Three Dividend-paying Cloud Stocks to Buy

05/16/2025

The three dividend-paying cloud stocks to some of the top names in technology. The growth of their share prices and their payment of dividends gives shareholders of each stock two ways to heighten their returns.

Citigroup recently reported that tariffs and retaliatory tariffs have not caused much, if any, impact so far on the spending of software and cloud customers.

“The budget environment for front-office technology spend remains tough and customers/prospects remain price-conscious,” Citigroup reported. “However, we also heard some green shoots and cautious notes of optimism, with certain platforms expecting a better growth year than 2024 and feeling more optimistic about the outlook for retail tech spend.”

Three Dividend-paying Cloud Stocks to Buy: CRM

San Francisco-based Salesforce (NYSE: CRM), a customer relationship management technology company, is a favorite dividend-paying cloud stock of Michelle Connell, a certified financial analyst (CFA) who also is president and owner of Dallas-based Portia Capital Management, LLC.

For income lovers, Salesforce pays a model dividend and offers an annual payout of dividend of $1.66 per share, with a dividend yield of 0.57%. The most recent quarterly dividend of $0.42 per share was paid on Thursday, April 24.

Salesforce is schedule to announce its latest quarterly results on Wednesday, May 21. With the company putting further focus on its artificial intelligence (AI) business, Connell told me she expected net profit margins in the 35% to 40% range.

“I think it’s more probable that they beat earnings estimates,” Connell said.

Salesforce began the quarter with a “very solid” balance sheet, Connell counseled. The company started the year with $14 billion in cash and $5 billion in short-term investments, she added.

Michelle Connell heads Portia Capital Management.

“Thus, I believe that tech investors should keep watching the company,” Connell said “Given its lack of track record and large competitors, I would wait until after the earnings announcement to establish a position.”

Three Dividend-paying Cloud Stocks to Buy: Connell’s Clarion Call

For dividend investors, Connell forecast that Salesforce appears poised to continue generating large amounts of cash. She predicted the company could reduce debt or maybe even buy back shares.

“While the company does not give specifics as the dollar amount of sales and its growth for Agentforce, it’s safe to say that many of CRM’s sales are motivated by customers’ desire to incorporate AI agents into their business model,” Connell continued. “CRM has stated that existing customers can solve 30% to 60% of their service cases with Agentforce.”

In addition, Connell said that analysts have hypothesized that Agentforce will make CRM’s client stickier and improve retention. The AI agent market is experiencing substantial growth, with that market expected to reach $150 billion in 2025, she added.

Chart Courtesy of stockcharts.com.

Seattle-based Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), a company known more for its online sales than investing in the cloud, is one of the strongest cloud stocks to buy right now, said Robert Castellano, a senior analyst with Gilder’s Technology Report. He added that the company is taking a clear, long-term approach to artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure while others are moving more cautiously than the industry giant, he added.

Indeed, Amazon, through its Amazon Web Services unit, is on track to spend more than  $100 billion this year, with a large portion focused specifically on AI infrastructure, including custom silicon and high-performance data centers, Castellano told me. Amazon and Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ: META) are compelling because they’re not just participating in the AI wave—they’re actively building the foundational platforms that will power it, he added.

George Gilder heads Gilder’s Technology Report.

“That level of conviction and control over their infrastructure positions them especially well for long-term growth,” said Castellano, who follows those issues closely in Gilder’s Technology Report, along with technology futurist George Gilder.

Chart Courtesy of stockcharts.com.

Three Dividend-paying Cloud Stocks to Buy: META

Menlo Park, California-based META is one of the biggest builders of cloud infrastructure in the world. The company’s massive data centers are the backbone of artificial intelligence workloads, enabling everything from search and social media to ChatGPT and recommendation engines. Capital expenditures (CapEx) from companies like META and Amazon fund the chips, networking gear, power, cooling, and software that make modern AI possible Castellano said.

In addition, Meta raised its 2025 CapEx forecast to as much as $72 billion, citing increased AI data center demand and higher hardware costs from tariffs. Google (NASDAQ: GOOGL) reaffirmed its $75 billion CapEx plan, with spending focused on servers and datacenter infrastructure for Google Cloud and DeepMind, Castellano added.

Chart Courtesy of stockcharts.com.

“One segment of the market that isn’t actually all that bothered by tariffs, but surged nevertheless, is big-tech stocks,” Jim Woods wrote to his Technical Trader advisory service subscribers in his latest weekly update on May 13. “The notion here is that lower tariffs will help the entire global economy to not descend into a recession. It also means that inflation pressures will subside and that the Federal Reserve is more likely to cut interest rates again in either June or July, or both.”

The risk-on trade in “best-of-breed” technology stocks is something a good tactical trader needs to seize, Woods added.

Paul Dykewicz meets with Jim Woods, head of Investing Edge and Technical Trader.

Beware of Geopolitical Risk

Attempts for world leaders such as U.S. President Donald Trump and others to convince Russia’s President Vladimir Putin to end his more than three-year-old invasion of Ukraine have not borne fruit. Putin rebuffed a chance to meet face-to-face to negotiate with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday, May 16.

Instead, Zelensky held a May 16 phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump. European Union (EU) leaders have been looking into increased sanctions against Russia if it continues its war against Ukraine. Russia’s officials have threatened to intensive its attacks unless Ukraine gives up land that is part of its sovereign territory.

The three dividend-paying cloud stocks to buy offer investors a chance to profit from latest tariff reductions and the shift toward normalized trade. Income investors seeking to ride the wave have three appealing opportunities to consider amid significant geopolitical risk.