Two Tech Stocks to Buy for Summer

I have been warning that August would be a bumpy transition month and in just the first two trading days, we’ve seen a 208-point up day followed by a 38-point down day. To help you through the upcoming weeks, I want to give you a few stock names that should add some ballast to your portfolio and keep you profiting through the rest of the summer.

BIDU – China’s Internet Play

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Baidu (NASDAQ: BIDU) is an excellent company that everyone should own. I am recommending this stock in my Blue Chip Growth newsletter, and subscribers have enjoyed a great run with the stock up about +140% in the last 12 months compared with just a +15% gain for the broader market.

This is exactly the kind of company you want to own during booms and busts and particularly in market transition periods like the one we’re experiencing now. That’s because Baidu continues to dominate the Chinese Internet market. In the most recent quarter, the company blew past analysts’ expectations, notching strong increases in sales and market share.

The company earned $123.5 million, or $0.35 per share, during the quarter, up from $56.5 million, or $0.16, during the same quarter a year ago. Analysts had been expecting earnings of $0.30 per share, resulting in a 17% earnings surprise. The company also posted a strong increase in the number of online marketing customers, up 25% from last year. Baidu’s sales also increased year-over-year by nearly 75% to $282.3 million.

Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG), the company’s main rival in China, has been losing market share because of disagreements with the Chinese government regarding censorship policies. But what has been Google’s loss has been Baidu’s gain and this fact is reflected in the company’s second-quarter financial report.

Looking forward, the company issued strong guidance for the next quarter beating experts’ estimates. The company said that Q3 sales will be between $324.4 million and $333.3 million, above analysts’ predictions of $321.6 million.

AMZN � Kindle is On fire

Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) is another one of my Blue Chip Growth stocks that you should own now.

Amazon is another company that has maintained its upward trajectory through the ups and downs of this past year. Relentless expansion has propelled Amazon.com in its quest for bigger sales and profits. The company’s main Web site offers any product you could imagine, from books to auto parts to groceries! You can even download digital content such as games, MP3s and movies to your computer or handheld device�including Amazon’s innovative portable reader, the Kindle.

In the second quarter, Amazon.com earned $207 million, or $0.45 per share, compared with $142 million, or $0.32 per share, in the same period of 2009, a huge 40% year-over-year increase. Operating income jumped by 71% to $270 million. Amazon’s Chief Financial Officer, Tom Szkutak, said the company was growing “very, very fast,” and that it has plans to open 13 new fulfillment centers in 2010.

For the third quarter, Amazon predicted sales of between $6.9 billion to $7.6 billion. Analysts expect $7.16 billion in sales. Operating income is predicted to reach between $210 million and $310 million. This growth is stellar in such a rough retail environment and I expect continued success from this retail giant.

I hope that you’ll add these stocks to your portfolios this August. They are the best-of-the-best companies on the market and have been delivering steady profits to investors for months, if not years. The market is narrowing right now, which means that there are fewer stocks that will deliver you big gains. BIDU and AMZN are two of these very precious stocks. In addition to being incredibly profitable, these companies are incredibly stable and will not cause you to lose sleep at night.

As of this writing, Louis Navellier was recommending both BIDU and AMZN to subscribers of his Blue Chip Growth newsletter.

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