However hard the market slams a stock, there's always the chance it'll come bouncing right back. We'll consult our Motley Fool CAPS community to find shares that might be on the rebound, examining one sector of the economy in search of companies with rising CAPS ratings.
Among the 773 stocks listed under technology in the CAPS screener, we've unearthed a handful with top five-star ratings. That means a good number of our 135,000 CAPS members are confident that these stocks will beat the market in the months ahead:
|
Company |
Recent Price |
52-Week Price Change |
Estimated Five-Year Growth Rate |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
ClickSoftware Technologies |
***** |
$5.55 |
118% |
22% |
|
Corning |
***** |
$14.76 |
(27%) |
14% |
|
Fundtech |
***** |
$8.44 |
(41%) |
21% |
|
Harmonic |
***** |
$5.51 |
(41%) |
15% |
|
Trident Microsystems |
***** |
$1.69 |
(59%) |
15% |
Source: Motley Fool CAPS; Yahoo! Finance.
Among these technology stocks, you'll find the usual suspects such as graphics card maker NVIDIA
Some spring in its step
When you turn on your big-screen LCD TV, it's also possible you're using Corning's products without knowing it. The glass-panel maker recently reported that second-quarter shipments of its ultrathin screens could easily double from first-quarter levels because the numbers in so far look to be significantly higher.
Yet with prices on TV sets still falling, that might not translate into as much profit as it first appears. Moreover, with the European Union pursuing a price-fixing charge against LG Display, the world's No. 2 maker of LCD panels, there might be further pricing pressures. The EU is looking at the main component of thin, flat monitors used in televisions, computers, mobile phones, and other devices. Last year, LG Display, Sharp, and Taiwan-based Chunghwa Picture Tubes pleaded guilty to price-fixing in a U.S. case.
The disruption might bring opportunity for Corning's Gorilla glass -- a tough, scratch-resistant glass for touch screens. Corning just announced a deal to put the glass into Samsung's high-end mobile phones.
CAPS All-Star member BudandMolly writes that even though the stock price is up more than 56% year to date, Corning is just biding its time:
Corning is a sleeper right now. It will start to move in the second half. It is ideally positioned for glass for flat screens for China and other expanding third world areas. It is also expanding in the environmental area with its filter systems.
Just clicking through
ClickSoftware has been prospering in the first half of this year -- not to mention over the past year -- and has one of the top five returns of any of the companies listed under technology in CAPS.
Its mobile workforce optimization software has become a key consideration for its customers, particularly while they need to tighten their belts but keep customer service a top priority in the middle of this recession. CAPS All-Star withoutlimits believes ClickSoftware still represents a good value despite the huge run-up in its stock price, but pastordisaster says it has gone "too far, too fast."
What's your take on this stock? The average CAPS technology stock has fallen by 22% over the past 12 months, but ClickSoftware has tripled in value since the start of 2009.
The ball's in your court
There are many factors that go into whether a stock is a buy or a sell, so it pays to start your own research on these stocks on Motley Fool CAPS. Read a company's financial reports, scrutinize key data and charts, and examine the comments your fellow investors have made -- all from a stock's CAPS page. Head over to CAPS today and share your thoughts with other members.
