One investment thematic that I'm excited about is the cloud computing boom.
The global public cloud services market is projected to grow 21.4% in 2018 to a total of US$186.4 billion according to research firm Gartner, Inc.
This strong growth isn't expected to stop there. Gartner has forecast it continuing for the next few years before reaching a total of US$302.5 billion in 2021.
I believe this growth means that companies exposed to the cloud computing market could be positioned perfectly to profit.
Three shares which I expect to benefit greatly from this boom are listed below:
Macquarie Telecom Group Ltd (ASX: MAQ)
I think this data centre, cloud, cyber security, and telecom company could provide solid returns for shareholders over the long-term due to the cloud computing boom. The company's Cloud Services segment has quickly become its biggest contributor to earnings and is likely to be an even bigger contributor in the future due to its plans to expand its data centre capacity significantly. I expect this expansion to put the company in a great position to capture the growing demand for data centre services.
Megaport Ltd (ASX: MP1)
Megaport provides elasticity connectivity and network services in a total of 221 data centres globally at present. In FY 2018 its expanding footprint led to a 41% increase in customer numbers to 1,038 and an 85% jump in revenue to $19.8 million. With demand for its services continuing to increase, I expect an equally strong performance from Megaport in FY 2019. I think this makes it one to watch closely this year.
NEXTDC Ltd (ASX: NXT)
I think NEXTDC is arguably the best way to play the cloud computing thematic on the Australian share market. Earlier this year the data centre operator purchased three new commercial property sites for future facilities in Sydney, Melbourne, and Perth. This will lift the size of its network to a total of 11 centres with a planned total capacity of 300 megawatts. I feel this puts NEXTDC in a position to grow its earnings at a strong rate over the next decade and should go some way to justifying the sky high earnings multiple that its shares trade on today.
