Validea's Leading Information Technology Stocks According to Martin Zweig - August 18, 2025
Top Rated IT Stocks: The article highlights top-rated Information Technology stocks according to Validea's Growth Investor model, which focuses on growth stocks with strong earnings and sales growth, reasonable valuations, and low debt.
Microsoft Corporation (MSFT): Microsoft is rated 85% based on its fundamentals and valuation, indicating strong interest. It operates in software development and offers a range of products across various segments including productivity, cloud services, and personal computing.
Fair Isaac Corporation (FICO): FICO has a rating of 77%, focusing on applied analytics software to enhance operational decisions through predictive analytics and data science, operating in two main segments: Scores and Software.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSM) and Shopify Inc (SHOP): Both companies also received ratings of 77%. TSM specializes in integrated circuit manufacturing while Shopify provides e-commerce solutions for businesses globally, enabling them to manage sales across multiple channels.
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- Market Trend Analysis: The video discusses the phenomenon termed 'SaaSpocalypse' concerning technology and software stocks, highlighting its potential impact on investors, particularly in the context of rapid advancements in AI.
- Investment Recommendations: The analyst team has identified ten stocks deemed the best for current investment, notably excluding Shopify, which indicates a cautious outlook on its future performance.
- Historical Return Comparison: It references the investment returns of Netflix and Nvidia at the time of their recommendations, yielding $436,126 and $1,053,659 respectively, showcasing Stock Advisor's strategy's significant historical market outperformance.
- Investor Community Value: The emphasis is placed on the value of the Stock Advisor investor community, encouraging individual investors to engage and leverage the platform for the latest investment advice and market insights.
- Market Dynamics Analysis: On February 5, 2026, technology and software stocks are experiencing what is termed the 'SaaSpocalypse' moment, indicating market concerns about future growth in these sectors, which may lead investors to reassess their portfolios.
- Investor Reactions: Following the video's release, investors are reminded to consider the potential risks associated with tech stocks, which could prompt them to adjust their holdings in the short term to mitigate market volatility.
- Industry Outlook: The mention of the DeepSeek moment in the video suggests that the tech sector may be at a significant turning point, necessitating close monitoring of the financial health and market performance of relevant companies.
- Subscription and Promotion: The video encourages viewers to subscribe and click on a special offer link, indicating the content creator's intent to enhance audience engagement and increase platform influence and revenue.
- Increased Credit Accessibility: Grab Finance has implemented over 22 decision workflows, resulting in nearly a 50% increase in credit eligibility rates for users, enabling 46 million consumers and millions of merchants and drivers to access formal credit more rapidly, significantly improving credit access in Southeast Asia.
- Innovative Technology Application: The solution leverages user behavioral data, such as ride frequency and merchant revenues, combined with the advanced capabilities of the FICO Platform to enable automated pre-approved credit offers, aligning with regional laws and Grab's privacy commitments, thereby promoting financial inclusion.
- Rapid Implementation Results: In less than eight months, FICO successfully delivered phase one of the project across six countries where Grab operates, automating key processes like credit eligibility assessment, showcasing Grab's innovative capabilities in regional credit services.
- Economic Transformation Impact: The success of Grab Finance allows previously 'invisible' drivers and merchants to obtain credit based on their everyday digital behaviors, driving economic transformation, and earning recognition with the 2026 FICO Decision Award for its achievements in financial inclusion.
- Credit Eligibility Boost: Grab Finance has increased credit offer eligibility rates by nearly 50% through the implementation of 22 decision workflows, providing faster credit access for over 46 million consumers and millions of merchants and drivers, significantly enhancing financial service accessibility.
- Rapid Transformation Implementation: In less than eight months, Grab Finance successfully deployed the FICO platform across six Southeast Asian countries, automating key processes such as credit eligibility assessment, showcasing its ability to respond quickly in complex markets.
- Innovative Credit Assessment: By leveraging user behavioral data, such as ride frequency and merchant revenues, Grab Finance developed alternative risk models that enable credit access for users previously invisible to traditional banks, driving economic transformation.
- Industry Recognition: Grab Finance received the 2026 FICO® Decision Award for its achievements in financial inclusion, highlighting its capability to effectively integrate compliance requirements at a regional scale, further solidifying its leadership position in the fintech sector.
- Upgraded Profit Forecast: Equifax anticipates annual revenue between $6.66 billion and $6.78 billion for 2023, surpassing Wall Street's expectation of $6.59 billion, indicating robust performance amid high interest rates.
- Mortgage Segment Growth: The company reported a 20% increase in U.S. mortgage revenue for Q4, reflecting a rebound in loan demand supported by a resilient labor market and economy, which boosts the need for credit scores and risk assessments.
- Competitive Strategy: Equifax plans to expand its VantageScore mortgage credit score offerings to counter FICO's strategy of selling credit scores directly to lenders, aiming to enhance market share and achieve margin expansion.
- Quarterly Performance Exceeds Expectations: The company posted an adjusted earnings per share of $2.09 for Q4, beating analyst expectations of $2.05, with quarterly revenue reaching $1.55 billion, also above the projected $1.53 billion, showcasing strong financial performance.
- Event Highlights: FICO World will take place from May 19-22, 2026, in Orlando, Florida, expected to attract over 1,500 business leaders from more than 50 countries to explore the latest breakthroughs in AI and applied intelligence, driving customer management and digital transformation.
- Psychology Meets Business: Oz Pearlman will demonstrate how reading customer signals can enhance authentic connections between businesses and customers, emphasizing the importance of psychology in customer management to improve satisfaction and loyalty.
- AI-Driven Decision Making: Nikhil Behl, President of FICO, noted that AI is reshaping the rules in financial services, with FICO World providing a platform for global leaders to learn from each other and discover new strategies, advancing what is termed the










