So far this year the S&P/ASX 200 Info Tech (Index: ^AXIJ) (ASX: XIJ) has thoroughly outperformed the market with an 8.5% gain.
Due to the sector being home to a good number of high-quality shares with strong growth prospects, I believe the sector has a lot left in its tank and can continue its outperformance for some time to come.
Three shares which I would consider buying today are listed below:
The Appen Ltd (ASX: APX) share price has fallen around 8% this year, leaving its shares changing hands at just under 25x trailing earnings. Whilst this might sound expensive, I believe it is a fair price to pay for the data solutions and services company's shares given its current growth outlook. Management expects earnings growth in excess of 20% this year thanks to strong demand for its voice recognition and language data services.
The Nextdc Ltd (ASX: NXT) share price has gone gangbusters this year, climbing a massive 21%. With the data centre operator recently posting a 110% increase in half-year EBITDA to $23.9 million, it's not hard to see why investors have been fighting to get hold of its shares. As more businesses migrate to the cloud I expect to see demand for its services rise, resulting in increasing levels of contracted utilisation and strong profit growth. At 30x annualised earnings I feel NEXTDC could be a great buy and hold investment.
The WiseTech Global Ltd (ASX: WTC) share price has also been a big mover this year with a 21% gain. Although its shares are reasonably expensive, I believe at this point in time it deserves to trade on higher than normal multiples. After all the cloud-based supply chain management software provider recently reported a 361% jump in half-year net profit to $14.4 million. With over 6,000 logistics companies using its CargoWise software, I believe the company has become an integral part of the logistics industry.
