4 Cheap Tech Stocks to Buy With Huge Upside Potential

June 19, 2015 by Lee Jackson

semiconductorThe market has decided to party like it’s 1999, and with the Nasdaq hitting a new all-time high, why not? The major difference now is there is nowhere near the retail involvement there was during the last tech bubble, and for the most part many tech stocks are still reasonable. In a new set of research reports, Stifel tracks four technology stocks that still make sense in a pricey market.

The Stifel team has sharpened the pencils and done some very solid work on top tech stocks to buy that have either been hit hard or the market has deemed a little too dicey to buy now. All four make good sense for aggressive growth portfolios.

FormFactor

This chip capital equipment company is expected to grow faster than the industry average over the balance of the year. FormFactor Inc. (NASDAQ: FORM) helps semiconductor manufacturers test the integrated circuits (ICs) that power consumer mobile devices, as well as computing, automotive and other applications. The company is one of the world’s leading providers of essential wafer test technologies and expertise, with an extensive portfolio of high-performance probe cards for DRAM, Flash and system on chip (SoC) devices. Customers use FormFactor’s products and services to lower overall production costs, improve their yields and enable complex next-generation ICs.

With the chip market perhaps seeing a bottom this summer, that could provide investors with solid upside. FormFactor offers investors a way to play the chip equipment arena with a lower price stock.

The Stifel price target for the stock is $11. The Thomson/First Call consensus price target is $10.93. Shares closed Thursday at $9.23.

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Micron Technology

Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) is a global leader in advanced semiconductor systems. Micron’s broad portfolio of high-performance memory technologies, including DRAM, NAND and NOR Flash, is the basis for solid state drives, modules, multichip packages and other system solutions. The company’s memory chip solutions enable the world’s most innovative computing, consumer, enterprise storage, networking, mobile, embedded and automotive applications.

Micron and Intel announced recently the availability of their 3D NAND technology, the world’s highest-density flash memory. Flash is the storage technology used inside the lightest laptops, fastest data centers and nearly every cell phone, tablet and mobile device.

Wall Street analysts agree that while DRAM pricing was weaker than expected in the first quarter, the company has taken solid supply-side actions that should help firm pricing. With the potential for another slow quarter, the sell-off in the stock is providing patient investors an incredible entry point.

The Stifel price target is set at $41, and the consensus target is lower at $37.30. Shares closed Thursday at $24.46.

Mellanox Technologies

This fabless chip company may provide outstanding upside for shareholders the rest of the year. Mellanox Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: MLNX) is a leading supplier of end-to-end InfiniBand and Ethernet interconnect solutions and services for servers and storage. Mellanox interconnect solutions increase data center efficiency by providing the highest throughput and lowest latency, delivering data faster to applications and unlocking system performance capability. Mellanox offers a choice of fast interconnect products: adapters, switches, software, cables and silicon that accelerate application runtime and maximize business results for a wide range of markets, including high-performance computing, enterprise data centers, Web 2.0, cloud, storage and financial services.

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The company recently unveiled the industry’s first 100 gigabit Ethernet, Open Ethernet-based, non-blocking switch. Spectrum, the next generation of its Open Ethernet-based switch IC, overcomes current data center challenges by providing a highly flexible and scalable solution that allows businesses to deploy the hardware-software combinations best suited to meet their unique needs. With Spectrum, Mellanox is the first to offer end-to-end 10/25/40/50 and 100 gigabit Ethernet connectivity.

The Stifel price target is $70, and the consensus target is lower at $59.08. The stock closed Thursday at $51.26 per share.

PROS

This company helps corporations globally deal with big data. PROS Holdings Inc. (NYSE: PRO) is a big data software company that helps customers outperform in their markets by using big data to sell more effectively. The company applies years of data science experience to unlock buying patterns and preferences within transaction data to reveal which opportunities are most likely to close, which offers are most likely to sell and which prices are most likely to win. PROS offers cloud solutions to optimize sales, pricing, quoting, rebates and revenue management across more than 40 industries. PROS has completed over 800 implementations of its solutions in more than 55 countries.

The stock has suffered from negative earnings revisions, and that has taken a toll on the share price. However, the market for big data analytics is huge, and the company has been mentioned as a possible takeover target. The chatter makes sense, as it would be a reasonable bolt-on for a company looking to add the big data silo to product offerings.

The Stifel price target is a massive $35, and the consensus target is $25.43. Shares closed Thursday at $21.73.

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All these companies provide risk-tolerant investors with a low entry point and sizable upside. While the stories behind each could take a while to play out, the value for patient investors could be tremendous.

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