Alaska's oil industry has been suffering a long, slow decline. Once the premier state for oil�production�in the U.S., it has now fallen to fourth place, and there doesn't appear to be any change in that trend anytime soon. Alaskan legislators think otherwise, though. They are looking to finalize a bill that would ease taxes on the oil industry by $750 million a year. They hope that by lowering the tax burden on oil producers in the region, it will spur more investment.
While this will certainly help oil production in Alaska, there are�several�other factors that are holding back the oil industry there. From high-risk exploration to cheaper options in the Lower 48, it will require a lot for Alaskan oil to be�competitive�again. In this video, Fool.con contributor Tyler Crowe looks at some of the factors keeping�Alaska�back and at the plans for some of the major players in the state.�
Top Cheap Companies For 2014: SMTC Corporation(SMTX)
SMTC Corporation provides advanced electronics manufacturing services to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) worldwide. The company?s services include product design and engineering services, printed circuit board assembly production, enclosure fabrication, systems integration, testing, and configuration services. It also provides enclosure and precision metal fabrication, cable assembly, interconnect, and engineering design services. The company offers its integrated contract manufacturing services to OEMs and technology companies primarily in the industrial, computing and networking, communications, consumer, and medical market segments. SMTC Corporation was founded in 1985 and is based in Markham, Canada.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Paul]
SMTC Corp. (NASDAQ: SMTX) is a Canadian company that provides contract electronics manufacturing services, such as surface-mount and through-hole circuit board assembly, product design, testing, packaging and supply chain management. Manufacturers use products built or assembled by SMTC in their computer servers, networking devices or communications products.
In its most recent earnings report, the company said Q3 sales rose 48% in the quarter to $65.4 million, and earnings per share were 16 cents, up from 3 cents in the same quarter of 2009. Eight of its top 10 customers increased orders as a result of strong market demand for electronics manufacturing. The addition of five new clients added $10 million to the company’s sales in the quarter. SMTX’s year-over-year gross profit more than doubled to $7.9 million, as a result. Generated cash flow reached $4.6 million and the company used much of this extra cash to pay down debt. That’s why SMTX’s debt was just $18 million at the end of the quarter, the lowest level in the company’s history.
SMTX is in an excellent position to profit from increasing electronics and technology demand, which will continue to climb next year. Buy SMTX below $4.
Top Cheap Companies For 2014: Hewlett-Packard Company(HPQ)
Hewlett-Packard Company and its subsidiaries provide products, technologies, software, solutions, and services to individual consumers and small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), as well as to the government, health, and education sectors worldwide. Its Personal Systems Group segment offers commercial personal computers (PCs), consumer PCs, workstations, calculators and other related accessories, and software and services for the commercial and consumer markets. The company?s Services segment provides consulting, outsourcing, and technology services to infrastructure, applications, and business process domains. Its Imaging and Printing Group segment provides consumer and commercial printer hardware, supplies, media, and scanning devices, such as inkjet and Web solutions, laser jet and enterprise solutions, managed enterprise solutions, graphics solutions, and printer supplies. The company?s Enterprise Servers, Storage, and Networking segment offers industry standard s ervers, business critical systems, storage platforms, and networking products, including switches, routers, wireless LAN, and TippingPoint network security products. Its HP Software segment provides enterprise IT management software, information management solutions, and security intelligence/risk management solutions. The company?s HP Financial Services segment offers leasing, financing, utility programs, and asset recovery services; and financial asset management services for enterprise customers, as well as specialized financial services to SMBs, and educational and governmental entities. Hewlett-Packard Company also provides business intelligence solutions that enable businesses to standardize on consistent data management schemes, connect and share data across the enterprise, and apply analytics, as well as licenses its specific technology to third parties. The company was founded in 1939 and is headquartered in Palo Alto, California.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Smart Money]
Forward P/E: 9.2.
Five-year average forward P/E: 13.8.
Discount to five-year average: 33%.
As the world's biggest maker of personal computers and printers, Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) has two knocks against it -- neither of its major markets is particularly attractive these days, says Kim Caughey, senior analyst at Fort Pitt Capital Group in Pittsburgh.
"In the PC market, HP is fighting deflation," Caughey says. "Next year's hardware is always going to be faster, better, cheaper."
