VARBusiness 500 Top Ten Best-Performing Stocks of Q1

NAME: ChoicePoint

LOCATION: Alpharetta, Ga.

2007 VARBUSINESS 500 RANK: 56

CEO: Derek Smith

TICKER: CPS

STOCK PRICE JAN. 2, 2008:$34.91

STOCK PRICE MARCH 31, 2008: $ 47.60

PCT. CHANGE: 36%

SPECIALTY: A provider of insurance information and ID verification services.

FINANCIALS: The company has agreed to be acquired by Anglo-Dutch British information provider Reed Elsevier, owner of Lexis Nexis, for $3.5 billion in cash, or $50 a share.

NAME: Critical Path

LOCATION: San Francisco, Calif.

2007 VARBUSINESS 500 RANK: 366

CEO: William McGlashan

TICKER: CPATH

STOCK PRICE JAN. 2, 2008: $0.10

STOCK PRICE MARCH 31, 2008: $0.08

PCT. CHANGE: 25%

SPECIALTY: Messaging software

FINANCIALS: Throughout the past 52 weeks, Critical Path's stock price has dipped 23 percent. The company has completed the sale of certain assets of its SuperNews Usenet access business, including its software, commercial customer base, trade names, to Giganews, Inc., provider of Usenet newsgroup services.

NAME: Perceptron

LOCATION: Plymouth, Mich.

2007 VARBUSINESS 500 RANK: 325

CEO: Harry Rittenour

TICKER: PRCP

STOCK PRICE JAN. 2, 2008: $10.5

STOCK PRICE MARCH 31, 2008: $12.78

PCT. CHANGE: 22%

SPECIALTY: Provides 3-D technology solutions

FINANCIALS: The company's sales increased in its most recent quarter by approximately $6.9 million, or 56 percent, compared to the same quarter one year ago. That increase was primarily due to higher sales in its technology products area, and driven primarily by the company's first commercial product. The Company expects to show quarter over quarter revenue growth throughout fiscal 2008 and continues to expect that sales and operating income will show growth for the full year of fiscal 2008 compared to fiscal 2007. Second quarter '08 net sales were up from the previous year, totaling $19.1 million, with operating income at $2.0 million. However, the company did incur a net loss of $188,000 or $0.02 per diluted share, reflecting a $2.6 million non-operating impairment charge related to an auction rate security investment the company holds that has become illiquid as a result of continued uncertainties in the credit markets.

NAME: PC Mall

LOCATION: Torrance, Calif.

2007 VARBUSINESS 500 RANK: 57

CEO: Mark Palomba

TICKER: MALL

STOCK PRICE JAN. 2, 2008: $ 8.9

STOCK PRICE MARCH 31, 2008: $ 10.63

PCT. CHANGE: 19.4%

SPECIALTY: A value-added direct marketer of technology products, services, and solutions to businesses, government and educational institutions, and individual consumers.

FINANCIALS: PC Mall reported revenue of 1.2 billion for the year ended Dec. 31, 2007, an increase from the same period a year ago of 21 percent. Revenue for the fourth quarter also rose to $408 million to $288 million from the same period a year earlier. Gross profit for the quarter was a record $47.9 million, up 41 percent year-over-year. Although PC Mall earns just 1 percent profit margins on its sales, it makes up for that in volume.

NAME: Affiliated Computer Services (ACS)

LOCATION: Dallas, Tex.

2007 VARBUSINESS 500 RANK: 18

CEO: Lynn Blodgett

TICKER: ACS

STOCK PRICE JAN. 2, 2008: $43.61

STOCK PRICE MARCH 31, 2008: $50.57

PCT. CHANGE: 16.0%

SPECIALTY: Business process outsourcing

FINANCIALS: The company has in recent years been beset by investigations into stock options backdating, which led to the resignations of its CEO and CFO; a bid for the company by Cerberus Capital Management that was withdrawn last fall, and a host of resignations from its board. With all that distraction, the stock has seen good growth this quarter, and ACS plans to release its latest quarterly earnings next month. In addition, the company announced April 17 that it had agreed to buy rocket maker Orbital Sciences Corp.'s transportation management systems business for $42.5 million.

