Best Investment Ideas 2014 Six Technology Stocks

Post on: 5 Июнь, 2015 No Comment

Best Investment Ideas 2014 Six Technology Stocks

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Last year was a sizzling year for stocks, and though technology and telecom stocks as a group rose only 18%, there were pockets like Internet stocks that soared. PowerShares Nasdaq Internet Portfolio (PNQI), which holds stocks like Facebook, Google and Amazon.com, rose 65% in 2013.

Each year Forbes polls noted investment advisors and money managers in an effort to find out what some of their best investment ideas are for the year ahead. Below is a selection of six technology stocks they came up with among the 35 individual best investment ideas we gathered.

For a round up of all 43 “Best Investment Ideas,” please click here.

Taesik Yoon

Buy: Rovi Corp. (ROVI)

Rovi is a global leader in technology solutions that power the discovery, delivery, display and monetization of digital entertainment. The company serves cable, satellite, telecommunications, mobile and Internet service providers, consumer electronics manufacturers, and entertainment and online distribution companies including Apple, Comcast, eBay, Google, Panasonic, Samsung, Sony, Toshiba and Verizon.

A strategic decision to not sacrifice profits for volume forced the company to take a more conservative view on the expected level of contract closings for the second half of 2013. This led to two downward revisions of full-year revenue and earnings guidance over the past three months, resulting in a sharp sell-off. But I would not write-off ROVI so quickly.

The company’s desire to obtain appropriate value on potential licensing contracts is the right decision from a long-term growth perspective in my view. And while it may be taking longer to secure these deals than initially expected, I remain confident that they will be obtained. Given its attractive valuation, I expect the stock to rebound sharply once this happens.

Martin Leclerc

Buy: Cisco (CSCO)

One sector in the admittedly expensive U.S. stock market that remains attractive is “mega-cap” IT Companies. They are selling for low multiples of earnings/cash flow. They represent relatively high current shareholder rewards: the dividend plus buyback yields are more than 5% (and the payout ratios are low with room to grow). As a group, they represent high financial strength. Admittedly, they have disappointed investors over the past couple of years but I argue that has been baked into their current valuations: current forward P/E multiples of low teens versus about 20X prior to the Great Recession.

In other words, these firms used to be thought of as growth companies but not any longer. Given that I don’t believe there has been a paradigm shift that has destroyed their business models—particularly for the long product cycle businesses—I think the lackluster growth of the past couple of years is cyclical and not secular in nature. I believe it is timely to buy into this sector due to valuations and to my common sense conclusion: it is hard to imagine the economy growing without a meaningful pick-up in IT CAPEX spending.

My two favorite stocks in this theme are Cisco and IBM.

Cisco is a dominant player in its industry (global telecommunications infrastructure) that has grown by acquisitions and possesses industry leading financial strength. CSCO’s has net cash of some $30 billion, or $5.60 a share, a P/E of 11X and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The dividend plus buyback yield is about 5% and the payout ratio is 33%. CSCO is a highly profitable company and has grown its EPS by 12% over the past 10 years but that growth has slowed over the past few years to something like high single digits. Free cash flow yield is 10%.


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