Why Technology Hardware Stocks Fell Hard Today

What happened

Many stocks in the tech sector crashed on Thursday as the COVID-19 panic reared its ugly head again. The hardware makers below all plunged at least 10% lower without sharing any bad news of their own:

CompanyIndustryPrice Change at Market Close
Ubiquiti (NYSE:UI)Wireless networking(12.5%)
NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA)Graphics processors(12.2%)
Corning (NYSE:GLW)Specialty glass & ceramics(11.6%)
Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO)A broad range of semiconductors(11.1%)
Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET)Computer networking(10.6%)

DATA SOURCE: GOOGLE FINANCE.

So what

The novel coronavirus has now infected more than 130,000 people worldwide and investors were not impressed by the government’s virus-fighting policies today. The stocks in the table above weren’t even all that expensive at the start of the virus panic, but nervous investors running to safe assets such as gold and bonds can drag down a few value-priced tech stocks, as well.

Broadcom and Corning are now trading at low, low multiples of respective 8.6 times and 10.4 forward earnings. None of the tickers above stick out as overpriced and they’re all backed by high-quality business models. In our Motley Fool CAPS stock-rating system, all of them sport a grade of at least four stars (out of five maximum).

A small globe resting in a pair of hands. The globe is wearing a white mask with the word Coronavirus written on it.

IMAGE SOURCE: GETTY IMAGES.

Now what

This coronavirus panic is creating a plethora of attractive buying opportunities. If you’ve been looking for a price dip before starting a position in the skyrocketing NVIDIA stock, you’ve found one right here.

The other buy-in windows might be less obvious, but the market is essentially inviting you to take a closer look at these high-quality stocks while the discounts last. Even if this isn’t the ultimate market bottom, it’s a very good start. And don’t forget that it’s better to buy great stocks at a fair price than settling for decent stocks at a great price, to paraphrase investing wizard Warren Buffett.

[“source=fool”]