Q3 Channel Stocks: Steady As She Goes

Q3 Channel Stocks

Channel stocks kept pace with the overall stock market during the third quarter, but only a few companies significantly outperformed the Dow Jones (up 10.4 percent in the third quarter) and Nasdaq (up 12.3 percent) indices during the quarter. Here's a closer look at some channel results.

Synnex

June 30, 2010: $25.62
Sept. 30, 2010: $28.14
Percent Change: 9.8


Synnex saved its third-quarter best for last. The $28.14 closing price on Sept. 30 was the highest close of the quarter and was up almost 9 percent from the previous day, when the distributor reported Q2 profit had increased 38 percent, beating expectations.

Accenture

June 30, 2010: $38.65
Sept. 30, 2010: $42.49
Percent Change: 9.9


Accenture's $42.49 close on Sept. 30 was its strongest close for the third quarter. In late September, the services giant launched the Accenture Component Tax Solutions to help government organizations increase revenue by quickly implementing new technologies.

Ingram Micro

June 30, 2010: $15.19
Sept. 30, 2010: $16.86
Percent Change: 11.0


Ingram Micro shares closed as low as $14.87 on Aug. 30, but the company bounded back in September to post an 11 percent gain for the third quarter. During the quarter, Ingram Micro unveiled two new divisions to support midmarket solutions and VARs.

ScanSource

June 30, 2010: $24.93
Sept. 30, 2010: $27.74
Percent Change: 11.3


During the quarter, ScanSource added Avaya's new video collaboration solutions and POS and bar-coding equipment from Hewlett-Packard. The company also unveiled SUMO, a community tool to help VARs, vendors and ISVs partner with each other.

Avnet

June 30, 2010: $24.11
Sept. 30, 2010: $27.01
Percent Change: 12.0


Avnet during the quarter named a new services vice president to drive its SolutionsPath business and said it planned to buy Australian distributor itX.

PC Connection

June 30, 2010: $6.06
Sept. 30, 2010: $6.83
Percent Change: 12.7


In early August, the direct marketer posted sales ($477.5 million) and earnings (18 cents per share) that beat Wall Street expectations.

Tech Data

June 30, 2010: $35.62
Sept. 30, 2010: $40.20
Percent Change: 12.9


Tech Data shares reached the $40 mark in July, August and September, the last time two days before the quarter closed. During the third quarter, Tech Data reported Q2 sales and earnings that beat expectations and opened a Cisco Unified Computing System data center.

Sapient

June 30, 2010: $10.14
Sept. 30, 2010: $11.97
Percent Change: 18.0


Sapient reported in August that service revenue increased 36 percent in the second quarter to $200.4 million.

’We’re pleased with our strong results this quarter, particularly our continuing improvement in operating margins,’ said Sapient President and CEO Alan J. Herrick, in a statement. ’Our clients continue to recognize Sapient’s unique offerings, resulting in strong demand across all segments of our business.’

Insight Enterprises

June 30, 2010: $13.16
Sept. 30, 2010: $15.69
Percent Change: 19.2


Insight Enterprises saw its stock rise after reporting strong Q2 earnings during the third quarter. Sales increased 21 percent year-over-year to $865.5 million.

’I’m happy to report that continued strengthening of IT demand globally coupled with operating leverage led to strong year-to-year growth in both sales and profitability in our business,’ said President and CEO Ken Lamneck, in a statement.

Arrow Electronics

June 30, 2010: $22.35
Sept. 30, 2010: $26.96
Percent Change: 20.6


Arrow shares climbed steadily in the third quarter, a period in which the Melville, N.Y.-based distributor announced the development of a mobile app for Oracle VARs and public clouds to its IaaS offerings.

PC Mall

June 30, 2010: $4.00
Sept. 30, 2010: $6.38
Percent Change: 59.5


PC Mall shares traded in the $3.50 to $4.50 per share range for most of the quarter, then increased from a $4.60 close on Sept. 21 to a $6.90 close six days later before settling back down at $6.38, with a 10X increase in volume. Earlier in the quarter, the company reported earnings of 11 cents per share, beating analysts' estimates by 2 cents per share.