Hot High Tech Companies For 2014

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of Xoom (NASDAQ: XOOM  ) have rocketed higher today and are now sitting 15% above yesterday's close after obliterating analyst estimates with strong earnings.

So what: Wall Street was looking for revenue of $26.2 million and a loss of $0.07 per share. Xoom didn't settle for this -- its results, which showed 60% year-over-year revenue growth to $33.5 million and a stunning $0.14 in adjusted earnings per share, were far better. Third-quarter guidance was also slightly ahead of estimates, with a range of $27 million to $28 million in revenue coming up against the $26.7 million consensus, and a $0.02 to $0.07 loss per share against the $0.06 loss per share Wall Street had sought.

Xoom's full-year guidance for 2013 was significantly improved by today's big outperformance, as the company now sees an EPS range of $0.05 to $0.13, in stark contrast to the $0.18 loss per share that Wall Street projected. Xoom's $115 million to $117 million revenue guidance for 2013 also trounced the $106.9 million consensus.

5 Best Consumer Service Stocks To Watch Right Now: Highpower International Inc (HPJ)

Highpower International, Inc., incorporated on January 3, 2006, is engaged in the production and sales of rechargeable nickel-metal hydride (Ni-MH) batteries, lithium batteries and battery systems. The Company also recycles scrap battery materials through outsourcing and resells the recycled materials to some of its customers. The Company�� wholly owned subsidiary is Hong Kong Highpower Technology Company Limited (HKHTC). HKHTC�� wholly owned subsidiaries Shenzhen Highpower Technology Company Limited (SZ Highpower), Highpower Energy Technology (Hui Zhou) Company Limited (HZ Highpower), Springpower Technology (Shenzhen) Company Limited (SZ Springpower) and Icon Energy System Company Limited (ICON) and SZ Highpower�� wholly owned subsidiary Ganzhou Highpower Technology Company Limited (Ganzhou Highpower).

The Company�� Ni-MH rechargeable batteries are solutions for many applications. The Company�� Ni-MH rechargeable batteries offer capacity and energy density. As a result, users can expect a longer time between charges and longer running time. The Company�� Ni-MH rechargeable batteries are available in both cylindrical and prismatic shapes. The Company produces Li-ion batteries and Li-polymer batteries with hundreds of different models and specifications. As of December 31 2011, the Company produced an average of 1,520,000 lithium battery units per month.

The Company�� batteries fall into two main categories, such as consumer batteries and industrial batteries. The Company�� consumer batteries category produces Ni-MH and lithium batteries, which offers power capacity, allowing for longer working time and shortened charging time during equivalent working periods. The Company produces A, AA and AAA sized batteries in blister packing, as well as chargers and battery packs. The Company�� industrial batteries are designed for electric bikes, power tools and electric toys. They are specifically designed for high-drain discharge applications.

The Comp! any competes with SANYO Electric Co., Ltd., Panasonic, BYD Company Ltd., GPI International, Ltd., GS Yuasa Corporation, Desay Corp., Coslight Group, Tianjin Lishen Battery Co. Ltd. and ATL.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Kyle Woodley]

  The short, sucky answer? A lot:

  Plans for a ��igafactory��meant to produce millions of electric-car batteries ginned up excitement, but also raised eyebrows. The Wall Street Journal reported on skepticism in the space — including from heads at Volkswagen (VLKAY) and battery maker Highpower International (HPJ). Now, even planned investment partner Panasonic (PC) now sounds iffy on the project, with company Kazuhiro Tsuga saying “the investment risk is definitely larger.” Not good. There also was Tesla�� direct sales snafu. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie huffed and puffed and (on March 11) successfully blew down Tesla�� direct sales model, with the Motor Vehicle Commission approving a measure to enforce an already-existing ban on direct sales. On the flip side, Tesla has scored victories in New York and Ohio in the past month, and is making progress in Arizona (which has a little incentive on the board). Production of the Model X has been pushed further back, to 2015. Musk’s reasons — mostly having to do with focusing on bolstering Model S sales — are valid, but that doesn�� really soften the blow of a longer wait for the much-anticipated addition to Tesla�� line. To address the issue of battery fires in the Model S, TSLA added titanium shields and aluminum deflector plates to new vehicles and offered to install them for free in all its existing cars. Tesla�� margins are excellent, and there�� no hard number on the cost impact of the fix, but titanium ain�� cheap. This definitely isn�� going to add to Tesla�� bottom line. What Now?

  I won�� belabor you with my bullish position on TSLA stock, but if you want, you can see it here. In short, Musk is a genius; Tesla products are quality and appeal to (and are priced for) the all-important luxury segment; and just given size and scale, TSLA has oh-so-much room to grow.

Hot High Tech Companies For 2014: Progress Energy Inc.(PGN)

Progress Energy, Inc., a utility holding company, engages in the generation, transmission, distribution, and sale of electricity in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Florida. It uses coal, oil, hydroelectric, natural gas, and nuclear power to generate electricity. The company also engages in various alternative energy projects to generate electricity from swine waste and other plant or animal sources, biomass, solar, hydrogen, and landfill-gas technologies. Progress Energy serves various industries, including chemicals, textiles, paper, food, metals, wood products, rubber and plastics, and stone products, as well as phosphate rock mining and processing, electronics design and manufacturing, and citrus and other food processing. It has approximately 22,000 megawatts of regulated electric generation capacity and serves approximately 3.1 million retail electric customers, as well as other load-serving entities. The company was formerly known as CP&L Energy, Inc. Progress En ergy, Inc. was founded in 1925 and is headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Holly LaFon] ess Energy shares climbed over 2011 as the company announced in January it would merge with Duke Energy. Together, they will form the nation�� largest utility with a combined enterprise value of $65 billion and $37 billion in market cap. The new company will have 57 gigawatts of domestic generating capacity through a mix of coal, nuclear, natural gas, oil and renewable resources. Progress energy shareholders will receive an approximately 3 percent dividend increase.

