A recent video reviewing the year in the mobile industry got me thinking about mobile stocks, as some of the stats were just mind-blowing! For instance, would you have guessed that 5 billion apps were downloaded in 2010? Take a look:
Source: MobileFuture; animation by iStrategyLabs.
After watching, I looked for companies that would benefit from these trends continuing. If you take the time to read past the headlines and crack a filing now and then, you're in a much better position to spot find underappreciated home run stocks that provide the market's best returns. Here are the three stocks that looked most promising:
1. Neutral Tandem
Neutral Tandem provides switching services to telecommunications firms. The "neutral" in its name refers to its market positioning. It provides a neutral service, allowing competing telecommunications firms to not have to rely on a competitor to route information in the most efficient manner. Shares have taken a hit this past year over patent litigation and concerns of increased competition from Level 3 Communications
Many investors believe Neutral Tandem is cheap. For deep dives on this stock, check out this blog post from CAPS member AAOI (Above Average Odds Investing), which contains an interview with Islamorada Investment Management's Cale Smith, or this blog post and research report from CAPS member BetapegLLC.
2. InterDigital
Similar to Qualcomm
3. Motricity
Motricity makes white label web portals for mobile providers. Its customers include the four largest U.S. customers. Besides competition from mobile providers using proprietary portals, the company also competes with third-party web portals such as Yahoo! Mobile in the U.S. or Rediff
This year
Is mobile set for another big year in 2011? We'll have to wait and see. In the meantime, The Motley Fool has 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. No, it's not Netflix -- this company is simply driving that trend for others to exploit. Click here to grab your free report today.