Top Data and Cloud Stocks of 2018 on NASDAQ

It’s been a good year for data and cloud stock holders. As we continue to move toward big data, more companies are coming forward to solve the problem of big data: too much information.

While more is often better, that isn’t necessarily the case for big data. Too much data without enough organization or strategy quickly becomes cumbersome and meaningless.

That’s why companies like Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) have come up with products and services to turn that big data into smart data. They’ve also been evolving the technology with artificial intelligence integration, predictive analytics, edge computing and more.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at the data and cloud stocks on the NASDAQ that had the biggest year-to-date gains in 2018. All information was obtained on December 13, 2018 from TradingView, and all companies listed had market caps below US$1 billion at that time.

1. Attunity (NASDAQ:ATTU)

Year-to-date growth: 194.84 percent; current share price: $20.47

Attunity was the top-gaining cloud stock in 2018. The company provides data integration and big data management software solutions, including data replication and distribution, change data capture, data connectivity, data warehouse automation and cloud data delivery.

Its share price grew by nearly 200 percent this year, and the company’s latest quarterly release indicates that this positive momentum could continue.

2. SharpSpring (NASDAQ:SHSP)

Year-to-date growth: 181.8 percent; current share price: $12.99

Next on our list of data and cloud stocks is SharpSpring, a cloud-based marketing automation software-as-a service (SaaS) company that helps companies with lead generation and sales conversions. Its motto is “simple, affordable, powerful marketing automation.”

SharpSpring operates on a monthly subscription service, and its target demographic is digital marketing agencies and small businesses. It currently boasts more than 7,000 customers, and CEO Rick Carlson said in November that the company is “in prime positioning to continue on [its] current growth trajectory.”

3. Inseego (NASDAQ:INSG)

Year-to-date growth: 139.75 percent; current share price: $3.76

Inseego provides SaaS, Internet of Things (Iot) and mobile solutions for enterprise clients, including mobile apps, asset tracking, industrial IoT, mobile broadband services and fleet management. Founded in 1986 as DigiCore and rebranded in 2016 to Inseego, the San Diego-based company covers most continents, and has offices in Europe, Asia, Australia and Africa.

Inseego boasts more than 1 million SaaS subscription contracts around the world, and around $200 million in revenue. Q3 2018 was its “strongest quarter in years,” according to Chairman and CEO Dan Mondor. Mondor is optimistic moving forward, and believes customers continue to be interested in Inseego’s “latest innovations and ability to deliver market leading solutions.”

4. Datawatch (NASDAQ:DWCH)

Year-to-date growth: 37.79 percent; current share price: $13.10

Next on our data and cloud stocks list is Datawatch, a data intelligence provider that specializes in predictive analytics, visualization solutions for business analytics and data preparation for enterprise businesses. It has clients in 100 countries around the globe, and has offices in multiple major cities.

Datawatch has existed for 30 years, and says it pioneered self-service data preparation with its product Datawatch Monarch. In 2013, the firm acquired Panopticon, and with it the Panopticon Streaming Analytics Platform. This year its momentum has continued with the acquisition of Angoss Software, which adds predictive analytics to its portfolio.

5. AstroNova (NASDAQ:ALOT)

Year-to-date growth: 36.03 percent; current share price: $19.48

AstroNova is the last cloud stock on the list. The company develops and applies data visualization technologies for companies in the aerospace, defense, industrial and packaging markets. It helps companies process, acquire, store, analyze, print and present data with the goal of improving their productivity, quality and profitability.

The company is comprised of three divisions: AstroNova Aerospace, which offers electronics to the avionics industry, AstroNova Product Identification, which provides product-tracking solutions for customers, and AstroNova Test & Measurement, which serves the aerospace, transportation and automotive markets with data acquisition solutions.

While AstroNova has been around since 1969 it continues to make strides — it achieved record revenue, as well as a double-digit increase in operating income, in the most recent quarter.

After seeing how well these companies have performed, would you invest in data and cloud stocks? If so, which ones? Let us know in the comments below.

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Securities Disclosure: I, Amanda Kay, currently hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.