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Buy These 5 Cloud Computing Stocks for Sparkling Short-Term Returns
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Cloud computing refers to the on-demand seamless access of computing resources such as servers, storage, databases, networking, software, analytics and intelligence over the Internet (the cloud) on a pay-per-use pricing model. It marks a paradigm shift from traditional on-premises infrastructure storage to remote cloud-based storage facilities and relies heavily on virtualization and automation technologies.
Instead of buying, owning and maintaining physical data centers and servers, organizations access a virtual pool of shared resources on an as-needed basis from a cloud service provider. This lowers operating costs, increases productivity with greater agility and flexibility, and improves scalability with higher economies of scale.
Cloud computing is a system primarily comprising three services: software-as-a-service (SaaS), infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) and platform-as-a-service (PaaS). SaaS provides the license of a software application to customers using a pay-as-you-go model or on-demand.
IaaS provides operating systems to servers and storage through IP-based connectivity as part of an on-demand service. PaaS is a platform for creating software delivered through the Internet.
5 Cloud Computing Stocks to Buy
These stocks have strong earnings and revenue growth potential for 2025. Moreover, they have seen positive earnings estimate revisions for 2025 in the last 60 days. Each of our picks currently carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or 2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
The chart below shows the price performance of our five picks year to date.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Five9 Inc.
Zacks Rank #2 Five9 provides intelligent cloud software for contact centers in the United States, India, and internationally. FIVN offers a virtual contact center cloud platform delivering a suite of applications that enable the breadth of contact center-related customer service, sales, and marketing functions.
FIVN’s platform comprises interactive virtual agents, agent assist, workflow automation, workforce engagement management, AI insights, and AI summaries. It allows the management and optimization of customer interactions across voice, chat, email, web, social media, and mobile channels directly or through its application programming interfaces.
Five9 came up with fourth-quarter 2025 adjusted earnings of $0.78 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.70 per share. This compares to earnings of $0.61 per share a year ago.
The company posted quarterly revenues of $278.66 million, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 4.18%. This compares to year-ago revenues of $239.06 million. Renewable subscription sales climbed 19% year over year.
Astonishing Short-Term Price Upside for FIVN Stock
Five9 has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 9.8% and 5.7%, respectively, for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 1.6% over the last 30 days.
The average short-term price target of brokerage firms represents an increase of 87.7% from the last closing price of $28.24. The brokerage target price is currently in the range of $40 to $67. This indicates a maximum upside of 137.3% and a no downside.
Arista Networks Inc.
Zacks Rank #2 Arista Networks has been benefiting from positive demand trends owing to its strong product portfolio, which is highly scalable, programmable and provides data-driven automation, analytics and support services.
ANET’s cloud networking solutions provide predictable performance and programmability, enabling seamless integration with third-party applications for network management, automation and orchestration.
The growing demand for 200- and 400-gig high-performance switching products augurs well for ANET’s long-term growth. Healthy growth in gross margin backed by improved supply-chain management is also a positive.
Huge Short-Term Price Upside for ANET Shares
Arista Networks has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 18.1% and 12,8%, respectively, for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 5.8% over the last 30 days.
The average short-term price target of brokerage firms represents an increase of 53.5% from the last closing price of $80.14. The brokerage target price is currently in the range of $85 to $145. This indicates a maximum upside of 80.9% and no downside.
Affirm Holdings Inc.
Zacks Rank #1 Affirm Holdings’ fiscal second-quarter 2025 earnings beat consensus estimates by a huge margin. AFRM has achieved strong revenue growth through diverse income streams, including merchant network fees, interest from loans and virtual card revenues. Growing active merchant numbers, improving gross merchandise value and average balance of loans are driving merchant network revenues and interest income.
Key partnerships including those with Apple Pay and Hotels.com play a vital role in its expansion. AFRM has officially expanded to the United Kingdom, through a partnership with Alternative Airlines. Tapping into industries like travel, hospitality, and technology bodes well. AFRM’s shares are expected to offer substantial upside potential going forward.
Massive Short-Term Price Upside for AFRM Stock
Affirm Holdings has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 36.9% and 89.2%, respectively, for the current year (ending June 2025). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current-year earnings has improved more than 100% in the last 60 days.
The average short-term price target of brokerage firms represents an increase of 56.6% from the last closing price of $46.90. The brokerage target price is currently in the range of $57 to $90. This indicates a maximum upside of 91.9% and no downside.
Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corp.
Zacks Rank #2 Booz Allen Hamilton Holding offers a solid investment option for those seeking stability, as the business is driven by long-term government contracts, and good reputation in defense and cybersecurity. BAH’s focus on operational efficiency, and investments in artificial intelligence and cybersecurity have positioned it for sustainable growth. Shareholder returns are BAH’s priority, supported by a healthy balance sheet.
