Cyclical techs prepare for their next surge

Article Excerpt

Like Cisco (see page 71), sales and earnings growth at these four technology giants have waned, as they turn into traditional cyclical growth stocks that are more sensitive to swings in the overall economy. However, they are still leaders in their fields. They are also using their strong balance sheets to adapt to the rapid growth in mobile technology, which is hurting demand for traditional desktop and laptop computers. These investments in new products and services should spur big gains in their earnings and stock prices, particularly as the world economy picks up steam. APPLE INC. $441 (Nasdaq symbol AAPL; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 940.1 million; Market cap: $414.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.4; Dividend yield: 2.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.apple.com) gets 69% of its sales from its hugely popular mobile devices: the iPhone smartphone and the iPad tablet computer. The remaining 31% comes from its Mac computers and iPod music players. In its 2013 third…