NAME: E-Plus

LOCATION: Herndon, Va.

2007 VARBUSINESS 500 RANK: 85

CEO: Thorsten Dirks

TICKER: PLUS.PK

STOCK PRICE JAN. 2, 2008: $9.25

STOCK PRICE MARCH 31, 2008: $10.70

PCT. CHANGE: 15.7%

SPECIALTY: IT solution provider that provides professional services, flexible lease financing, proprietary software

FINANCIALS: Revenue for E-Plus' most recent quarter increased 13.2 percent to $225.0 million, compared with revenue of $198.7 million during prior year's quarter. Net earnings for that quarter increased 396.3 percent to $4.9 million from $978,000 thousand in the year prior period. The increase in total revenue was mainly the result of a 20.3 percent increase in sales of product and services to $701.2 million, compared with $583.1 million in the prior fiscal year. An important part of those sales are of Hewlett Packard and Cisco products, which represented roughly 24 percent and 32 percent of sales.

NAME: Perot Systems

LOCATION: Plano, Texas

2007 VARBUSINESS 500 RANK: 36

CEO: Peter Altabef

TICKER: PER

STOCK PRICE JAN. 2, 2008: $13.19

STOCK PRICE MARCH 31, 2008: $15.22

PCT. CHANGE: 15.4%

SPECIALTY: Provides information technology and business process outsourcing services.

FINANCIALS: Healthcare is where Perot Systems makes approximately half of its $2.6 billion in revenue. Perot has been on an acquisition tear, buying companies in India and the United States. The company reported a 38 percent jump in its latest quarterly profit, due to off-shore projects, and new sales and cost cuts, causing shares to surge as much as 18 percent.

NAME: DRS Technologies

LOCATION: Parsippany, N.J.

2007 VARBUSINESS 500 RANK: 107

CEO: Mark Newman

TICKER: DRS

STOCK PRICE JAN. 2, 2008: $53.28

STOCK PRICE MARCH 31, 2008: $58.85

PCT. CHANGE: 10.5%

SPECIALTY: Provides engineering and technology services to the U.S. military.

FINANCIALS: Following a better-than-expected 21 percent rise in quarterly profit in its most recent earnings statement, DRS raised its forecast for fiscal 2008 earnings, for the second consecutive quarter. It now expects to earn $3.24 per share to $3.31 per share on revenue of $3.175 billion to $3.225 billion. Net profit for the company's third quarter was $42.6 million, compared with $35.1 million in the year-ago period.

NAME: Retalix

2007 VARBUSINESS 500 RANK: 200

CEO: Barry Shaked

TICKER: RTLX

STOCK PRICE JAN. 2, 2008: $13.29

STOCK PRICE MARCH 31, 2008: $14.48

PCT. CHANGE: 9%

SPECIALTY: Provides integrated enterprisewide software solutions for the food and consumer goods retail and distribution industries.

FINANCIALS: In its most recent quarter, the company CEO noted that Retalix' had record revenue, but did not meet bottomline goals. The company has struck a number of new deals globally with supermarket chains, but in 2008 will focus on improving performance and profitability. The fourth quarter fell short of expectations primarily due to a three-license deal, which did not close as expected The company has very little debt and expects total revenue for the full year 2008 to exceed $232 million, and a gross margin of approximately 51 percent.

NAME: Tyler Technologies

LOCATION: Dallas, Texas

2007 VARBUSINESS 500 RANK: 159

CEO: John S. Marr Jr.

TICKER: OTEX

STOCK PRICE JAN. 2, 2008: $13.02

STOCK PRICE MARCH 31, 2008: $14.07

PCT. CHANGE: 8

SPECIALTY: Provides integrated information management solutions and services for local governments.

FINANCIALS: The company reported a 30 percent increase in its first-quarter earning, to $3.1 million, or 8 cents a share, compared with $2.4 million, or 6 cents per share, for the same period last year. Revenue was up 18 percent to $59.4 million. Projections for the year include revenue in the range of $259 million to $265 million; this was Tyler's 28th consecutive quarter of growth.