Tech stocks: Hold Apple. Be selective on others.
础蝉听Apple听stock climbs toward $500 per share, one widely followed Internet analyst remained bullish on certain tech stocks.
听鈥淎ctually, I think Apple is one of the biggest tech laggards given that earnings revisions have been so positive, but the stock hasn鈥檛 reacted,鈥澨�Gene Munster听of Piper Jaffray said Friday on 鈥淔ast Money.鈥�
鈥淭his is a delayed reaction that we should鈥檝e seen for the last couple of quarters,鈥� he added. 鈥淒espite the fact the stock keeps going up, I think there鈥檚 a lot more room to go.鈥�
听Apple closed up 0.05 percent at $493.42 per share after having hit yet another all-time high of $497.62 earlier in the day.
听Munster, who rated the stock 鈥渙verweight鈥� and maintained his $670 price target, expected Apple to听pay a dividend听within three to six months.
But not all tech stocks enjoyed similarly positive sentiments.
听Yahoo: 鈥淭hey need to do something that鈥檚 innovative for once,鈥� Munster said. 鈥淚 still think they should buy Hulu. They need to do this because it鈥檚 a great fit with business, and they need to get into a secular growth theme, which they鈥檙e not a part of today.鈥�
听Amazon: 鈥淒on鈥檛 bet against Amazon,鈥� he said. 鈥淒espite all the investors鈥� fears about revenue growth, I think you need to own it.鈥�
听Google: The stock has lagged partly due to the company鈥檚 lack of guidance on its acquisition of Motorola Mobility.
听Analyst听Toni Sacconaghi听of Sanford Bernstein weighed in positively on the tech sector.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of skepticism about technology stocks for the last couple of years,鈥� he said. 鈥淭ech stocks started the year as basically the lowest relative valuation versus S&P in over 20 years.鈥�
听Apple鈥檚 stock performance was justified, he said, calling the company a 鈥済reat growth story operating in a great growth markets. But the high stock price I think distracts from the fact that this is really a very attractively valued stock.鈥�
听Sacconaghi noted that at $500 a share, Apple had over $100 a share in cash, and that it would see an estimated $45 in earnings for the year.
鈥淭his stock, taking out the cash, is trading at about 9 times earnings, which is incredible for a company that is going to grow earnings 60-plus percent this year,鈥� he said.
Sacconaghi, with a price target of $600 per share, also thought a dividend was likely.
鈥淚 think that would also put some legs under the stock and buffer it from swings going forward if, ultimately, Apple does indeed do that,鈥� he said.
IBM: 鈥淚BM is at its very high end in relative multiples, and I don鈥檛 think there鈥檚 much opportunity going forward,鈥� he said.
Patty Edwards of Trutina Capital also liked tech stocks overall.
鈥�Dell听and Apple in particular, while I love them and I am long Apple, my concern is that they have parabolic moves, and parabolic moves do not end well. It鈥檚 got to come down, then I鈥檇 be interested in buying some more,鈥� she said.
