Posted on Saturday, September 22nd, 2018 by MarketBeat StaffThere are more than 1,100 technology companies traded on public markets in the United States. Given the sheer number of hardware makers, social networks, software companies, service providers and other tech stocks, it can be hard to identify which tech companies are going to outperform the market.
Fortunately, Wall Street's brightest minds have already done this for us. Every year, analyst issue approximately 15,000 distinct recommendations for technology companies. Analysts don't always get their "buy" ratings right, but it's worth taking a hard look when several analysts from different brokerages and research firm are giving "strong buy" and "buy" ratings to the same tech stock.
This slide show lists the 15 technology companies that have the highest average analyst recommendations from Wall Street's equities research analysts over the last 12 months.
#1 - OptimizeRx (OTCMKTS:OPRX)
Consensus Rating: Buy
Rating Score: 3.0
Ratings Breakdown: 3 Buy Ratings, 0 Hold Ratings, 0 Sell Ratings.
Consensus Price Target: $17.50 (5.6% Upside)
OptimizeRx Corporation provides digital health messaging to the pharmaceutical industry. The company offers a direct channel for pharmaceutical companies to communicate with healthcare providers. Its products and applications include financial messaging, a virtual patient support center that allows doctors and staff to access sample vouchers, co-pay coupons, and other patient support through their EMR and/or e-Prescribe systems to search, print, or electronically dispense directly to patients, as well as a network of pharmacies; and brand messaging services, such as various brand awareness and clinical messaging services consisting of brand awareness messages, reminder ads, clinical messages, and unbranded messages that could be targeted by specialty, diagnostic code, and other criteria. The company's products and applications also comprise brand support services, which focuses on educating and working with pharmaceutical manufacturers on identifying, formulating, and implementing new eRx media strategies, including drug file integration, sales force training, and strategy development services for promoting their products. OptimizeRx Corporation is based in Rochester, Michigan.
#2 - Akoustis Technologies (NASDAQ:AKTS)
Consensus Rating: Buy
Rating Score: 3.0
Ratings Breakdown: 5 Buy Ratings, 0 Hold Ratings, 0 Sell Ratings.
Consensus Price Target: $12.50 (50.6% Upside)
Akoustis Technologies, Inc., through its subsidiary, Akoustis, Inc., develops, designs, manufactures, and sells radio frequency (RF) filter products for the mobile wireless device industries in the United States. The company operates through two segments, Foundry Fabrication Services and RF Filters. The Foundry Fabrication Services segment provides engineering review services; and smart systems technology and commercialization center foundry, as well as manufacturing and microelectromechanical systems foundry services. The RF Filters segment consists of amplifier and filter products. It offers RF filters for mobile wireless devices, such as smartphones and tablets, cellular infrastructure equipment, and Wi-Fi premise equipment. Akoustis Technologies, Inc. is headquartered in Huntersville, North Carolina.
#3 - AMS (OTCMKTS:AUKUF)
Consensus Rating: Buy
Rating Score: 3.0
Ratings Breakdown: 4 Buy Ratings, 0 Hold Ratings, 0 Sell Ratings.
Consensus Price Target: N/A
ams AG designs, manufactures, and sells sensor and analog IC solutions worldwide. The company operates through Consumer, Non-Consumer, and Foundry segments. It provides audio front-ends for personal media players and other mobile consumer devices, as well as standalone amplifiers and telephone integrated circuits (ICs); environmental sensors for appliance, automotive, building technology, consumer, and industrial applications; and light sensors products, including a portfolio of digital ambient light, digital color, proximity detection, light-to-digital, light-to-voltage, and light-to-frequency sensors, as well as linear sensor arrays for intelligent light sensing. The company also offers single-chip solutions enabling Internet of Things connectivity and precise control of smart lights and replacement lamps; spectral sensing chip scale solutions for color identification, authentication, spectroscopy, and other industrial and consumer-level optical detection applications; CMOS image sensors for machine vision, medical, broadcast, traffic, scientific, and photography imaging markets; and magnetic position sensors for industrial, medical, robotics, consumer, and automotive, applications. In addition, it provides power management products for mobile phones, portable navigation devices, personal audio/video players, and personal healthcare devices; battery management solutions, including battery chargers and battery sensor interfaces; and flow sensors for flow metering applications. Further, the company provides time-to-digital converters for high-precision time interval measurement; wireless connectivity products; sensor interfaces; and analog and mixed signal application specific integrated circuit solutions for the automotive, industry, medical, and smart building. The company was formerly known as austriamicrosystems AG and changed its name to ams AG in May 2012. ams AG is headquartered in Premstaetten, Austria.
#4 - i3 Verticals (NASDAQ:IIIV)
Consensus Rating: Buy
Rating Score: 3.0
Ratings Breakdown: 3 Buy Ratings, 0 Hold Ratings, 0 Sell Ratings.
