The Best And Worst Tech Stocks Of 2013 (So Far)

Winners (Slightly) Outnumber Tech Stock Losers For 2013 First Half

Wall Street has had a very good 2013 with Dow Jones and Nasdaq indices increasing 13.8 percent and 12.7 percent, respectively, through June 28. But the performance of technology vendor stocks has been decidedly mixed with gainers slightly outnumbering losers by the year's mid-point. Here's a look at who's up and who's down.

FalconStor

Interim CEO: Gary Quinn
Dec. 31, 2012: $2.33
June 28, 2013: $1.37
Change: -41.2%


It's been a tough year so far for FalconStor. In January, FalconStor reached a settlement in a long-running investor lawsuit stemming from 2010 bribery charges against its founder and two sales representatives. In April the company reported a 21 percent drop in revenue. And on July 1, president and CEO Jim McNiel abruptly resigned.

VMware

CEO: Pat Gelsinger
Dec. 31, 2012: $94.14
June 28, 2013: $66.19
Change: -28.8%


Everybody seems to be gunning for virtualization market leader VMware this year with the company coming under competitive fire from Microsoft, Red Hat, Oracle and others. And that's taken a toll on the company's stock price. Still, VMware's been fighting back with new offerings like the vCloud Hybrid Service it launched in May.

Apple

CEO: Tim Cook
Dec. 31, 2012: $532.17
June 28, 2013: $396.53
Change: -25.5%


Apple's once stratospheric stock price has been on a long slide since topping out above $700 a share in September. While iPhones and iPads continue to dominate their respective markets, some are raising questions about whether Apple can maintain its high level of innovation.

Apple, nevertheless, reported 11 percent sales growth to $43.6 billion in its second quarter ended March 30, when the company sold 37.4 million iPhones and 19.5 million iPads.

Netgear

CEO: Patrick Lo
Dec. 31, 2012: $39.43
June 28, 2013: $30.54
Change: -22.5%


Netgear's shares lost more than $4, or 10 percent, in late January after the company announced it planned to buy the Sierra Wireless AirCard business. The acquisition was completed in April. And in late March, the company rolled out a new series of NAS appliances to go with its latest ReadyNAS operating system.

BlackBerry

CEO: Thorsten Heins
Dec. 31, 2012: $11.87
June 28, 2013: $10.46
Change: -11.9%


BlackBerry launched its much-awaited Z10 smartphone in March, holding out the promise the company might stem its long slide in market share against Apple's iPhone and Android-based smartphones.

Some observers guess that BlackBerry is shipping upwards of 1 million Z10 and entry-level Q10 smartphones per month. But on June 28, the company reported disappointing sales and earnings numbers, and executives didn't disclose sales data for its "BB10" devices.

Red Hat

CEO: James Whitehurst
Dec. 31, 2012: $52.96
June 28, 2013: $47.82
Change: -9.7%


Red Hat in June launched a complete cloud platform package built on the company's Linux operating system, virtualization technology and hybrid cloud management tools. It also began offering a commercial version of its OpenShift Online Platform-as-a-Service system.

On June 19 Red Hat announced that sales in its first fiscal quarter ended May 31 increased 15 percent to $363 million.

SAP

CEOs: Bill McDermott/Jim Hagemann Snabe
Dec. 31, 2012: $80.38
June 28, 2013: $72.83
Change: -9.4%


At the company's annual Sapphire conference in May, SAP executives made it clear that the company's HANA in-memory database is its technology crown jewel and the platform for all SAP development efforts going forward.

In April, SAP reported that sales grew 8 percent to more than 3.6 billion Euros ($4.6 billion) in the company's first quarter ended March 31.

Salesforce.com

CEO: Marc Benioff
Dec. 31, 2012: $168.10
June 28, 2013: $38.18
Change: -9.2%


Salesforce.com completed a 4-for-1 stock split in April, boosting the total number of outstanding shares from 400 million to 1.6 billion. The 9.2 percent decline was calculated by dividing the Dec. 31, 2012, closing price by four and comparing the $42.03 result to the June 28, 2013, close price.

Salesforce.com made some strategic moves in the first half of 2013, including hiring former Oracle sales executive Keith Block as president, acquiring digital marketing application company ExactTarget for $2.5 billion, and striking a pact with Oracle to standardize on Oracle's database software and other technologies.

Citrix Systems

CEO: Mark Templeton
Dec. 31, 2012: $65.62
June 28, 2013: $60.36
Change: -8.0%


Although Citrix's share price grew double digits in the first quarter, those fortunes were reversed in the spring, leading to an overall 8 percent decline for the six-month period, despite the fact the company reported 14 percent sales growth to $673 million in its first quarter ended March 31.

