Markets have well and truly changed direction from last year’s bullish trends. The downward shift has brought us a major selloff, and declines of 27% and more in the tech-heavy NASDAQ index. For investors, it’s a situation that requires a close watch on the markets, and a clear eye for the opportunities that will pop out as conditions change.

It’s also a situation in which investors can use expert advice. Jim Cramer, the well-known host of CNBC’s ‘Mad Money’ program, tells investors that when the market changes direction, in response to shifting trends or increased volatility, it’s also time to change strategies. And in the current clime, Cramer is recommending profitable stocks in the tech sector–especially those that are beaten down.

Describing his stance, Cramer says, "Many tech companies that make real things and return capital to shareholders now sell at reasonable prices after the tsunami of selling... Right now the facts are a lot less hostile to the beaten-down high-flyers..."

With this in mind, we’ve used the TipRanks database to pinpoint two heavily discounted tech stocks that return capital regularly through dividends. Each is a Strong Buy, according to the analyst community, and has a strong upside potential for the coming year. Let's inspect.

First up is Absolute Software, a leader in enterprise resilience, or maintaining normal operations, along with the ability to recover systems and data, against network security breaches. The Canadian-based company's product lines offer customers the ability to manage, control, and heal devices, networks, data, and operations, shortening recovery times and speeding up the return to normalcy. In addition, Absolute offers IT and security solutions to protect systems and prevent breaches from occurring.

Absolute boasts over 13,000 global customers, including 28 OEMs who factory-embed Absolute products into devices. The company also has 140 patents to protect its intellectual property.

However, the move toward remote work in the last two years has put a high premium on networking and network security—a move that has benefited Absolute. The company’s revenues started taking off in the past year, and in the most recent quarter, Q3 of fiscal year 2022 (the quarter ending March 31), the company reported $52 million at the top line, up 69% year-over-year.

An 18% acceleration in annual recurring revenue, which broke above $200 million in the quarter supported the high revenue. Quarterly cash from operations grew by $7.3 million to reach a company record of $17 million.

Also of note to investors, the company declared a dividend of 8 cents Canadian per common share for the quarter. At a rate of 6 cents US, the dividend annualizes to 24 cents and gives a yield of 3.3%. Absolute has maintained its dividend for the past 9 years.