Consensus Price Target: $20.50 (-8.3% Upside)
i3 Verticals, Inc. provides integrated payment and software solutions to small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and organizations in education, non-profit, public sector, property management, and healthcare markets in the United States. The company offers payment processing services, including merchant onboarding, risk and underwriting, authorization, settlement, chargeback processing, and other merchant support. Its payment processing services enable clients to accept electronic payments, facilitating the exchange of funds and transaction data between clients, financial institutions, and payment networks. The company also licenses software; and provides ongoing support, and other POS-related solutions. It offers its solutions to its clients through direct sales force, as well as through a network of distribution partners, including independent software vendors, value-added resellers, independent sales organizations, and other referral partners, such as financial institutions. The company was founded in 2012 and is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee.
#5 - Novanta (NASDAQ:NOVT)
Consensus Rating: Buy
Rating Score: 2.5
Ratings Breakdown: 1 Buy Ratings, 1 Hold Ratings, 0 Sell Ratings.
Consensus Price Target: $54.00 (-23.5% Upside)
Novanta Inc., together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, markets, and sells photonics, vision, and precision motion components and sub-systems to original equipment manufacturers in the medical and industrial markets worldwide. The company's Photonics segment offers photonics-based solutions, including laser scanning and laser beam delivery, CO2 laser, continuous wave and ultrafast laser, and optical light engine products for photonics-based applications, such as industrial material processing, metrology, medical and life science imaging, DNA sequencing, and medical laser procedures. Its Vision segment provides a range of medical grade technologies, including medical insufflators, pumps, and related disposables; surgical displays and operating room integration technologies; optical data collection and machine vision technologies; radio frequency identification technologies; thermal printers; spectrometry technologies; and embedded touch screen solutions. The company's Precision Motion segment offers optical encoders, precision motor and motion control technology, air bearing spindles, and precision machined components. The company sells its products through its direct sales force, resellers, distributors, and system integrators under the Cambridge Technology, Lincoln Laser, ExoTec Precision, Synrad, Laser Quantum, WOM, Lemke, NDS, NDSsi, Reach Technology, JADAK, Skyetek, ThingMagic, Photo Research, General Scanning, Celera Motion, MicroE, Applimotion, and Westwind brands. Novanta Inc. was founded in 1968 and is headquartered in Bedford, Massachusetts.
#6 - Smart Global (NASDAQ:SGH)
Consensus Rating: Buy
Rating Score: 2.9
Ratings Breakdown: 6 Buy Ratings, 1 Hold Ratings, 0 Sell Ratings.
Consensus Price Target: $52.0714 (74.6% Upside)
SMART Global Holdings, Inc. designs, manufactures, and supplies specialty memory solutions worldwide. The company offers dynamic random access memory (DRAM) components, which are used to manufacture modules and other products; DRAM modules for desktop, notebook, and server applications, as well as for use in smartphones; and specialty DRAM modules for industrial, communications, and networking applications, as well as develops specialized memory module designs based on original equipment manufacturer (OEM) requirements. It also provides flash memory, USB, and serial advanced technology attachment products primarily for use in communications equipment, printers, servers and storage products, switches, and routers; and aerospace, automotive, and defense industries, as well as industrial applications. In addition, the company offers supply chain services, including procurement, logistics, inventory management, temporary warehousing, programming, kitting, and packaging. SMART Global Holdings, Inc. sells its products to OEMs through direct sales force and independent sales representatives in North America, Latin America, Asia, and Europe. The company was formerly known as Saleen Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to SMART Global Holdings, Inc. in August 2014. SMART Global Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1988 and is headquartered in Newark, California.
#7 - Harvard Bioscience (NASDAQ:HBIO)
Consensus Rating: Buy
Rating Score: 3.0
Ratings Breakdown: 2 Buy Ratings, 0 Hold Ratings, 0 Sell Ratings.
Consensus Price Target: $9.50 (82.7% Upside)
Harvard Bioscience, Inc. develops, manufactures, and markets scientific instruments, systems, and lab consumables used in life science basic research, drug discovery, and clinical and environmental testing. The company offers physiology, cell, and molecular instruments, such as traditional syringe pump and peristaltic pump products, as well as a range of instruments and accessories for tissue, organ, and animal based lab research under the Harvard Apparatus, CMA Microdialysis, Panlab, Coulbourn, and Hugo Sachs brands; and spectrophotometers, microplate readers, amino acid analyzers, gel electrophoresis equipment, and electroporation instruments that are marketed under the Biochrom, Libra, WPA, BioDrop, Hoefer, Scie-plas, and BTX brand names. It also designs, develops, and manufactures precision electrophysiology equipment specializing in patch clamp amplifiers, and manual and automated patch clamp systems under the HEKA brand; manufactures tools for electrophysiology and cell biology research consisting of cell chambers, perfusion controllers, temperature controllers, microincubation systems, and bio-sensing systems under the Warner Instruments brand; and designs and develops in vivo neural interface systems under the TBSI brand for neuroscience research, primarily in the fields of electrophysiology, psychology, neurology, and pharmacology. In addition, the company is involved in the development and manufacture of precision scientific measuring instrumentation and equipment under the Multi-Channel Systems brand; and physiologic monitoring focused on delivering preclinical products, systems, services, and solutions. Harvard Bioscience, Inc. markets its products in approximately 100 countries through sales organization, Websites, catalogs, and distributors to research scientists at universities, hospitals, government laboratories, and pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. The company was founded in 1901 and is headquartered in Holliston, Massachusetts.
