If you feel better knowing your companies have sufficient cash to easily cover their operating expenses, you may be interested in this list.
We ran a screen on the tech sector for stocks rallying above their 20-day, 50-day, and 200-day moving averages for those with the highest cash relative to their average quarterly operating expenses over the past five quarters.
Interactive Chart: Press Play to compare changes in analyst ratings over the last two years for the top six stocks mentioned below. Analyst ratings sourced from Zacks Investment Research.
We also created a price-weighted index of the stocks mentioned below, and monitored the performance of the list relative to the S&P 500 index over the last month. To access a complete analysis of this list's recent performance, click here.
Do you think these companies are in a strong operational position? Use this list as a starting point for your own analysis.
List sorted by cash/average operating expense.
1. VirnetX Holding Corp (VHC): Engages in developing and commercializing software and technology solutions for securing real-time communications over the Internet. Market cap of $1.35B. The stock is currently trading at 11.54% above its 20-Day SMA, 20.61% above its 50-Day SMA, and 14.03% above its 200-Day SMA. Average quarterly operating expense over the last five quarters at $3.34M, vs. most recent cash and short term investments at $65.23M, implies a Cash / Avg. Operating Expense ratio at 19.55. The stock is a short squeeze candidate, with a short float at 33.46% (equivalent to 11.64 days of average volume). The stock has had a couple of great days, gaining 5.95% over the last week.
2. CEVA Inc. (CEVA): Engages in designing and licensing silicon intellectual property for the handsets, portable multimedia, and consumer electronics markets. Market cap of $680.25M. The stock is currently trading at 2.73% above its 20-Day SMA, 0.80% above its 50-Day SMA, and 3.09% above its 200-Day SMA. Average quarterly operating expense over the last five quarters at $9.66M, vs. most recent cash and short term investments at $137.23M, implies a Cash / Avg. Operating Expense ratio at 14.21. The stock is a short squeeze candidate, with a short float at 15.6% (equivalent to 16.07 days of average volume). The stock has gained 26.91% over the last year.
3. Tessera Technologies Inc. (TSRA): Develops and licenses miniaturization technologies for chip-scale, multichip, and wafer-level packaging, which enables companies to produce chips for digital audio players, digital cameras, personal computers, personal digital assistants, video game consoles, and mobile phones. Market cap of $919.81M. The stock is currently trading at 8.09% above its 20-Day SMA, 12.79% above its 50-Day SMA, and 13.46% above its 200-Day SMA. Average quarterly operating expense over the last five quarters at $63.45M, vs. most recent cash and short term investments at $535.59M, implies a Cash / Avg. Operating Expense ratio at 8.44. The stock has had a couple of great days, gaining 5.81% over the last week.
4. Analog Devices Inc. (ADI): Engages in the design, manufacture, and marketing of analog, mixed-signal, and digital signal processing integrated circuits used in industrial, communication, computer, and consumer applications. Market cap of $10.70B. The stock is currently trading at 4.10% above its 20-Day SMA, 3.85% above its 50-Day SMA, and 2.52% above its 200-Day SMA. Average quarterly operating expense over the last five quarters at $481.11M, vs. most recent cash and short term investments at $3592.46M, implies a Cash / Avg. Operating Expense ratio at 7.47. The stock has lost 2.45% over the last year.
5. Ultratech, Inc. (UTEK): Develops, manufactures, and markets photolithography and laser thermal processing equipment. Market cap of $664.60M. The stock is currently trading at 7.35% above its 20-Day SMA, 12.13% above its 50-Day SMA, and 3.65% above its 200-Day SMA. Average quarterly operating expense over the last five quarters at $39.09M, vs. most recent cash and short term investments at $220.82M, implies a Cash / Avg. Operating Expense ratio at 5.65. The stock is a short squeeze candidate, with a short float at 5.95% (equivalent to 5.15 days of average volume). The stock has had a couple of great days, gaining 5.12% over the last week.
