track: (NASDAQ:QQQ [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/QQQ#hasComeFromMpArticle=false#source=section%3Amain_content%7Cbutton%3Abody_link%7Cfirst_level_url%3Anews]), (NYSEARCA:VGT [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/VGT#hasComeFromMpArticle=false#source=section%3Amain_content%7Cbutton%3Abody_link%7Cfirst_level_url%3Anews]), (NYSEARCA:XLK [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/XLK#hasComeFromMpArticle=false#source=section%3Amain_content%7Cbutton%3Abody_link%7Cfirst_level_url%3Anews]), (NASDAQ:SMH [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/SMH#hasComeFromMpArticle=false#source=section%3Amain_content%7Cbutton%3Abody_link%7Cfirst_level_url%3Anews]), (NYSEARCA:IYW [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/IYW#hasComeFromMpArticle=false#source=section%3Amain_content%7Cbutton%3Abody_link%7Cfirst_level_url%3Anews]), (NYSEARCA:FTEC [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/FTEC#hasComeFromMpArticle=false#source=section%3Amain_content%7Cbutton%3Abody_link%7Cfirst_level_url%3Anews]), (NASDAQ:SOXX [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/SOXX#hasComeFromMpArticle=false#source=section%3Amain_content%7Cbutton%3Abody_link%7Cfirst_level_url%3Anews]), (BATS:IGV [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/IGV#hasComeFromMpArticle=false#source=section%3Amain_content%7Cbutton%3Abody_link%7Cfirst_level_url%3Anews]), (NASDAQ:CIBR [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/CIBR#hasComeFromMpArticle=false#source=section%3Amain_content%7Cbutton%3Abody_link%7Cfirst_level_url%3Anews]), (NYSEARCA:IGM [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/IGM#hasComeFromMpArticle=false#source=section%3Amain_content%7Cbutton%3Abody_link%7Cfirst_level_url%3Anews]), (NYSEARCA:IXN [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/IXN#hasComeFromMpArticle=false#source=section%3Amain_content%7Cbutton%3Abody_link%7Cfirst_level_url%3Anews]).

MORE ON WESTERN DIGITAL, FICO, ETC.

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* Q3 tech sector gainers & losers: Western Digital tops the chart, with Gartner, Fiserv among worst performers [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4501177-q3-tech-sector-gainers-losers-western-digital-tops-the-chart-with-gartner-fiserv-among-worst-performers]