8 Software Stocks to Download

by Portfolio Grader | May 4, 2012 7:00 am

Software companies can be great high-margin businesses, seeing as they don’t have to worry about capital-intensive production costs like manufacturing facilities or a large workforce. And if you have a software product that is dominant and in high demand, it’s easy to get a very nice price for that code – and a boatload of profits for the software stock behind the programming.

I watch more than 5,000 publicly traded companies with my Portfolio Grader[1] tool, ranking companies by a number of fundamental and quantitative measures. And this week, I’ve found eight software stocks for you to buy.

Here they are, in alphabetical order. Each one of these stocks gets an “A” or “B” according to my research, meaning it is a “strong buy” or “buy.”

Activision (NASDAQ:ATVI[2]) is a worldwide publisher of video games. In the last 12 months, ATVI stock has posted a gain of 12%. Activision Blizzard stock gets an “A” grade for operating margin growth, a “B” grade for earnings momentum, a “B” grade for its ability to exceed the consensus earnings estimates on Wall Street and an “A” grade for cash flow. For more information, view my complete analysis of ATVI stock[3].

CA (NASDAQ:CA[4]) is an independent enterprise IT management software and solutions company. Since Jan. 1, CA stock is up an impressive 33%. CA stock gets a “B” grade for operating margin growth, a “B” grade for earnings growth, a “B” grade for its ability to exceed the consensus earnings estimates on Wall Street, an “A” grade for cash flow and a “B” grade for return on equity. For more information, view my complete analysis of CA stock[5].

Check Point Software (NASDAQ:CHKP[6]) is involved with the technologies used in to facilitate communications and transactions over the Internet. Year-to-date, Check Point stock is up 11%. CHKP stock gets a “B” grade for earnings growth, a “B” grade for earnings momentum, a “B” grade for the magnitude in which earnings projections have increased over the past months, a “B” grade for cash flow and a “B” grade for return on equity. For more information, view my complete analysis of CHKP stock[7].

Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU[8]) provides its customers with business and financial management solutions. Since Jan. 1, INTU stock has climbed 12%. Intuit stock gets a “B” grade for sales growth, a “B” grade for operating margin growth, an “A” grade for earnings growth, a “B” grade for its ability to exceed the consensus earnings estimates on Wall Street, a “B” grade for cash flow and an “A” grade for return on equity. For more information, view my complete analysis of INTU stock[9].

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT[10]) is one of the most famous software developers in the world and has posted a 23% gain, year-to-date. Microsoft stock gets a “B” grade for the magnitude in which earnings projections have increased over the past months, a “B” grade for cash flow and an “A” grade for return on equity. For more information, view my complete analysis of MSFT stock.[11]

Red Hat (NYSE:RHT[12]) provides its customers with open source software solutions. In the last four months, RHT stock has jumped 50%. Red Hat stock gets a “B” grade for sales growth, a “B” grade for operating margin growth, a “B” grade for its ability to exceed the consensus earnings estimates on Wall Street and a “B” grade for the magnitude in which earnings projections have increased over the past months. For more information, view my complete analysis of RHT stock[13].

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM[14]) provides enterprise cloud computing applications and has posted a year-to-date return of 57%. Salesforce stock gets an “A” grade for sales growth. For more information, view my complete analysis of CRM stock[15].

VMware (NYSE:VMW[16]) is involved with virtualization and virtualization-based cloud infrastructure solutions. Year-to-date, VMware stock has jumped 38%. VMW stock gets a “B” grade for sales growth, an “A” grade for operating margin growth, an “A” grade for earnings growth, a “B” grade for its ability to exceed the consensus earnings estimates on Wall Street, a “B” grade for the magnitude in which earnings projections have increased over the past months and a “B” grade for return on equity. For more information, view my complete analysis of VMW stock[17].

Get more analysis of these picks and other publicly-traded stocks with Louis Navellier’s Portfolio Grader[18] tool, a 100% free stock-rating tool that measures both quantitative buying pressure and eight fundamental factors.

 

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