The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights:Twitter, Advanced Micro Devices, Apple, Hewlett-Packard and Facebook

CHICAGO, April 9, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include the Twitter (NYSE:TWTR-Free Report), Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE:AMD-Free Report), Apple (Nasdaq:AAPL-Free Report), Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ-Free Report) and Facebook (Nasdaq:FB-Free Report).

Today, Zacks is promoting its ''Buy'' stock recommendations. Get #1Stock of the Day pick for free.

Here are highlights from Tuesday's Analyst Blog:

3 Tech Stocks to Outperform in Q2

"All intelligent investing is value investing -- acquiring more than you are paying for. You must value the business in order to value the stock." - Charlie Munger

This famous quote from the investment partner of Warren Buffett is appropriate post the recent sell-off of Internet based technology momentum stocks. With the onset of the second quarter of 2014, investors have dumped favorites like Twitter (NYSE:TWTR-Free Report) and others on increasing fundamental concerns.

The share price movement of momentum stocks often lacks justification and defies common sense. Their rise can be as meteoric as their fall from grace. The fundamentals of these stocks do not always support their lofty valuations. Nevertheless, short-term investors found them attractive for their high flying ability.

However, the recent sell-off that started from late March has put the focus back on value investing. Investors are suddenly taking a long position on value stocks in the market. Share price of stocks with established business fundamentals are expected to surge in the second quarter due to this renewed demand.

We also believe that momentum stocks that cater to growing sectors such as mobile, social networking and Big Data analytics will remain strong as fundamentals continue to improve.

Moreover, upcoming first quarter earnings results will be a key growth factor. Here are 3 stocks that can outperform the broader market in the second quarter of 2014:

Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE:AMD-Free Report) – This Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) has delivered positive earnings surprises in the last four quarters with an average beat of 49.51%.

AMD's strategy of shifting focus from traditional growth areas (PCs) to high growth areas (semi-custom chips, professional graphics, dense servers, embedded and ultra low-power client) will drive growth in our view. The company's strong product portfolio, strength in graphics and continuing game console wins are major positives.

The upcoming launches of Jaguar (AMD's first 28 nm processor) for desktop PCs and Beema and Mullins for mobile are key growth catalysts for the second quarter. Strong sales of Apple's (Nasdaq:AAPL-Free Report) Mac Pro as well as higher Xbox One and PlayStation 4 sales will drive growth in the quarter.

Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ-Free Report) – This Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) has delivered positive earnings surprises in three of the last four quarters with an average beat of 3.29%.

Improving personal computing market trends and growing penetration in enterprise cloud services are expected to drive H-P's results. Additionally, H-P's restructuring plan is expected to yield approximately $1.1 billion in cost savings this year.

H-P intends to reinvest the majority of these savings into the business to foster innovation, particularly in cloud, Big Data analytics, and information management and security segments. Moreover, ample liquidity enabled H-P to increase its dividend payout by 10.2% in March this year.

H-P's plan to enter the 3D-printer market will be a key growth catalyst in our view. Per Gartner, worldwide shipments of 3D printers will jump 75% to 98,065 units in 2014, followed by a near doubling of unit shipments in 2015.

Facebook (Nasdaq:FB-Free Report) – This Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) has delivered positive earnings surprises in three of the last four quarters with an average beat of 20.74%.

Facebook's growing mobile user base, Instagram's increasing popularity (200 million users), new initiatives such as Internet.org and the WhatsApp acquisition are the major growth drivers in the near term.

Per eMarketer, Facebook is expected to significantly benefit from growing mobile ad spending globally, which is expected to increase 75.1% year over year to $31.45 billion in 2014. Facebook's ad market share is expected to increase from 17.5% in 2013 to 21.7% in 2014.

Conclusion

As the momentum stock rally fizzles out, we believe that investors in search of undervalued stocks with improving fundamentals will increase in the remainder of 2014.

Today, Zacks is promoting its ''Buy'' stock recommendations. Get #1Stock of the Day pick for free.

About Zacks Equity Research

Zacks Equity Research provides the best of quantitative and qualitative analysis to help investors know what stocks to buy and which to sell for the long-term.

Continuous coverage is provided for a universe of 1,150 publicly traded stocks. Our analysts are organized by industry which gives them keen insights to developments that affect company profits and stock performance. Recommendations and target prices are six-month time horizons.

Zacks "Profit from the Pros" e-mail newsletter provides highlights of the latest analysis from Zacks Equity Research. Subscribe to this free newsletter today.

About Zacks

Zacks.com is a property of Zacks Investment Research, Inc., which was formed in 1978. The later formation of the Zacks Rank, a proprietary stock picking system; continues to outperform the market by nearly a 3 to 1 margin. The best way to unlock the profitable stock recommendations and market insights of Zacks Investment Research is through our free daily email newsletter; Profit from the Pros.  In short, it's your steady flow of Profitable ideas GUARANTEED to be worth your time! Register for your free subscription to Profit from the Pros.

Get the full Report on TWTR - FREE

Get the full Report on AMD - FREE

Get the full Report on AAPL - FREE

Get the full Report on HPQ - FREE

Get the full Report on FB - FREE

Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/zacksresearch

Join us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Zacks-Investment-Research/57553657748?ref=ts

Zacks Investment Research is under common control with affiliated entities (including a broker-dealer and an investment adviser), which may engage in transactions involving the foregoing securities for the clients of such affiliates.

Media Contact
Zacks Investment Research
800-767-3771 ext. 9339
support@zacks.com
http://www.zacks.com

Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit http://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20101027/ZIRLOGO

SOURCE Zacks Investment Research, Inc.