In June, Citrix moved its XenServer virtualization technology to the open-source community, with the company saying it wanted to focus on providing management and support services.

Oracle

CEO: Larry Ellison
Dec. 31, 2012: $33.32
June 28, 2013: $30.71
Change: -7.8%


Oracle muddled through the first half of 2013, with lackluster software sales and declining sales of its hardware products.

On the plus side, Oracle began shipping a new release of its flagship database software and struck strategic alliances with longtime rivals Microsoft and Salesforce.com that expand use of Oracle's software to those vendors' cloud platforms.

EMC

CEO: Joe Tucci
Dec. 31, 2012: $25.30
June 28, 2013: $23.62
Change: -6.6%


EMC's stock has been fairly stable in 2013, with shares largely trading in the $23-$25 range. The company reported a 6 percent gain in revenue to $5.4 billion in the company's first quarter ended March 31.

At its annual partner summit in May EMC announced plans to overhaul its Velocity Partner Program, renamed the EMC Global Partner Program. Around the same time, EMC introduced its ViPR software-defined storage platform that the company said would improve the management and automation of customers' storage infrastructure.

Juniper Networks

CEO: Kevin Johnson
Dec. 31, 2012: $19.67
June 28, 2013: $19.31
Change: -1.8%


Juniper reported steady sales growth in its fiscal first quarter and a solid gain in earnings -- good news for the company after it experienced a challenging 2012, including cutting its workforce by some 500 employees.

Juniper updated its EX and QFX Series switches in June, along with its Junos operating system, to include new capabilities for simplifying data center operations and automating network management.

QLogic

Interim CEO: Jean Hu
Dec. 31, 2012: $9.73
June 28, 2013: $9.56
Change: -1.7%


It's been a rough spring for QLogic. In early May the developer of network infrastructure technology reported that sales in its fiscal year ended March 31 plunged 13 percent to $485 million.

A couple of weeks later the company announced that president and CEO Simon Biddiscombe had resigned with CFO Jean Hu taking over as interim CEO. And in early June it implemented a restructuring plan that included layoffs, the consolidation of several engineering activities, and what it called an "enhanced product development focus."

Lenovo Group

CEO: Yang Yuanqing
Dec. 31, 2012: $18.30
June 28, 2013: $18.09
Change: -1.1%


While the PC market has been in the doldrums, Lenovo has bucked the trend with an impressive streak of revenue growth and market-share gains. In May, the company reported that fiscal 2013 revenue increased 15 percent to $34 billion and its 15.5 percent share of the PC market put it within striking distance of the No. 1 spot held by Hewlett-Packard.

Lenovo is now attempting to replicate its success with PCs in the computer server arena. The company sells its own entry-level server products and has been in negotiations to acquire IBM's x86 server business.

IBM

CEO: Virginia Rometty
Dec. 31, 2012: $191.55
June 28, 2013: $191.11
Change: -0.2%


IBM's stock price has essentially been flat in the first half of this year. The company has been in something of a rut, reporting a 5-percent revenue decline in its first quarter ended March 31 as hardware sales slump and revenue from software and services remain largely flat.

The company has hinted at product line divestitures as it focuses on software and services. In June the company initiated widespread layoffs. In a sign of IBM's direction, the company announced in June a deal to acquire SoftLayer Technologies, a cloud computing infrastructure supplier.

Motorola Solutions

CEO: Greg Brown
Dec. 31, 2012: $55.68
June 28, 2013: $57.73
Change: 3.7%


Motorola marks the first company on our list to record share-price gains for the first half of 2013. For its first quarter ended March 30, the company reported a 1 percent sales increase to $1.97 billion while operating earnings declined 7 percent to $216 million.

Check Point Software Technologies

CEO: Gil Shwed
Dec. 31, 2012: $47.64
June 28, 2013: $49.68
Change: 4.3%


Security technology developer Check Point reported revenue in its first quarter grew 3 percent to $323 million while operating income rose 2 percent to $177 million.

A recent IDC report said Check Point is the worldwide market leader in combined firewall and UTM appliance revenue. In March the company unveiled what it called the Check Point Compliance Software Blade, a security monitoring system that ensures security policies are aligned with global regulations and validates that appropriate security levels are maintained.

Brocade Communications

CEO: Lloyd Carney
Dec. 31, 2012: $5.33
June 28, 2013: $5.76
Change: 8.1%


Networking technology vendor Brocade reported a 20 percent surge in net income in the company's second quarter ended April 27, despite a 1 percent decline in revenue to $539 million in the quarter.

In May the company unveiled a plan to expand its subscription financing offerings through which channel partners could finance a customer's complete purchase, including multi-vendor deals with services, support and third-party equipment.