BAH is benefiting from its Vision 2020 strategy, which has accelerated organic revenue growth, strengthened its profitability and fetched significant headcount and backlog growth. BAH’s VoLT strategy focuses on integrating velocity, leadership and technology in the process of transformation.
Excellent Short-Term Price Upside for BAH Shares
Booz Allen Hamilton Holding has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 6.7% and 8.2%, respectively, for next year (ending March 2026). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 0.1% in the last 30 days.
The average short-term price target of brokerage firms represents an increase of 38.6% from the last closing price of $111.32. The brokerage target price is currently in the range of $135 to $210. This indicates a maximum upside of 88.6% and a no downside.
Olo Inc.
Zacks Rank #1 Olo operates an open SaaS platform for restaurants in the United States. OLO’s platform helps restaurants with digital ordering, delivery and full-stack payment programs, as well as enables brands to collect, analyze, and act on data to drive personalized guest experiences and profitable traffic.
OLO’s solutions include Order, a suite of solutions assisting restaurant brands' on-demand digital commerce operations, enabling a unified digital ordering and delivery experience for guests, and menu and channel management for brands across their fragmented technology stacks; and Pay, a fully integrated payments platform that enables restaurants to enhance operations through unified payment processing management and reporting across digital and on-premise transactions, and advanced fraud prevention.
OLO’s solutions also comprise Engage, a suite of marketing solutions that enables restaurants to aggregate and store guest data from Olo Order, Olo Pay, and other sources; segments it based on guest behavior; and delivers personalized marketing messages to guests that help enhance the restaurant's direct guest relationship and enhance restaurant traffic.
Excellent Short-Term Price Upside for OLO Shares
Olo has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 17.5% and 40.9%, respectively, for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current-year earnings has improved 10.7% in the last 30 days.
The average short-term price target of brokerage firms represents an increase of 41.1% from the last closing price of $6.04. The brokerage target price is currently in the range of $8 to $10. This indicates a maximum upside of 65.6% and a no downside.
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Buy These 5 Cloud Computing Stocks for Sparkling Short-Term Returns
Cloud computing refers to the on-demand seamless access of computing resources such as servers, storage, databases, networking, software, analytics and intelligence over the Internet (the cloud) on a pay-per-use pricing model. It marks a paradigm shift from traditional on-premises infrastructure storage to remote cloud-based storage facilities and relies heavily on virtualization and automation technologies.
Instead of buying, owning and maintaining physical data centers and servers, organizations access a virtual pool of shared resources on an as-needed basis from a cloud service provider. This lowers operating costs, increases productivity with greater agility and flexibility, and improves scalability with higher economies of scale.
We have narrowed our search to five cloud computing-centric stocks that are set to provide stellar returns in the short term. These are: Five9 Inc. (FIVN - Free Report) , Arista Networks Inc. (ANET - Free Report) , Affirm Holdings Inc. (AFRM - Free Report) , Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corp. (BAH - Free Report) and Olo Inc. (OLO - Free Report) .
Cloud Computing Industry in a Nutshell
Cloud computing is a system primarily comprising three services: software-as-a-service (SaaS), infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) and platform-as-a-service (PaaS). SaaS provides the license of a software application to customers using a pay-as-you-go model or on-demand.
IaaS provides operating systems to servers and storage through IP-based connectivity as part of an on-demand service. PaaS is a platform for creating software delivered through the Internet.
5 Cloud Computing Stocks to Buy
These stocks have strong earnings and revenue growth potential for 2025. Moreover, they have seen positive earnings estimate revisions for 2025 in the last 60 days. Each of our picks currently carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or 2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
The chart below shows the price performance of our five picks year to date.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Five9 Inc.
Zacks Rank #2 Five9 provides intelligent cloud software for contact centers in the United States, India, and internationally. FIVN offers a virtual contact center cloud platform delivering a suite of applications that enable the breadth of contact center-related customer service, sales, and marketing functions.
FIVN’s platform comprises interactive virtual agents, agent assist, workflow automation, workforce engagement management, AI insights, and AI summaries. It allows the management and optimization of customer interactions across voice, chat, email, web, social media, and mobile channels directly or through its application programming interfaces.
Five9 came up with fourth-quarter 2025 adjusted earnings of $0.78 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.70 per share. This compares to earnings of $0.61 per share a year ago.
The company posted quarterly revenues of $278.66 million, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 4.18%. This compares to year-ago revenues of $239.06 million. Renewable subscription sales climbed 19% year over year.
