Hot Tech Companies For 2014

When Apple (AAPL) was at $702, professional investors couldn�� love it enough. It was the most-held stock among the largest funds when they reported their holdings as of June 30, 2012.

And then, just like that, the sentiment began to change. The word on Wall Street and in the tech world was that Apple had lost its spark. It would also be very difficult for them to replicate the success they had with the iPhone and the iPad. And the stock price hit the skids.

We have been watching Apple for the past few years from the sidelines. Apple passed our first rule with their financially strong balance sheet, but the stock price never became attractive enough to be considered a value for our portfolio. That all changed on December 28, 2012.

Hot Tech Companies For 2014: SMTC Corporation(SMTX)

SMTC Corporation provides advanced electronics manufacturing services to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) worldwide. The company?s services include product design and engineering services, printed circuit board assembly production, enclosure fabrication, systems integration, testing, and configuration services. It also provides enclosure and precision metal fabrication, cable assembly, interconnect, and engineering design services. The company offers its integrated contract manufacturing services to OEMs and technology companies primarily in the industrial, computing and networking, communications, consumer, and medical market segments. SMTC Corporation was founded in 1985 and is based in Markham, Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Paul]

  SMTC Corp. (NASDAQ: SMTX) is a Canadian company that provides contract electronics manufacturing services, such as surface-mount and through-hole circuit board assembly, product design, testing, packaging and supply chain management. Manufacturers use products built or assembled by SMTC in their computer servers, networking devices or communications products.

  In its most recent earnings report, the company said Q3 sales rose 48% in the quarter to $65.4 million, and earnings per share were 16 cents, up from 3 cents in the same quarter of 2009. Eight of its top 10 customers increased orders as a result of strong market demand for electronics manufacturing. The addition of five new clients added $10 million to the company’s sales in the quarter. SMTX’s year-over-year gross profit more than doubled to $7.9 million, as a result. Generated cash flow reached $4.6 million and the company used much of this extra cash to pay down debt. That’s why SMTX’s debt was just $18 million at the end of the quarter, the lowest level in the company’s history.

  SMTX is in an excellent position to profit from increasing electronics and technology demand, which will continue to climb next year. Buy SMTX below $4.

Hot Tech Companies For 2014: Alliance Fiber Optic Products Inc.(AFOP)

Alliance Fiber Optic Products, Inc. engages in the design, manufacture, and marketing of a range of fiber optic components and integrated modules incorporating these components to communications equipment manufacturers and service providers in North America, Europe, and Asia. The company offers interconnect devices that are used to connect optical fibers and components; couplers and splitters that are used to divide and combine optical power; and dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) devices that separate and combine multiple specific wavelengths. Its connectivity products include connectivity modules; optical connectors, adapters, and cable assemblies; fused and planar fiber optical splitters and couplers; optical tap couplers and ultra low polarization dependent loss tap couplers; amplifier wave division multiplexing (WDM) couplers; optical fixed attenuators; and fused fiber WDM couplers. The company?s optical passive products comprise filter WDMs, amplifier fil ter WDMs, DWDMs, coarse WDMs, compact coarse WDMs, add/drop DWDM filters, optical isolators, optical bypass switches, and automatic variable optical attenuators. Its products are deployed in long-haul networks that connect cities; metropolitan networks that connect areas within cities; last mile access networks that connect to individual businesses and homes; and enterprise networks within businesses. The company sells its products to communications equipment manufacturers who incorporate its products into their systems and sell them to network service providers, as well as to other component manufacturers for resale or inclusion in their products. Alliance Fiber Optic Products, Inc. was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California.

Top Insurance Companies To Buy For 2014: Psion(PON.L)

Psion plc, through its subsidiaries, provides enterprise mobile computing solutions, integration services, and product support and maintenance services worldwide. It offers hardware and software, professional services, and customer services and support. The company?s products include hand held computers; rugged vehicle mount computers; connectivity solutions comprising access points, network management products, emulators, and utilities; and companion products, such as printers, speech solutions, imagers and scanners, and tablet PCs. It also provides professional services, including assessment and consultation, infrastructure development, project management, and installation and deployment services. In addition, the company offers reconditioned and rental products, as well as repair services. It serves airport, automotive, cold chain, field service, public sector, passenger management, port and container yard, postal and courier, retail, and warehouse and distribution ind ustries. The company sells its products through a network of third party resellers, distributors, and system integrators, as well as through its direct sales force. The company was founded in 1967 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.

Hot Tech Companies For 2014: Compuware Corporation(CPWR)

Compuware Corporation provides software and Web performance solutions, professional services, and application services in the United States, Europe, and Africa. The company?s software products consist of Mainframe, Vantage, Changepoint, and Uniface product lines. Its Mainframe product line includes File-AID, Xpediter, Hiperstation, Abend-AID, and Strobe used for application analysis, testing, defect detection and remediation, fault management, file and data management, data compliance, and application performance management in the IBM z/OS environment. The company?s Vantage products provide an end-to-end approach for managing application performance by combining end user experience monitoring, business service management, and application performance monitoring; Changepoint products are management and professional services automation solutions that address the needs of executives in technology companies, enterprise IT, and professional service organizations; and Uniface i s an application development environment for building, renewing, and integrating the enterprise applications. It also offers Web application performance management services, which are marketed under the Gomez brand name, are used by enterprises to test and monitor their Web and mobile applications while in development and after deployment. In addition, the company provides professional services, such as implementation, consulting, and training services, as well as various IT services for mainframe, distributed, and mobile environments; and application services, which are marketed under the Covisint brand name that offers SaaS platform providing industry-specific solutions for organizations in the automotive, healthcare, and energy markets, as well as provides support services. The company serves IT departments of various commercial and government organizations. Compuware Corporation was founded in 1973 and is headquartered in Detroit, Michigan.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By CRWE]

  Compuware Corporation (Nasdaq:CPWR), the technology performance company, will report results for its fiscal 2013 second quarter ��ended September 30, 2012 ��after market-close on October 23, 2012.

• [By James K. Glassman]

  James Roumell, star of the Wall Street Journal's late, lamented stock-pickers-versus-dartboard contest, tells me that "if we had to pick one idea right now, it would be Compuware (CPWR)." Its primary business is software for large, mainframe computers, but it also has several interesting subsidiaries, including Gomez, a leader in Web analytics, and Covisint, a specialist in delivering health-care information. Roumell says he is impressed with both Compuware's cash flow and its potential as a takeover candidate.