VeriSign is the gatekeeper of the internet’s most popular domains.
S&P Global provides crucial financial data and insights to the world’s top companies.
Netflix will lead the growing streaming video market for the foreseeable future.
It's been a rough year for many tech stocks. The Trump administration's tariffs, the intensifying trade wars, and other macro headwinds have all made it difficult to invest in tech companies, which rely heavily on overseas supply chains and healthy economies.
However, a handful of tech stocks are resistant to those near-term challenges. Lets examine three of those resilient stocks -- VeriSign(NASDAQ: VRSN), S&P Global(NYSE: SPGI), and Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) -- and see why they're still worth accumulating this year.
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1. VeriSign
VeriSign operates the authoritative registries for the internet's two most popular top-level domains: .com and .net. It's also the primary subcontractor for the .edu and .jobs domains. It sells those domain names to registrars, which then sell them to public customers.
So as long as individuals, organizations, and companies need to register and renew their domain names, VeriSign's revenues and profits will keep rising. From 2014 to 2024, its year-end .com and .net registrations grew from 130.6 million to 169.0 million, its revenue and EPS increased at a CAGR of 4% and 12%, respectively; and its annual renewal rate held steady in the low 70s.
That wide moat, sticky business model, and stable growth should insulate it from the tariffs and other macro headwinds, since most of its clients won't stop renewing their domain names just to save a few dollars. Some politicians and advocacy groups raised antitrust concerns and pressured the U.S. government to stop renewing its contracts with VeriSign, but the government still renewed its two crucial agreements with VeriSign for another six years last August.
Analysts expect VeriSign's revenue and earnings to grow 5% and 10%, respectively, this year. Its stock might seem a bit pricey at 32 times forward earnings, but its tariff-resistant business arguably justifies that higher valuation. Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway has also been increasing its stake in the company as it sold its other stocks to raise more cash.
2. S&P Global
S&P Global provides financial data, credit rating, and analytics services for all of the Fortune 100 companies and 80% of the Fortune 500 companies. Big banks, insurance companies, corporations, universities, and institutional investors rely on its services to make financial decisions. It's also been integrating new AI features -- including its Spark Assist generative AI co-pilot -- to optimize, accelerate, and automate many of those tasks.
S&P Global's business is naturally insulated from tariffs for two reasons. First, the market's demand for its analytics and credit rating services will stay hot even if the market cools. Second, it holds a near-duopoly in its core market with its smaller competitor Moody's.
From 2014 to 2024, S&P Global's revenue grew at a CAGR of 11%. It racked up a net loss in 2014 (due to one-time legal settlements), but its EPS rose at a CAGR of 12% from 2015 to 2024.
Analysts expect the company's revenue and EPS to grow 5% and 8%, respectively, this year. Those growth rates might seem low for a stock recently trading at 32 times forward earnings, but its evergreen business model and resistance to the macro headwinds should support that higher multiple.
3. Netflix
Netflix, the world's largest premium streaming video service provider, grew its number of year-end subscribers from 57.4 million in 2014 to 301.6 million in 2024. During those 10 years, its revenue and net income grew at a CAGR of 21% and 41%, respectively.
Netflix's expansion was driven by its AI-powered algorithms, which tracked its users' viewing habits and supported the development of its original content; its overseas expansion, and its recent rollout of cheaper and ad-supported tiers. Its early mover's advantage, pricing power, and scale enabled it to generate higher profits than smaller and newer streaming competitors.
For 2025, analysts expect Netflix's revenue and earnings to grow 14% and 29%, respectively. It expects the return of three of its most popular shows (Squid Game, Wednesday, and Stranger Things) to drive that growth alongside its new shows and original movies. Its stock isn't a bargain at 47 times forward earnings, but its core business is well-insulated from the tariffs.
Netflix might grapple with slower ad spending or higher production costs if those headwinds intensify, but the company should continue to gain new subscribers even if the broader economy slows down. That makes it a top tech stock to buy in this turbulent market.
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Leo Sun has positions in Berkshire Hathaway. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Berkshire Hathaway, Moody's, Netflix, S&P Global, and VeriSign. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
