A trio of technology values

"Whether it is a presidential inauguration or collegiate basketball tournament, every new web video event seems to bring higher traffic. Akamai is positioned to profit as television audiences migrate online.

"With 42,000 servers, the company owns possibly the biggest computing platform in the world. Akamai's newest service adapts streaming video quality to a customer's bandwidth, which allows high-bandwidth viewers to watch content in high definition.

"Recurring customers rose 8% last year. One high-profile client, Apple, recently extended a long-term contract under which Akamai provides all support for the popular iTunes music service.

"A broad client base provides some insulation from pricing pressures, but Akamai's low-end business could get undercut from rivals selling cheaper, less sophisticated products.

"Akamai has about $330 million in cash, roughly 1.7 times total debt. That liquidity, coupled with rising cash flow, means Akamai could add to a substantial stable of acquisitions made over the past few years.

"Consensus per-share estimates call for 1% growth this year and 6% growth in 2010. Akamai, which ranks among the top 3% of technology stocks based on our Quadrix screens, is a Best Buy.

"Synaptics holds the leading market share in touch interface solutions for personal computers, along with strong positions in solutions for mobile phones and portable music and video devices.

"Strong demand for gadgets with touch screens has countered a weak personal-computer market. Synaptics' revenue, up 43% in the December quarter, has been helped by exposure to netbook computers, one of the few areas to gain momentum in the recession.

"Synaptic's operating income has grown in each of the last eight quarters. Per-share earnings have exceeded expectations for 10 straight quarters, including a 35% surprise for the December quarter. For the March quarter, the consensus projects profits of $0.32 per share, up 39%.

"Management expects revenue to be up 12% to 24% during the March quarter. High Quadrix marks for Momentum (90), Quality (94), and Performance (98) contribute to an Overall score of 94. Synaptics is being upgraded to a Best Buy.

"Telecommunications Systems is benefiting from the texting craze. The company's products enable wireless carriers to deliver text messages and internet content via cell phones.

"The typical U.S. mobile subscriber sends or receives 357 text messages per month, versus placing or receiving 204 phone calls. Though the number of calls has remained relatively steady in recent years, the volume of text messages is up about 450% from 2006.

"A texting surge helped fuel a 40% increase in December-quarter revenue. During the quarter, TeleCommunication Systems delivered roughly 100 billion text messages - more than double the September-quarter total and five times the volume of the year-earlier period.

"Full-year 2009 earnings per share are expected to climb 3% on revenue growth of 13%. For 2010, consensus estimates project 14% growth in per-share profits on a sales gain of 9%.

"The stock, rated Best Buy, has rallied near a 52-week high but remains a top pick based on its reasonable valuation and strong operating momentum."

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