ASX technology shares have had a horror year, with the S&P ASX All Technology Index (ASX: XTX) down by more than 30% in 2022. This compares to the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) which is down 4.1%.
However, the tech index did manage to record a small rise of 2.4% over the month of November.
As always, there were outliers. This month they were led by NextDC Ltd (ASX: NXT) shares, up 12.9%.
This is according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence, canvassing ASX 200 tech shares with a minimum market capitalisation of $100 million over the month of November.
Here's why NextDC shares and the other two top performers bounced this month.
Why these ASX 200 tech shares led the way in November
NextDC Ltd (ASX: NXT)
The data centre operator got a bounce following its annual general meeting on 18 November. As my Fool colleague James reported, NextDC revealed its sales pipeline had hit a record size. It expects this to convert into material new contracts over the next six to 12 months.
Goldman Sachs has a conviction buy rating on NextDC and a $14.30 share price target. The broker said:
NXT noted continued strong growth in enterprise, network and partner pipelines driving healthy margin, with revenue growth assisted through price escalation & power pass-through.
At the time of writing, the NextDC share price is $9.83, down 0.7% today.
TechnologyOne Ltd (ASX: TNE)
November's next best-performing ASX 200 tech share is TechnologyOne with a 9.64% share price bump. This was largely due to its full-year FY22 results announcement on 22 November. During the 12 months ending 30 September, TechnologyOne achieved record profit and revenue for the thirteenth consecutive year. As we reported, TechnologyOne achieved an 18% increase in revenue to $369.4 million. It got a 15% boost to profit before tax at $112.3 million, which was at the top end of its guidance. The company also announced a supersized dividend.
Morgans analyst Nick Harris recommends buying any dip in the TechnologyOne share price. Harris said:
TechnologyOne is one of the highest quality stocks on the ASX and we continue to rate the outlook. We would see any weakness as a buying opportunity.
At the time of writing, the TechnologyOne share price is flat at $13.53.
BrainChip Holdings Ltd (ASX: BRN)
The third best-performing ASX 200 tech share in November is BrainChip. The artificial intelligence (AI) start-up did not release any price-sensitive news in November, so its 9.23% share price rise is hard to explain. It's possible that investors were buying the dip after the BrainChip share price lost a quarter of its value in October. It also lifted when United States inflation data came in better than expected this month.
My colleague James gives investors five reasons to avoid BrainChip shares at all costs. He says:
I've been warning investors off BrainChip shares for a while now. If you stayed away, then you've managed to save yourself from watching your wealth go up in smoke as the semiconductor company's shares dropped from a high of $2.34 to 62 cents today.
At the time of writing, the BrainChip share price is up 3.1% to 73 cents.
ASX 200 tech shares up 9.5% since October
The tide seemed to turn for the All Tech Index in early October, with a 9.5% increase since then, according to Google Finance data.
It's been a bad year for ASX tech investors, mostly due to rising interest rates. This has caused concern because Australian tech companies are mostly young in their development and therefore have higher debt.
