Dream Stocks for Tech Investors

Investors are always hunting for the next big stock -- the dream stock whose price increases several times over when the market finally discovers it. It's easy to look back and discover the 10 best stocks of the past decade. But I'm more interested in the tools that can help me evaluate tomorrow's greatest companies.

Motley Fool CAPS offers a variety of resources to aid Fools in finding tomorrow's leaders. Our 150,000-member community is full of investors helping each other beat the market.

We'll enlist CAPS to screen for technology companies, then get the story behind some of its more highly rated stocks. CAPS' nifty screener will help us find stocks with:

• A market cap of at least $100 million.
• A three-year revenue growth rate of at least 20%.
• A price-to-earnings ratio of less than 25.

Then we'll tap the collective intelligence of our CAPS members to see whether these companies present real opportunities -- or whether the numbers fail to tell the true story.

Opinions with the numbers
Below is a sample of stocks our screen returned.

Data and star rankings from CAPS as of Feb. 12.

ClickSoftware Technologies
Despite a recession that still has many companies scrambling to recover, 2009 was not a bad year for tech companies. But ClickSoftware has outshined even many tech stalwarts, with annual revenues that grew by 17% as it continued to win new business. The pace stayed strong toward the end of the year too, with record revenues in the fourth quarter, and fourth-quarter bookings that almost doubled the third quarter. This isn't too surprising since its software solutions help companies be more efficient -- in other words, save lots of money. Many CAPS members expect even more growth to come from the nimble small cap, as 97% of the 494 members rating ClickSoftware see it beating the broader market.

Satyam
After an accounting scandal that could have wiped out the company and sent all of its clients fleeing to competitors like Infosys (NYSE:INFY) or IBM (NYSE:IBM), Satyam has managed to hold it together and make progress in repairing its image. Many investors think the worst is behind the company, given that since the company was bought by Tech Mahindra last year, it's lost only three clients, while gaining close to three dozen. Indian peer Infosys recently reported strong quarterly results and Satyam's Brazilian unit recently picked up two multimillion-dollar contracts – one of which came from a global conglomerate. With "immense growth opportunity" seen in the Latin American region, the company is boosting its head count in an effort to expand there. In CAPS, 96% of the 1,364 members rating Satyam are bullish today.

Garmin
With companies like Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) and Nokia (NYSE:NOK) making a stronger push to make GPS more widely available and free on smartphones, investors fear that personal navigation device makers like Garmin and TomTom may have trouble staying competitive. Garmin's long-term growth projections are milder than the strong growth it's experienced in years past, but it's also looking to use its strong balance sheet and large cash balance for potential acquisitions that could complement its technologies. And with opportunities to increase its own presence in smartphones and its other markets like auto and marine, a good portion CAPS members still hold a bullish outlook on the stock. Overall, 93% of the 5,195 CAPS members rating Garmin expect it to outperform the broader market.

Let 150,000 members be the jury
The collective wisdom of a huge pool of investors can help give context to a page of numbers from a stock screen. But individual investors are still the best judges of what to do with their own money. Fools should always perform their own due diligence.

Happily, it's easy to chime in with your own opinion. If you agree that these companies present dream opportunities -- or see more of a nightmare instead -- simply scroll down and add your thoughts in the comments box.