9 Tech Stocks That Can Sizzle in a Sluggish Economy

The struggling U.S. economy has been a boost for many technology stocks.
Corporations continue to try cutting costs and boost productivity through
high-tech means. Also, consumers and businesses have a baseline demand for
technology and communication products no matter what happens in the broader
economy. After all, can you imagine doing anything without email, cell phones or
the Internet? These nine companies continue to post stellar earnings growth
throughout hard times, and will be well-positioned to benefit from a substantive
recovery. Each blue-chip tech stock here is defined by customer loyalty and
their essential role in cost savings: Altera (NASDAQ: ALTR ) circuits are used
in anything from communications network gear to consumer electronics to
industrial equipment. This company has higher gross margins than competitors
like Xilinx (NASDAQ: XLNX ) (71.2% versus 65.1%) and higher operating margins
(45.5% versus 32.9%), so it is better positioned for market fluctuations. This
is a clear winner in a growing industry. Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL ) is the poster
child for customer loyalty. No matter what happens with the economy, each
upgrade to the iPad, iPhone, iPod or any other Apple product sends millions into
stores. Even with the passing of Steve Jobs, I don't see this trend ending
anytime in the near future. The iPhone 4S has been a huge hit with customers,
and the company surely has a 4G phone in the works that will create the next
wave of sales. ARM Holdings PLC (NASDAQ: ARMH ) is the chip company that's
behind just about every smartphone and tablet on the market. With soaring demand
for these products consumer and embedded digital device shipments spiked 50%
year-over-year to 900 million it's a no-brainer why you should want to own
this company. Baidu (NASDAQ: BIDU ) has kept its market domination in China
despite regulatory issues and fierce competition. BIDU boasts nearly 78% market
share in this very profitable and fast-growing Internet market. Also, the
company is translating market share into hefty profits. In just the third
quarter, profits rose 80% to $296 million dollars. That figure is expected to
surge 46% per year for the next five years! Checkpoint Software Technology
(NASDAQ: CHKP ) provides essential products for our online world. Checkpoint is
the worldwide leader in securing the Internet, with 100% of Fortune 100
companies and 98% of Fortune 500 companies using its technology. The company
currently has six patents (with an additional 25 pending in the cyber security
sector) and is emerging as the go-to company for businesses and consumers around
the world. DIRECTV Holdings (NASDAQ: DTV ) is the biggest satellite-TV provider
in the U.S., but the real growth is coming from Latin America. In the third
quarter, DTV added 574,000 new subscribers in that region. In addition, the
company enjoyed 11% higher average revenue per subscriber. This is exactly where
DirecTV is looking to grow in the year ahead. Subscribers across the world will
also benefit from DirecTV's plans to launch applications that allow consumers
to stream live TV programming and on-demand movies to their mobile devices.
Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM ) is at the heart of the next great technology
breakthrough the cloud. Cloud computing allows businesses to use applications
without actually installing them, which helps companies reduce operating costs,
especially those related to computing resources. If youve used Yahoo email, you
have used cloud computing technology. The company has been aggressively
expanding through acquiring startups and churning out new products, so
management expects to reach a $3 billion annual revenue rate during 2013.
However, these developments have hit Salesforce's earnings in the short run:
In the last quarter, earnings dipped 131% while sales climbed 46%. It is likely
that today's growing pains will reap tremendous returns in the long run.
Teradata (NYSE: TDC ) is your way to play increasing demand in electronic data
storage and customer analytics. And Teradata's data management solutions are
in hot demand because they are among the most cost-effective means for companies
to manage the data explosion. The company has been steadily increasing earnings
expectations, and I expect this will continue throughout 2012. VMware (NYSE: VMW
) is another cloud company. It has posted earnings growth and earnings surprises
in each of the last four quarters, and I don't see any major barriers to
VMWares success in the year ahead.