Three Hot Tech Stocks
Submitted by Aaron Huber on July 22, 2011
When the numbers were revealed this summer, Apple’s earnings had exceeded expectations for the 30th consecutive quarter. Apple’s revenue is not just growing every quarter, revenue growth is accelerating. Experts say that Apple’s stock price is actually getting cheaper compared to earnings. The stock is trading at 387.33 today, and the analysts can’t seem to keep up with the degree of Apple’s expansion. Earnings per share (EPS) surpassed estimates by 30% in the last quarter. Apple’s future looks exciting.
They have plans to team up with China Mobile, allowing them to sell iPhones to over 600 million more customers. Apple closes the second quarter of 2011 with $76.2 billion in Cash on Hand. This is enough to make some major acquisitions (for instance, Netflix and Ebay) and still have cash left for development. Or apple could throw the cash into new developments and sectors and have a big surprise for investors and customers in 2012.
Microsoft and Apple both have a lot of cash to spend, but Microsoft drops more on investing in and buying established companies. In 2007, Microsoft gave $240 million to Facebook, then only three years old, for a 1.6 percent stake in the social network. The recent acquisition of Skype for $8.5 billion allows the software giant to integrate Skype into Facebook, benefiting both companies. Analysts also expect to see Skype communication capabilities in most future Microsoft applications. Microsoft’s partnership with Nokia should help both companies compete with Apple in the smart phone sector. With these partnerships and acquisitions, Microsoft could have a very exciting 2012.
The question with most web upstarts is, “How will they monetize?” This question can now be posed to Android. While it remains a mystery how Google will make money from a platform that is practically open source, there is no doubt that Android keeps Apple at bay and gets Google’s foot in one more door in the communications castle. Android may be the seed that sprouts a major new division within the web technology giant. There is no reason to doubt the development of major new divisions, or even surprise acquisitions. With so much cash pouring into the company, there is no telling what Google might do next.