The Palo Alto, Calif., company's printer and printing business is suffering as companies downsize, she says; fewer workers translates into less printing.
Even worse is what could happen to HP's margins as demand grows for tiny, cheap netbook computers. "I'm looking into people's pockets and I believe they will be sending their kids back to school with netbooks," says Caughey. "The (profit) margin on netbooks is terrible."
That's part of the bigger problem with a company as consumer-focused as HP. If folks don't have the money, they can't spend it. For that reason, Caughey thinks Hewlett-Packard's shares, while valued at a low multiple, are unattractive.
Top 5 High Tech Companies To Watch In Right Now: LifePoint Hospitals Inc.(LPNT)
LifePoint Hospitals Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates general acute care hospitals in non-urban communities in the United States. The company?s hospitals provide a range of medical and surgical services comprising general surgery, internal medicine, obstetrics, emergency room care, radiology, oncology, diagnostic care, coronary care, rehabilitation services, and pediatric services, as well as specialized services, such as open-heart surgery, skilled nursing, psychiatric care, and neuro-surgery. Its hospitals also offer outpatient services, including one-day surgery, laboratory, x-ray, respiratory therapy, imaging, sports medicine, and lithotripsy. As of December 31, 2009, LifePoint Hospitals owned or leased 47 hospitals with a total of 5,552 licensed beds in 17 states. The company was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in Brentwood, Tennessee. Lifepoint Hospitals Inc. (NasdaqNM:LPNT) operates independently of HCA Inc. as of May 11, 1999.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Vatalyst]
Life Point Hospitals (LPNT) operates general acute care hospitals in growing, non urban areas in the US. It looks to acquire hospitals where it will be the sole provider to the community.
On the earnings front, it had a good first quarter, beating analyst estimates. The common stock currently trades at a price to earnings ratio of 10.1, well below its 10 year historical average of 13.5. Its price to book ratio stands at 0.82 with price to cash flow being 5.1.
Top Cheap Companies For 2014: Lionbridge Technologies Inc.(LIOX)
Lionbridge Technologies, Inc. provides language, development, and testing services. Its Global Language and Content segment provides product localization services, such as creating foreign language versions of its clients? products and software applications, including the user interface, online help systems, and documentation; and content translation services, such as translating and maintaining clients? Web-based content, eLearning courseware and training materials, technical support, and sales and marketing information. It also offers technical authoring, eLearning courseware development, and production and integration of content; and global language and content services delivery. The company?s Global Development and Testing segment develops and maintains on-premise, SaaS, and smart phone and tablet applications, as well as provides Web production services. This segment also offers various testing services under the VeriTest brand, including managed test teams, test proc ess design, test automation, functional testing, performance testing, globalization testing, and product certification. In addition, it provides specialized search relevance, online content editorial, keyword optimization, and related services. Its Interpretation segment offers interpretation services for government business and healthcare organizations that require experienced linguists to facilitate communication. It provides interpretation communication services, such as onsite interpretation, over-the-phone interpretation and interpreter testing, training, and assessment services in approximately 360 languages and dialects. The company serves the technology, mobile and telecommunications, Internet and media, life sciences, government, manufacturing, automotive, retail, and aerospace sectors in the Americas, Europe, and Asia. Lionbridge Technologies, Inc. was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Vodicka]
Lionbridge Technologies (NASDAQ: LIOX) provides language, development and testing services to businesses all over the world. Its focus is on technology, and it helps its clients manage their enterprise content and technology applications, and supports those efforts with training materials, as well as sales and marketing information. By affecting optimal communication in local languages, it helps its clients capture market share, escalate adoption of their global content and products, increase the return on their enterprise application investments and boost workforce productivity. All while reducing costs! So it’s no wonder that the 10 largest software companies and the five largest Internet portals in the world use LIOX to help them internationalize their products and services.
This strong customer base helped the company weather the recession, as its top 10 customers expanded their business by more than 8% in the fourth quarter over the third quarter. This helped the company generate $11.7 million in cash flow, improve its gross profit to 33.5% and revenues grow 7% quarter over quarter. That’s definitely a great sign, especially since technology spending is taking flight, and globalization of industry is in a rapid phase of expansion. Buy LIOX under $4.50.
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