  Incidentally, development of a comprehensive energy policy was one of what Grantham called ��he most important and most dangerous issues��facing the world.

  Progress is at the forefront of the push for nuclear energy in the U.S., which has been deemed the ��uclear renaissance.��Thirty-five percent of the electricity used by Progress Energy customers comes from one of their four nuclear sites, two in North Carolina, and one each in South Carolina and Florida. It plans to build another reactor in Levy County, Florida.

  Revenue at Progress Energy has declined at a 2.6% annual rate over the past five years, and it achieved cash flow of $95 million in 2010, after three years of losses. Earnings have remained positive, reaching a record for the decade of $856 million in 2010.

  RSC Holdings (RRR)

  RSC is a machinery rental service for construction, industrial, petrochemical, governmental and manufacturing businesses in the U.S. and Canada. RSC tends to benefit in economic downturns, as more businesses turn to renting rather than buying equipment to cut costs. Rented equipment rose 20.7% percent (the sixth consecutive quarter of double-digit growth) and rental revenue increased 27% in the fourth quarter of 2011, compared to last year.

  United Rentals (URI), one of RSC�� largest competitors, had a rental revenue increase of 18.5% in the fourth quarter compared to last year, which included a 6.7% increase in rental rates.

  The company�� fleet utilization also

Hot High Tech Companies For 2014: Phillips-Van Heusen Corporation(PVH)

PVH Corp. designs and markets branded dress shirts, neckwear, sportswear, footwear, and other related products worldwide. The company?s Calvin Klein Licensing segment licenses Calvin Klein Collection, ck Calvin Klein, and Calvin Klein brands for sportswear, jeanswear, underwear, fragrances, eyewear, men?s tailored clothing, women?s suits and dresses, hosiery, socks, footwear, swimwear, jewelry, watches, outerwear, handbags, leather goods, home furnishings, and accessories; and to operate retail stores. Its Wholesale Dress Furnishings segment markets dress shirts and neckwear principally under the ARROW, Calvin Klein, ck Calvin Klein, Calvin Klein Collection, IZOD, Eagle, Sean John, Donald J. Trump Signature Collection, Kenneth Cole New York, Kenneth Cole Reaction, JOE Joseph Abboud, DKNY, Tommy Hilfiger, Elie Tahari, J. Garcia, and MICHAEL Michael Kors brands. The company?s Wholesale Sportswear and Related Products segment offers sportswear, including men?s knit and w oven sport shirts, sweaters, bottoms, swimwear, boxers, and outerwear principally under the IZOD, Van Heusen, ARROW, Geoffrey Beene, Timberland, and Calvin Klein brands; and women?s sportswear, including knit and woven sport shirts, sweaters, bottoms, and outerwear under the IZOD brand. Its Retail Apparel and Related Products segment provides men?s dress shirts; neckwear and underwear; men?s and women?s suit separates; men?s and women?s sportswear, including woven and knit shirts, sweaters, bottoms, and outerwear; men?s and women?s accessories; sportswear; and men?s fragrance. The company?s Retail Footwear and Related Products segment offers casual and dress shoes for men, women, and children; and apparel and accessories. The company was formerly known as Phillips-Van Heusen Corporation and changed its name to PVH Corp. in June, 2011. The company was founded in 1881 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Stocks have tumbled after a slightly stronger open as Visa (V),�American Express�(AXP),�United Technologies (UTX), Noble Corp (NE) and PVH Corp. (PVH) slide.

• [By Seth Jayson]

  Calling all cash flows
  When you are trying to buy the market's best stocks, it's worth checking up on your companies' free cash flow once a quarter or so, to see whether it bears any relationship to the net income in the headlines. That's what we do with this series. Today, we're checking in on PVH (NYSE: PVH  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

Hot High Tech Companies For 2014: STEC Inc.(STEC)

STEC, Inc. designs, manufactures, and markets enterprise-class flash solid-state drives (SSDs) for use in high-performance storage and server systems. Its solid-state drive products include ZeusIOPS SSDs, which provide enterprise-class data storage solutions; and MACH-class SSDs that are small form factor storage solutions for mission-critical systems in various industries. The company?s flash cards and flash module products comprise ATA PC Cards for equipment requiring standard form factors and moderate capacities, such as data recorders, avionics systems, and telecommunication applications; CompactFlash products, which provide interoperability with systems based on the PC Card ATA standard by using a passive adapter; flash modules; secure digital memory cards; USB flash drives; and single chip drives. It also offers dynamic random access memory (DRAM) products, which include dual in-line memory modules (DIMMs), small-outline DIMMs, mini-registered DIMMs, very low profile registered DIMMs, and fully-buffered DIMMs for computing, communications, and industrial applications. In addition, the company provides integrated circuit tower stacked components for thin small outline package and ball grid array semiconductor packages for use on memory modules and within high capacity flash products; DRAM modules with stacked components for use primarily in high-performance servers, workstations, switches and routers, and other custom systems; and flash products with stacked components. It sells its products through direct sales force and original equipment manufacturer distributors in the United States and internationally. STEC, Inc. was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in Santa Ana, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Tim Brugger]

  HGST, a wholly owned subsidiary of Western Digital (NASDAQ: WDC  ) , has entered into an agreement whereby HGST will acquire a 100% ownership stake in sTec (NASDAQ: STEC  ) in an all-cash transaction valued at $340 million, equal to $6.85 a share, the companies announced today.