Tag Archives: ctxs

Don’t Overlook 4 Top Tech Stocks Near Buy Point

Sifting through stock lists for a trend is always a sound strategy. Otherwise, you could miss a stock or group of stocks that are making a move. If you look at the industry group rankings for some of the software makers, for instance, you might be quick to dismiss them. The financial software group ranked No. 108 in Thursday’s list, down from No. 45 six weeks ago. Design software came in at No. 133 vs. No. 111 six weeks back, with enterprise software just behind at No. 134 vs. No. 112. One group improved: specialty enterprise software, at No. 120, up from No. 143. But drilling down to look deeper at which stocks make this week’s Tech Leaders, you might uncover a few gems that are near buy points. Citrix Systems ( CTXS ) is back in buy range from an 80 handle buy point initially cleared in April. More importantly, shares are finding support at the 10-week moving average, providing a secondary buy area. The stock spiked as much as 12% on April 22 before settling for a 4% gain, after the business software maker reported Q1 earnings that beat views and raised its full-year outlook. Florida-based Citrix belongs to the specialty enterprise software group. Paycom Software ( PAYC ) provides a cloud-based employment management platform with a software-as-a-service business model. Shares, near the top of a buy zone from a 38.28 cup-with-handle entry, have been rising past resistance around the 40 level, a positive sign. The base was a much steeper than normal 51%, which increases risk. But the stock’s relative strength line is near highs. Paycom hails from the enterprise software group, as does Ultimate Software ( ULTI ). Ultimate, which designs payroll and workforce management software, has posted quarterly double-digit profit and sales gains for at least the past four years. Analysts expect that streak to continue the next two quarters. The stock is shaping a handle with a 209.81 entry. Cadence Design Software ( CDNS ) is holding just above a 23.40 buy point first cleared in late March. It’s finding support at its 50-day line. The stock has the top Composite Rating, 95, in the design software group.

F5 Networks A Buyer, Not Seller? Security Acquisition May Be Plan

F5 Networks ( FFIV ) could be a buyer, not a seller, and might use its sizable cash-on-hand to acquire a data center security  provider, says Pacific Crest Securities. Some analysts have speculated F5 Networks itself could be sold, amid its  slowing revenue growth . F5 Network stock has clawed back 7% in 2016 after falling 25% in 2015. But F5 Networks stock was down 1.5%, near 106, in early trading in the stock market today . Brent Bracelin, an analyst at Pacific Crest,  downgraded F5 Networks stock on Tuesday to sector weight. “Going forward, we see an increasing probability that M&A will have a greater role in defining (F5 Network’s) ‘third act,’ particularly given that F5 has excess cash reserves of $1 billion and robust operating cash flows that exceed $600 million annually,” he wrote in a research report. Seattle-based F5 is the leading maker of application delivery controllers (ADCs) — electronic boxes that direct data traffic to computer servers. ADCs optimize server workloads in corporate and telecom data centers, helping speed up websites and communication networks. F5 Networks has made some small security-related acquisitions , including Defense.Net, a provider of cloud-based security services that help protect websites from large-scale distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, as well as Israel-based Versafe, a maker of software that protects Web applications from malware, fraud and phishing attacks. F5 Network’s closest rival in application-based data center security is Imperva ( IMPV ), analysts say. The so-called perimeter firewall market — the main type of firewall — is a crowded field, with  Check Point Software Technologies ( CHKP ),  Cisco Systems ( CSCO ) and Palo Alto Networks ( PANW ) among the vendors. Another concern is that F5’s revenue growth might not rebound in 2016, Bracelin said. “The Shasta appliance refresh cycle will not drive a return to double-digit product growth, at least not for any quarter this year, and that there is increasing execution risk with a higher probability of M&A within cloud security,” he added. F5 competes with  Citrix Systems ( CTXS ), as well as  Radware ( RDWR ) and  A10 Networks ( ATEN ).

Citrix Hits 16-Year High On Strong Q1 Pace; Price Targets Hiked

After Citrix Systems ( CTXS ) beat Wall Street’s Q1 forecast — and raised its full-year outlook — investors sent Citrix stock flying as much 12% higher Thursday to 90, a 16-year high. RBC Capital and Needham analysts hiked their price targets, though neither upgraded their ratings. Citrix stock eased but was still up nearly 5%, near 84, in early afternoon trading in the stock market today . After Wednesday’s close, the enterprise software developer, specializing in desktop virtualization, said Q1 adjusted earnings rose 81% to $1.18 per share, where analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected 92 cents. Revenue rose  8.5% to $826 million, well beyond analysts’ $789 million consensus. With its 93 IBD Composite Rating, Citrix is the highest-ranked issue in IBD’s Computer Software-Specialty Enterprise industry group. Shares of the largest company in the group by market value, VMware ( VMW ), were down a fraction. Thursday morning, Citrix and CA ( CA ) traded places, with Citrix now No. 2, with a $12.9 billion market cap, vs. CA’s $12.8 billion. CA stock was up more than 1% Thursday afternoon. Analysts Thursday were impressed with gains so early in Citrix’ reorganization process that included laying off 1,000 employees and contractors in December and January. But they’re waiting for Citrix to fully execute, most significantly waiting for Citrix to spin off its GoToMeeting line into a freestanding, publicly traded company before year-end. “The ongoing restructuring at CTXS … (including) headcount reductions and product card rationalization, many expected these disruptions to impact top-line growth,” said Needham analyst Scott Zeller in a Thursday research note. He hiked his price target on Citrix stock to 96 from 90. RBC analyst Matthew Hedberg raised his price target from 80 to 90. He said that Q1 license revenue grew the most in 11 quarters, and total revenue growth was the best in eight. “Another solid quarter, as outperformance has been marked over the last three quarters thanks to the operational initiatives introduced last year and the focus on the core strategy of the secure delivery of apps and data,” he said in a Thursday research note. Citrix said it may file a Form 10 registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission for the GoTo spinoff before the end of Q2.