#8 - Domo (NASDAQ:DOMO)
Consensus Rating: Buy
Rating Score: 2.9
Ratings Breakdown: 6 Buy Ratings, 1 Hold Ratings, 0 Sell Ratings.
Consensus Price Target: $27.00 (31.6% Upside)
Domo, Inc. operates a cloud-based platform in the United States. Its platform digitally connects chief executive officer to the frontline employee with the people, data, and systems in an organization, giving them access to real-time data and insights, and allowing them to manage business from smartphones. The company also offers a Programmatic Revenue Solution that brings complex data from ad servers and sell-side platforms into a set of cards and dashboards built on practices in the ad tech industry. The company was formerly known as Domo Technologies, Inc. and changed its name to Domo, Inc. in December 2011. Domo, Inc. was founded in 2010 and is headquartered in American Fork, Utah.
#9 - Okta (NASDAQ:OKTA)
Consensus Rating: Buy
Rating Score: 3.0
Ratings Breakdown: 14 Buy Ratings, 0 Hold Ratings, 0 Sell Ratings.
Consensus Price Target: $69.25 (1.1% Upside)
Okta, Inc. provides identity solutions for enterprises, small and medium-sized businesses, universities, non-profits, and government agencies in the United States and internationally. The company offers Okta Identity Cloud, a platform that offers a suite of products to manage and secure identities, such as Universal Directory, a cloud-based system of record to store and secure user, application, and device profiles for an organization; Single Sign-On that enables users to access their applications in the cloud or on-premise from various devices with a single entry of their user credentials; Adaptive Multi-Factor Authentication, a product that provides an additional layer of security for Web and mobile applications, and data of organization; Lifecycle Management, which enables IT organizations or developers to manage a user's identity throughout its lifecycle; API Access Management that enables organizations to secure APIs; and Mobility Management, which simplifies and automates mobile device administration and provisioning across phones, tablets, and laptops. It also offers customer support and training, and professional services. Okta, Inc. sells its products directly to customers through sales force, as well as through channel partners. The company was formerly known as Saasure, Inc. Okta, Inc. was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.
#10 - Smartsheet (NYSE:SMAR)
Consensus Rating: Buy
Rating Score: 3.0
Ratings Breakdown: 7 Buy Ratings, 0 Hold Ratings, 0 Sell Ratings.
Consensus Price Target: $36.3333 (14.8% Upside)
Smartsheet Inc. provides cloud-based platform for execution of work. It enables teams and organizations to plan, capture, manage, automate, and report on work. The company offers Smartdashboards that provides the status of work to align individuals, managers, and executives; Smartportals to easily locate and access from any device the resources available for a project without IT assistance; Smartcards to organize, share, and act on workflows; and Smartgrids to keep teams on task by easily tracking multiple moving parts. It also provides Smartprojects; Smartcalendars, which align teams and organizations by connecting deadlines to workflows; Smartforms enables business users to collect information in a structured and consistent format; Smartautomation that automates repetitive processes; and Smartintegrations enable organizations and teams to connect, sync, and extend enterprise applications. In addition, it offers Connectors; and Control Center that enables organizations to achieve consistent work execution. As of January 31, 2018, it served approximately 92,000 customers. The company was founded in 2005 and is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington.
#11 - 2U (NASDAQ:TWOU)
Consensus Rating: Buy
Rating Score: 2.8
Ratings Breakdown: 11 Buy Ratings, 2 Hold Ratings, 0 Sell Ratings.
Consensus Price Target: $91.0769 (19.3% Upside)
2U, Inc. operates as an education technology company in the United States, Hong Kong, South Africa, and the United Kingdom. The company operates through two segments, Graduate Program Segment and Short Course Segment. It offers front-end technology and services, including online learning platform, student and faculty and immersion support, accessibility, admissions application advising, in-program student field placements, and faculty recruiting. The company provides back-end technology and services comprising graduate program launch and operations applications, university systems integration applications, content management system, admission application processing portal, customer relationship management, content development, student acquisition, and state authorization services. The company was formerly known as 2Tor Inc. and changed its name to 2U, Inc. in October 2012. 2U, Inc. was founded in 2008 and is headquartered in Lanham, Maryland.
