Many technology stocks have a reputation for resisting dividend payments. In fact, some new tech companies in this high-growth sector do not earn profits at all. Even when they achieve positive earnings, tech companies often feel that they should invest in themselves rather than in cash payouts. Yet attitudes are changing as tech companies have become many of the S&P 500's largest entities. Some initiate dividend payments as they become more established. A few dividend stocks have risen...

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) has offered massive returns to investors over the years. It started as a home improvement retailer in metro Atlanta, and long-term investors benefited as the company expanded across the U.S. and beyond. However, when looking at this company, investors may overlook the outsized benefits offered by the dividend. This too has seen impressive gains over the decades. It began at a split-adjusted quarterly payout of just $0.000439 per share in 1987. Home Depot's current...

The competition between Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) is now a pairing of cloud titans. Microsoft elevated the head of its cloud division to CEO in 2014. IBM followed suit this past April. Microsoft has worked for some years to redefine itself as a cloud company. Although IBM has recently made the same moves, it is years behind the software giant. This poses a significant question for investors in technology stocks -- do they choose the established...

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) and AT&T (NYSE:T) have long operated as each other's main competitors. As longtime providers of telecom services, they have battled to attract the same customers since consumers began switching to mobile phones. Now, together with T-Mobile, they continue to compete for wireless business as the telecom industry transitions to 5G. The approaches pursued by Verizon and AT&T have taken each of these telecom stocks on different trajectories. These paths could...

Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) experienced something it had not seen for a long time -- a blowout quarter. After years of mediocre growth, the company significantly surpassed earnings and revenue expectations. Moreover, this semiconductor stock received a temporary boost as COVID-19 forced companies to move work to the cloud. Still, as the virus fades from the headlines, and workers return to their offices, the low-growth numbers could easily return. The 2010s became a lost decade for the company....