Over the past two years, the Motley Fool has allowed the public to follow real-time stock picks by some of our top analysts absolutely free of charge. Within the last couple of weeks, three of their picks have popped up on my radar. Read below to find out which companies they picked, and at the end you'll get an offer to access a premium special report on one of the companies.
MAKO Surgical (Nasdaq: MAKO)
In case you don't already follow the company, MAKO produces the Rio Surgical Robotic system. The machine allows for partial knee and hip replacements that are more aligned with each individual's unique anatomy.
With lots of baby boomers heading into their golden years intent on staying active, MAKO's system seems promising. That, along with growing system sales over the past few years, helped the stock climb more than 500% between 2009 and March of this year. But since then, the company has twice warned that system sales were slowing.
But Dave Meier and John Reeves see a company entering the next stage of growth, not one that's slowing down. As they note, not everyone will adopt a new technology all at once; it takes time.
Source: Technology Adoption Life-Cycle by Infrae.
Our two analysts think that MAKO's next challenge is to jump from "early adopters" to the "early majority." As they noted, MAKO has already hired talent away from Intuitive Surgical (Nasdaq: ISRG) -- a robotic health care company that has already made that jump -- to help the company move forward.
Arcos Dorados (NYSE: ARCO)
For those of you who didn't complete all your homework in high school Spanish, "Arcos Dorados" means "Golden Arches." And if that sounds a lot like McDonald's (NYSE: MCD), it's on purpose: Arcos Dorados has exclusive rights to franchise the McDonald's brand in several Central and South American countries.
Fool analyst Nathan Parmelee, who takes an international focus with his stock picking, thinks the company is trading at a fair value today. Nathan readily acknowledges that there are legitimate signs that the Brazilian economy -- and therefore its appetite for McDonald's -- is weakening. But as he points out, sales in northern and southern Latin America grew by 15% and 25%, respectively, in local currencies.
As far as price goes, Nathan says, "With the shares trading at an operating cash flow multiple of 11 to 12, I'm more than happy to add to my position in this dynamic business."
Power-One (Nasdaq: PWER)
This company makes it possible for DC electricity produced by solar panels and wind turbines to be converted to AC current that can go on a community's power grid. As many organizations continue the push for safe, clean, and renewable energy sources, you'd think that Power-One might be a hot stock. That isn't the case, though, as the stock is down more than 50% since mid-2010.
But Fool analyst Jim Mueller thinks now might be the time to take a closer look at the company. Power-One blew away estimates in both earnings and revenue last quarter. On top of that, Jim thinks that, though global economies might not be showing the level of activity some would like to see, there will still be strong demand for Power-One's converters. As he pointed out, "[research firm] IMS says demand is growing worldwide despite the slowing economies and reductions in tariffs."
According to Jim, Power-One now has a 14% global market share, good enough for the second largest within their addressable market.
Want the full scoop?
My job with this article is just to give you a taste for what our analysts have been up to. You can click on any of the links above to hear the investing thesis straight from our analysts themselves.
But if you'd like access to a special premium report that covers all the bases and provides exclusive continuing updates as the year goes on, we've got just the thing for you. David Meier has prepared a special premium report covering MAKO Surgical and all you need to know about the company. Get your copy of the report, and the ongoing coverage it will offer, today by clicking here.