#12 - Monolithic Power Systems (NASDAQ:MPWR)
Consensus Rating: Buy
Rating Score: 3.1
Ratings Breakdown: 8 Buy Ratings, 0 Hold Ratings, 0 Sell Ratings.
Consensus Price Target: $152.75 (14.9% Upside)
Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. designs, develops, and markets integrated power semiconductor solutions and power delivery architectures for consumer, computing and storage, industrial, automotive, and communications markets. It offers direct current (DC) to DC integrated circuits (ICs) that are used to convert and control voltages of various electronic systems, such as portable electronic devices, wireless LAN access points, computers, monitors, automobiles, and medical equipment. The company also provides lighting control ICs for backlighting that are used in systems, which provide the light source for LCD panels in notebook computers, monitors, car navigation systems, and televisions, as well as for general illumination applications. In addition, it offers alternating current (AC)/DC offline solutions for lighting illumination applications; and AC/DC power conversion solutions for various end products that plug into a wall outlet. The company sells its products through third-party distributors and value-added resellers, as well as directly to original equipment manufacturers, original design manufacturers, and electronic manufacturing service providers in China, Taiwan, Europe, Korea, Southeast Asia, Japan, the United States, and internationally. Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in San Jose, California.
#13 - ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW)
Consensus Rating: Buy
Rating Score: 2.9
Ratings Breakdown: 25 Buy Ratings, 3 Hold Ratings, 0 Sell Ratings.
Consensus Price Target: $200.04 (5.5% Upside)
ServiceNow, Inc. provides enterprise cloud computing solutions that define, structure, manage, and automate services for enterprises worldwide. The company offers service management solutions for customer service, human resources, security operations, and other enterprise departments. It operates ServiceNow platform that provides workflow automation, electronic service catalogs and portals, configuration management systems, data benchmarking, performance analytics, encryption, and collaboration and development tools. The company also provides information technology (IT) solutions, such as IT service management product suite for enterprise's employees, customers, and partners; IT operations management that connects a customer's physical and cloud-based IT infrastructure with applications and platforms; and IT business management product suite that enables customers to manage their IT priorities. In addition, it offers customer service management product for customer service cases and requests; human resources service delivery product; and security operations product for security operations management requirements of third-party. Further, the company provides professional services, training services and certification programs, and customer support services. It serves enterprises in various industries, including financial services, consumer products, IT services, healthcare, government, education, and technology. The company sells products through its direct sales team, as well as indirectly through third-party channels by partnering with systems integrators, managed services providers, and resale partners. The company was formerly known as Service-now.com and changed its name to ServiceNow, Inc. in May 2012. ServiceNow, Inc. was founded in 2004 and is headquartered in Santa Clara, California.
#14 - Apptio (NASDAQ:APTI)
Consensus Rating: Buy
Rating Score: 2.8
Ratings Breakdown: 7 Buy Ratings, 2 Hold Ratings, 0 Sell Ratings.
Consensus Price Target: $35.8889 (-5.4% Upside)
Apptio, Inc. provides cloud-based technology business management (TBM) solutions to enterprises. Its cloud-based platform and SaaS applications enable IT leaders to analyze, optimize, and plan technology investments, as well as to benchmark financial and operational performance against peers. The company's TBM solutions consist of adaptive data management, which aggregates, cleanses, and correlates large amounts of customer data from various sources; and standard IT operating model and taxonomy that offers a standard model for how IT costs are captured, categorized, and allocated to IT and business services. Its solution also comprises visual modeling, which allows users to build and manage the financial and operational model of their IT organization; powerful calculation engine that allows the models to be applied across very large data sets accessible to users through the analytics capabilities included in its applications; intuitive, self-service analytics for IT and business users; and modular applications comprising cost transparency, IT benchmarking, business insights, bill of IT, and IT planning applications. The company operates in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands, Australia, Canada, France, Singapore, and Italy. Apptio, Inc. was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington.
#15 - LivePerson (NASDAQ:LPSN)
Consensus Rating: Buy
Rating Score: 2.9
Ratings Breakdown: 6 Buy Ratings, 1 Hold Ratings, 0 Sell Ratings.
Consensus Price Target: $25.50 (-0.8% Upside)
LivePerson, Inc. engages in the provision of mobile and online messaging solutions. It operates through Business and Consumer segments. The Business segment enables brands to leverage intelligence engine to connect with consumers through an integrated suite of mobile and online business messaging technologies. The Consumer segment involves in facilitating online transactions between independent service providers and individual consumers seeking information and knowledge for a fee via mobile and online messaging. The company was founded by Robert P. LoCascio on November 29, 1995 and is headquartered in New York, NY.
