Why Macquarie is bullish on this ASX 200 tech stock

This tech stock could be in the buy zone right now according to the broker.

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Key points

  • Macquarie Group maintains a bullish outlook on Megaport, highlighting the tech company's growth potential driven by its strong network and market positioning.
  • Megaport's platform is seeing significant adoption in the finance industry, with growing demand for private connectivity and hybrid cloud solutions fuelling its expansion.
  • With a reaffirmed outperform rating and a price target of $18.50, Megaport offers a potential 15% upside, appealing to investors seeking tech sector exposure.

Are you looking for exposure to the tech sector? If you are, then the ASX 200 tech stock in this article could be worth considering.

That's the view of analysts at Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG), which have reaffirmed their bullish view on the stock this morning.

Which ASX 200 tech stock?

The stock in question is Megaport Ltd (ASX: MP1). It is a global technology company that provides a network as a service (NaaS) solution using its software-defined network (SDN) to allow businesses to create fast, flexible, and secure private connections.

Macquarie believes that the company is reaching an inflection point in respect to growth. It said:

Inflection point in growth. Megaport (MP1) is reinforcing network effects through scale (~7.4% more DCs than Equinix Fabric), brand & product. Moreover, recent channel reinvestment in US reinforces this.

Importantly, this comes at a time when its market is accelerating. This is particularly the case in the Finance industry. The broker adds:

MP1's recent Cloud Network Report highlights strong momentum across the business. By industry, Finance leads the way, with businesses in this sector spending >A$20k a quarter on MP1 network services, and Finance Virtual Cross Connects (VXCs) capacity growing twice as fast as other industries this year (up 3,500Gbps since mid-2023). This is particularly interesting given Finance has been a first mover in Hybrid cloud and private connectivity, with these trends now extending to other industries driven by AI adoption and cloud spend concerns.

This is reflected more broadly across the whole of MP1's network, with Private Internal VXCs growing the fastest: average utilisation œper customer is approaching 400GBps across MP1's Private Internal connections. This is a key sign of rapid Hybrid and Multi cloud growth, which are MP1's key competitive niches.

Big potential returns

Macquarie believes that this ASX 200 tech stock could deliver market-beating returns over the next 12 months.

According to the note, the broker has reaffirmed its outperform rating with an improved price target of $18.50 (from $16.90).

Based on its current share price, this implies potential upside of 15% for investors between now and this time next year.

Commenting on its outperform rating, the broker said:

Top-line is stabilised, with new customer logo growth a strong positive signal. Reinvestment in growth will drive top-line acceleration out of FY26. Product roadmap suggests MP1 will move more into software with edge compute, driving higher long-term margins. Retain Outperform.

Valuation: Our DCF underpins our TP of A$18.50 (prior: A$16.90, +9.5%), reflecting the above EPS changes and minor changes to our DCF inputs. Catalysts: Partnership announcements, deal wins, product launches, AGM.

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has positions in Megaport. The Motley Fool Australia's parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Macquarie Group and Megaport. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Macquarie Group. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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