The 10 Worst Networking and Electronics Stocks of 2010

It's been a pretty kind year to stock investors, with the S&P showing a 12.8% gain in 2010. Of course, kindness might still feel relative after a lost decade of negative returns that included the nauseating depths and panic of the financial crisis.

Still, not every stock sees gains when a rising tide lifts all boats. Here's a list of this year's 10 worst performers in the networking and electronics industries, ignoring companies that have gone bankrupt or sunk below $200 million in market capitalization.

Source: Capital IQ, a division of Standard & Poor's. Only includes companies listed on U.S. exchanges that contain a market capitalization greater than $200 million.

When I compiled a list of the 10 best performing stocks from these two industries in 2010, smaller networking companies dominated. That came largely at the expense of industry kingpin Cisco, which has struggled to compete in several key niches of networking technology. Cisco itself not only was unable to expand in several of these growth markets, but also saw its share price lag the market by 28%. Given Cisco's inability to perform better in key markets and competitors pushing into networking that could use toeholds in key technologies, I proposed that 2011 could see a buyout swell in the industry.

One company whose name is constantly swirling in buyout talks, but has yet to be scooped up, is Brocade Communications. The company has large product portfolios not only in switches, but also in storage area network products. However, despite shopping itself, the company has been unable to find a buyer. During the year, it also experienced numerous setbacks, including weak guidance last quarter, which led to a 31% falloff in its share price during 2010.

The electronics side saw a veritable grab bag of companies underperforming. The biggest loser in the industry, China Security and Surveillance, suffered along with fellow Chinese small-cap peers. Itron posted record profits in 2010, but like EnerNOC and other companies making smart electricity products, it saw investors lose faith in the industry. Finally, SMART Modular Technologies recently collapsed after reporting poor guidance of its own last quarter.

So what's in store for networking next year? I suspect we'll see a string of buyouts. While companies like F5 Networks and Riverbed might be a little too richly priced to attract a bidding war, there's plenty of other small fish in the sea to be stalked by networking aspirant HP, as well as Cisco and Juniper.

If you're looking for some other ideas for strong outperformers in the year ahead, The Motley Fool has created a brand new free report called "The Motley Fool's Top Stock for 2011." In it, we reveal the little company set to profit from the broadband Internet expansion. Get instant access by clicking here -- it's free.