CommVault Systems

CEO: N. Robert Hammer
Dec. 31, 2012: $69.66
June 28, 2013: $75.89
Change: 8.9%


Data management system vendor CommVault reported in May that sales in its fiscal year ended March 31 grew 22 percent to $495.9 million. That included a 21-percent revenue gain in the fourth quarter to $138.2 million.

In March the company added more than 300 enhancements to its flagship Simpana 10 platform.

Quantum

CEO: John Gacek
Dec. 31, 2012: $1.24
June 28, 2013: $1.37
Change: 10.5%


Data storage technology developer Quantum reported in May that revenue for its fiscal year ended March 31 declined 10 percent to $587.6 million, primarily due to declining sales of tape products. The company said sales of disk systems and software, including its StorNext storage virtualization product, grew 11 percent to $152 million during the year.

NetApp

CEO: Tom Georgens
Dec. 31, 2012: $33.55
June 28, 2013: $37.78
Change: 12.6%


Data storage system maker NetApp reported in May that revenue increased 2 percent to $6.3 billion in its fiscal year ended April 26. But, net income in the year dropped 17 percent to $505 million.

In June NetApp unveiled a new version of its Clustered Data Ontap storage operating system, which the company said is tailored to work in cloud and multitenant environments. In June the company appointed Peter Howard, an eight-year NetApp veteran, to be head of global channel sales.

Intel

CEO: Brian Krzanich
Dec. 31, 2012: $20.62
June 28, 2013: $24.23
Change: 17.5%


For Intel the big news this year was the chip maker's appointment in May of chief operating officer Brian Krzanich to the CEO position, succeeding Paul Otellini who retired that same month.

Krzanich wasted no time in making changes. Just weeks after his appointment the new CEO reorganized the company's business units and created a new organization aimed at emerging products, particularly in the mobile market.

Symantec

CEO: Steve Bennett
Dec. 31, 2012: $18.82
June 28, 2013: $22.48
Change: 19.4%


Symantec's stock increased 20 percent in 2012, and the company almost matched that in the first half of 2013. For the fiscal year ended March 29 the company reported revenue of $6.9 billion, up 3 percent from fiscal 2012, with growing sales of the company's data backup and information security products leading the way. But, net income was off 35 percent from a year earlier to $765 million.

Symantec has undertaken a top-down reorganization of its product portfolio and marketing strategy, consolidating products down into 10 areas company executives say will help customers integrate their security technologies. Product road maps are due by mid-August.

Cisco Systems

CEO: John Chambers
Dec. 31, 2012: $19.65
June 28, 2013: $24.33
Change: 23.8%


Cisco shares have been on a steady rise all year. In May the company reported that sales for the first nine months of its fiscal year were up more than 5 percent to $36.2 billion.

This year the networking gear manufacturer has been aggressively expanding its sales and marketing efforts, including a new push into the midmarket, new partner initiatives, expansion into new technology areas such as software-defined networking and the Internet of Everything, acquisitions such as Composite Software, and bold moves against competitors such as Hewlett-Packard.

Microsoft

CEO: Steve Ballmer
Dec. 31, 2012: $26.71
June 28, 2013: $34.54
Change: 29.3%


There have been investor complaints that Microsoft's stock price has been stagnant for too long. But so far this year, the value of the company's shares have shown solid growth.

For the first three quarters, ending March 31, of the company's fiscal year, Microsoft reported more than 4 percent revenue growth to just shy of $58.0 billion, but net income declined 3 percent to $16.9 billion.

While Microsoft is enjoying success with sales of such products as its SQL Server database, Lync communications server and Xbox game controller, questions remain about the acceptance rate for its flagship Windows 8 operating system in the market. And its Surface tablets have been slow to catch on.

CA Technologies

CEO: Michael Gregoire
Dec. 31, 2012: $21.98
June 28, 2013: $28.62
Change: 30.2%


CA Technologies' stock is up as new CEO Michael Gregoire, who took the company's reins in March, has moved to cut costs and consolidate some operations. That included layoffs of as many as 1,200 employees in May.

For Fiscal 2013 ended March 31, CA reported revenue of $4.6 billion, down 4 percent from $4.8 billion in fiscal 2012. Income from continuing operations for the year was $955 million, up 2 percent from the previous fiscal year.

Dell

CEO: Michael Dell
Dec. 31, 2012: $10.14
June 28, 2013: $13.32
Change: 31.4%


Dell's shares have hovered around the $13-and-change level since earlier this year when CEO Michael Dell, backed by private equity partners, proposed to take the company private for $13.65 per share in a $24.4 billion deal. After months of wrangling, including counter bids from corporate raider Carl Ichan, Dell shareholders will vote on the matter on July 18 at a special stockholder's meeting.