Astonishing Short-Term Price Upside for FIVN Stock
Five9 has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 9.8% and 5.7%, respectively, for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 1.6% over the last 30 days.
The average short-term price target of brokerage firms represents an increase of 87.7% from the last closing price of $28.24. The brokerage target price is currently in the range of $40 to $67. This indicates a maximum upside of 137.3% and a no downside.
Arista Networks Inc.
Zacks Rank #2 Arista Networks has been benefiting from positive demand trends owing to its strong product portfolio, which is highly scalable, programmable and provides data-driven automation, analytics and support services.
ANET’s cloud networking solutions provide predictable performance and programmability, enabling seamless integration with third-party applications for network management, automation and orchestration.
The growing demand for 200- and 400-gig high-performance switching products augurs well for ANET’s long-term growth. Healthy growth in gross margin backed by improved supply-chain management is also a positive.
Huge Short-Term Price Upside for ANET Shares
Arista Networks has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 18.1% and 12,8%, respectively, for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 5.8% over the last 30 days.
The average short-term price target of brokerage firms represents an increase of 53.5% from the last closing price of $80.14. The brokerage target price is currently in the range of $85 to $145. This indicates a maximum upside of 80.9% and no downside.
Affirm Holdings Inc.
Zacks Rank #1 Affirm Holdings’ fiscal second-quarter 2025 earnings beat consensus estimates by a huge margin. AFRM has achieved strong revenue growth through diverse income streams, including merchant network fees, interest from loans and virtual card revenues. Growing active merchant numbers, improving gross merchandise value and average balance of loans are driving merchant network revenues and interest income.
Key partnerships including those with Apple Pay and Hotels.com play a vital role in its expansion. AFRM has officially expanded to the United Kingdom, through a partnership with Alternative Airlines. Tapping into industries like travel, hospitality, and technology bodes well. AFRM’s shares are expected to offer substantial upside potential going forward.
Massive Short-Term Price Upside for AFRM Stock
Affirm Holdings has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 36.9% and 89.2%, respectively, for the current year (ending June 2025). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current-year earnings has improved more than 100% in the last 60 days.
The average short-term price target of brokerage firms represents an increase of 56.6% from the last closing price of $46.90. The brokerage target price is currently in the range of $57 to $90. This indicates a maximum upside of 91.9% and no downside.
Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corp.
Zacks Rank #2 Booz Allen Hamilton Holding offers a solid investment option for those seeking stability, as the business is driven by long-term government contracts, and good reputation in defense and cybersecurity. BAH’s focus on operational efficiency, and investments in artificial intelligence and cybersecurity have positioned it for sustainable growth. Shareholder returns are BAH’s priority, supported by a healthy balance sheet.
BAH is benefiting from its Vision 2020 strategy, which has accelerated organic revenue growth, strengthened its profitability and fetched significant headcount and backlog growth. BAH’s VoLT strategy focuses on integrating velocity, leadership and technology in the process of transformation.
Excellent Short-Term Price Upside for BAH Shares
Booz Allen Hamilton Holding has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 6.7% and 8.2%, respectively, for next year (ending March 2026). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 0.1% in the last 30 days.
The average short-term price target of brokerage firms represents an increase of 38.6% from the last closing price of $111.32. The brokerage target price is currently in the range of $135 to $210. This indicates a maximum upside of 88.6% and a no downside.
Olo Inc.
Zacks Rank #1 Olo operates an open SaaS platform for restaurants in the United States. OLO’s platform helps restaurants with digital ordering, delivery and full-stack payment programs, as well as enables brands to collect, analyze, and act on data to drive personalized guest experiences and profitable traffic.
OLO’s solutions include Order, a suite of solutions assisting restaurant brands' on-demand digital commerce operations, enabling a unified digital ordering and delivery experience for guests, and menu and channel management for brands across their fragmented technology stacks; and Pay, a fully integrated payments platform that enables restaurants to enhance operations through unified payment processing management and reporting across digital and on-premise transactions, and advanced fraud prevention.
OLO’s solutions also comprise Engage, a suite of marketing solutions that enables restaurants to aggregate and store guest data from Olo Order, Olo Pay, and other sources; segments it based on guest behavior; and delivers personalized marketing messages to guests that help enhance the restaurant's direct guest relationship and enhance restaurant traffic.
Excellent Short-Term Price Upside for OLO Shares
Olo has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 17.5% and 40.9%, respectively, for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current-year earnings has improved 10.7% in the last 30 days.
The average short-term price target of brokerage firms represents an increase of 41.1% from the last closing price of $6.04. The brokerage target price is currently in the range of $8 to $10. This indicates a maximum upside of 65.6% and a no downside.