Penny stock investing can be a great way to diversify one’s portfolio during tough economic times. However, penny stock investing can be very risky if an investor doesn’t perform the proper amount of research. When looking for the right penny stock buy, it is important to focus on strong earnings and momentum behind shares.
That being said, here are six tech penny stocks that have fared very well in 2010 thus far.
inTest (INTT)
inTest (NASDAQ: INTT) is a designer, manufacturer and marketer of mechanical, thermal and electrical products used by semiconductor manufacturers. INTT works supplies products globally, and some of its high-profile clients include Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC) and Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN). Over the past 12 months, INTT stock has skyrocketed 440%, compared to gains of 10% and 13% for the Dow Jones and NASDAQ. The penny stock also posted a quarterly revenue growth of 227% year-over-year in its last income statement. INTT’s biggest jump came last April, when the stock climbed 107% in one month.
ChipMOS Technologies (IMOS)
ChipMOS Technologies (NASDAQ: IMOS) is a holding company that provides a range of back-end testing services for its clients. Some of these services include wafer probing, engineering testing, final testing of memory and logic/mixed-signal semiconductors. Year-to-date, IMOS has gained 100%, vastly outperforming the broader markets. With a stock price of $1.43, this penny stock is certainly affordable, and is trading well above its 52-week low of 60 cents a share. Last week, IMOS reported revenue of $48.3 million for the quarter, an increase of 31.2% from September 2009.
Tower Semiconductor (TSEM)
Based in Israel, Tower Semiconductor
(NASDAQ: TSEM) is an independent specialty foundry that manufactures semiconductors. Since January, Tower’s stock has jumped 48.5%. Analysts are hopeful for this penny stock and have raised earnings estimates one cent to 16 cents a share this quarter after an actual EPS of 15 cents a share last quarter. Finally, company officials have been pleased by Tower’s quarterly revenue growth of 108% year-over-year.
Camtek (CAMT)
Camtek (NASDAQ: CAMT) designs, develops, manufactures, and markets automated optical inspection systems and related products. Over 12 months, Camtek stock has gained 67.7%, compared to smaller gains by the broader markets. Experts are starting to predict growth for this penny stock as well, as earnings estimates were raised by a cent this quarter. A quarterly revenue growth of 66.3% year-over-year is another sign pointing to Camtek as a penny stock to buy.
Microtune (TUNE)
Microtune (NASDAQ: TUNE) designs and markets receiver solutions for cable and automotive entertainment electronics and digital television markets. Since last October, TUNE stock is up 55.1%. The penny stock saw a big gain in September, and TUNE has gained 27.2% since Sept. 1. With a stock price of $2.90, Microtune is just 15 cents removed from its 52-week high. Finally, TUNE has outperformed earnings estimates the two previous quarters.
FSI International (FSII)
FSI International . (NASDAQ:FSII) designs, manufactures, markets and supports equipment used in the production of microelectronics. In the past calendar year, FSII has jumped 96.2%, compared to smaller gains by the broader markets. In its last income statement, the penny stock reported a net profit margin of 20.5%, which certainly has company officials pleased. FSII has outperformed earnings estimates three of the last four quarters, another reason why this penny stock should be on your buy list.
As of this writing, Louis Navellier did not own a position in any of the stocks named here.