Lexmark International

CEO: Paul Rooke
Dec. 31, 2012: $23.19
June 28, 2013: $30.57
Change: 31.8%


Lexmark, long known as a printer manufacturer, is transitioning from a hardware-centric company to one focused more on software and solutions. In April the company struck a deal to sell its inkjet technology and assets to Funai Electric Co. of Osaka, Japan, for approximately $100 million.

Recently Lexmark completed the acquisitions of Twistage, a San Francisco-based developer of cloud software for managing video, audio and image content; and AccessVia, a Seattle-based developer of software for creating retail shelf-edge materials, digital signs or electronic shelf tags.

Xerox

CEO: Ursula Burns
Dec. 31, 2012: $6.82
June 28, 2013: $9.07
Change: 33.0%


Xerox was a poor performing stock in 2012, losing 14 percent of its value. But, so far 2013 has been good for the company, as shares increased 33 percent during the first half.

Xerox has become a key vendor for solution providers moving into managed print services. In February, Xerox launched its ConnectKey platform that allows VARs to embed apps around mobility, cloud, big data and other workflow areas.

Panasonic

CEO: Joe Taylor
Dec. 31, 2012: $6.07
June 28, 2013: $8.09
Change: 33.3%


As the world goes increasingly mobile, Panasonic has offered a range of innovative devices to meet that demand. Case-in-point is the HX-A100 wearable HD video recorder that attaches to a helmet, backpack or whatever to provide that "from my point of view" video. Need another example? The Toughpad FZ-G1 rugged tablet goes where iPads fear to tread.

NetSuite

CEO: Zach Nelson
Dec. 31, 2012: $67.30
June 28, 2013: $91.74
Change: 36.3%


Cloud application vendor NetSuite has yet to turn a profit. But right now, it's growth the company -- and its stockholders -- are most interested in. And they're getting it: In NetSuite's first fiscal quarter ended March 31 the company's sales surged 32 percent to $91.6 million.

This year the company has bolstered its e-commerce offerings through its acquisition of OrderMotion, a developer of cloud-based order management applications; and Retail Anywhere, a supplier of retail management and point-of-sale applications.

Western Digital

CEO: Stephen Milligan
Dec. 31, 2012: $42.49
June 28, 2013: $62.09
Change: 46.1%


Western Digital has been expanding the scope of its business through acquisitions, a strategy Wall Street apparently likes given how much the value of the company's stock has risen in the first half of 2013.

In January Western Digital moved to beef up its SMB data storage business by acquiring Arkeia Software, a developer of data protection software and appliances. And in June the company struck a deal to buy sTec in a move that will expand Western Digital's solid-state drive and flash storage offerings.

Seagate Technology

CEO: Stephen Luczo
Dec. 31, 2012: $30.42
June 28, 2013: $44.83
Change: 47.4%


Seagate earned the distinction of being the best technology stock tracked by CRN in 2012. And while it's not at the top of this list, the continued rise in Seagate's stock price this year has been impressive.

In January Seagate moved to expand its flash storage product line through a joint development deal with (and a $40 million investment in) Virident Systems, under which the two will develop next-generation PCIe flash storage technologies.

Websense

CEO: John McCormack
Dec. 31, 2012: $15.04
June 28, 2013: $24.75
Change: 64.6%


Websense shares rose to $24.75 in May after the security technology company struck a deal to be acquired by private equity firm Vista Equity Partners for $900 million. Stockholders will receive $24.75 in cash for their shares when the deal is completed later this year.

Advanced Micro Devices

CEO: Rory Read
Dec. 31, 2012: $2.40
June 28, 2013: $4.08
Change: 70.0%


AMD shares have soared this year as Wall Street apparently approves of aggressive strategic moves the company has made in ARM server processors and chips for mobile devices.

In May AMD launched a line of low-power Opteron processors to compete with Intel's Atom processors. Also in May the company debuted three APUs (accelerated processing units) for the mobile device market.

In June the company unveiled its 2014 server processor road map, including new x86 processors and the company's first ARM-based server CPU.

Hewlett-Packard

CEO: Meg Whitman
Dec. 31, 2012: $14.25
June 28, 2013: $24.8
Change: 74.0%


After seeing its stock drop nearly in half in 2012, Hewlett-Packard has rebounded with a vengeance and has the honor of recording the biggest share-price gain in the first half of 2013 among all the stocks tracked by CRN.

Hewlett-Packard's struggles in recent years have been well-documented, from the revolving door on the CEO office to legal disputes surrounding its $11.1 billion Autonomy acquisition to declining market share in servers and other products.

But judging by the run-up in HP's stock price, Wall Street apparently has faith in CEO Meg Whitman's plans to turn the company around and make HP the technology innovator it once was.