6. Microchip Technology Inc. (MCHP): Develops and manufactures semiconductor products for various embedded control applications worldwide. Market cap of $6.81B. The stock is currently trading at 1.97% above its 20-Day SMA, 2.74% above its 50-Day SMA, and 3.32% above its 200-Day SMA. Average quarterly operating expense over the last five quarters at $253.15M, vs. most recent cash and short term investments at $1415.44M, implies a Cash / Avg. Operating Expense ratio at 5.59. The stock is a short squeeze candidate, with a short float at 10.36% (equivalent to 8.68 days of average volume). The stock has gained 4.7% over the last year.
7. Microsoft Corporation (MSFT): Develops, licenses, and supports a range of software products and services for various computing devices worldwide. Market cap of $236.47B. The stock is currently trading at 6.38% above its 20-Day SMA, 7.13% above its 50-Day SMA, and 8.95% above its 200-Day SMA. Average quarterly operating expense over the last five quarters at $10590.2M, vs. most recent cash and short term investments at $57403M, implies a Cash / Avg. Operating Expense ratio at 5.42. The stock has had a couple of great days, gaining 8.03% over the last week.
8. Linear Technology Corp. (LLTC): Designs, manufactures, and markets a line of linear integrated circuits. Market cap of $6.85B. The stock is currently trading at 3.52% above its 20-Day SMA, 0.81% above its 50-Day SMA, and 0.43% above its 200-Day SMA. Average quarterly operating expense over the last five quarters at $178.64M, vs. most recent cash and short term investments at $967.67M, implies a Cash / Avg. Operating Expense ratio at 5.42. The stock has lost 10.72% over the last year.
9. Cisco Systems, Inc. (CSCO): Designs, manufactures, and sells Internet protocol (IP)-based networking and other products related to the communications and information technology industry worldwide. Market cap of $101.33B. The stock is currently trading at 3.52% above its 20-Day SMA, 3.83% above its 50-Day SMA, and 14.04% above its 200-Day SMA. Average quarterly operating expense over the last five quarters at $8918M, vs. most recent cash and short term investments at $44388M, implies a Cash / Avg. Operating Expense ratio at 4.98. The stock has lost 8.72% over the last year.
10. NeuStar, Inc. (NSR): Provides technology and directory services to its communications service provider (carrier) and non-carrier, commercial business customers primarily in North America, Europe, and the Middle East. Market cap of $2.55B. The stock is currently trading at 3.79% above its 20-Day SMA, 5.85% above its 50-Day SMA, and 26.61% above its 200-Day SMA. Average quarterly operating expense over the last five quarters at $87.5M, vs. most recent cash and short term investments at $391.82M, implies a Cash / Avg. Operating Expense ratio at 4.48. The stock has gained 29.62% over the last year.
11. Xilinx Inc. (XLNX): Designs, develops, and markets programmable platforms in North America, the Asia Pacific, Europe, and Japan. Market cap of $8.44B. The stock is currently trading at 3.11% above its 20-Day SMA, 2.57% above its 50-Day SMA, and 3.06% above its 200-Day SMA. Average quarterly operating expense over the last five quarters at $404.15M, vs. most recent cash and short term investments at $1807.55M, implies a Cash / Avg. Operating Expense ratio at 4.47. The stock has gained 9.12% over the last year.
12. KLA-Tencor Corporation (KLAC): Engages in the design, manufacture, and marketing of process control and yield management solutions for the semiconductor and related nanoelectronics industries. Market cap of $7.95B. The stock is currently trading at 1.61% above its 20-Day SMA, 3.38% above its 50-Day SMA, and 15.50% above its 200-Day SMA. Average quarterly operating expense over the last five quarters at $511.41M, vs. most recent cash and short term investments at $2100.15M, implies a Cash / Avg. Operating Expense ratio at 4.11. The stock has gained 28.51% over the last year.
*Accounting data sourced from Google Finance, all other data sourced from Finviz.
Disclosure: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours.
