Stock Trading Methods: 5 Tech Stocks George Soros Loves for 2015

NEW YORK (Stockpickr) -- At Stockpickr, we track the top holdings of a variety of high-profile investors, such as Warren Buffett and Carl Icahn. One of our most popular professional portfolios is that of George Soros' Soros Fund Management. Keeping in mind that the fund conducts hundreds of transactions each quarter -- in the most recently reported quarter ended Dec. 31, 2014, it bought 41 new stocks and increased its position in 88 -- we're highlighting some of its top holdings in the tech sector, which the fund has significant exposure to.Must Read: Warren Buffett's Top 10 Dividend Stocks While Soros did not increase his stake in any of these tech holdings in the quarter ended Dec. 31, they hold steady among his top 30 holdings ). They are ordered here by position size. 5. Yahoo! Yahoo! comprises 1% of Soros' portfolio as of Dec. 31. The 1.9 million-share position represents a decrease of 63% from the previous quarter. Yahoo! also shows up in the portfolios of David Einhorn's Greenlight Capital and Harvard Management Company. TheStreet Ratings team rates Yahoo! as a buy with a ratings score of B. TheStreet Ratings team has this to say about its recommendation: "We rate Yahoo! (YHOO) a buy. This is driven by a number of strengths, which we believe should have a greater impact than any weaknesses, and should give investors a better performance opportunity than most stocks we cover. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures, notable return on equity, reasonable valuation levels, expanding profit margins and solid stock price performance. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had sub par growth in net income."Highlights from the analysis by TheStreet Ratings team include: YHOO's debt-to-equity ratio is very low at 0.03 and is currently below that of the industry average, implying that there has been very successful management of debt levels. To add to this, YHOO has a quick ratio of 2.01, which demonstrates the ability of the company to cover short-term liquidity needs. Current return on equity exceeded its ROE from the same quarter one year prior. This is a clear sign of strength within the company. Compared to other companies in the Internet Software & Services industry and the overall market, Yahoo!'s return on equity exceeds that of both the industry average and the S&P 500. The gross profit margin for Yahoo! is currently very high, coming in at 84.00%. It has increased from the same quarter the previous year. Despite the strong results of the gross profit margin, YHOO's net profit margin of 13.27% significantly trails the industry average. Compared to where it was a year ago today, the stock is now trading at a higher level, regardless of the company's weak earnings results. Turning our attention to the future direction of the stock, it goes without saying that even the best stocks can fall in an overall down market. However, in any other environment, this stock still has good upside potential despite the fact that it has already risen in the past year. You can view the full analysis from the report here: YHOO Ratings Report Must Read: 10 Stocks Billionaire John Paulson Loves 4. Motorola Solutions Motorola Solutions comprises 1% of Soros' portfolio as of Dec. 31. The 1.4 million-share position represents a decrease of 41.9% from the previous quarter. Motorola Solutions is also one of the top holdings at Leon Cooperman's Omega Advisors. TheStreet Ratings team rates Motorola Solutions as a hold with a ratings score of C. TheStreet Ratings team has this to say about its recommendation: "We rate Motorola Solutions (MSI) a hold. The primary factors that have impacted our rating are mixed ? some indicating strength, some showing weaknesses, with little evidence to justify the expectation of either a positive or negative performance for this stock relative to most other stocks. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, expanding profit margins and increase in stock price during the past year. However, as a counter to these strengths, we also find weaknesses including unimpressive growth in net income, disappointing return on equity and weak operating cash flow."Highlights from the analysis by TheStreet Ratings team include: MSI's revenue growth has slightly outpaced the industry average of 0.0%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues slightly increased by 0.3%. This growth in revenue does not appear to have trickled down to the company's bottom line, displayed by a decline in earnings per share. The gross profit margin for Motorola Solutions is rather high; currently it is at 52.22%. Regardless of MSI's high profit margin, it has managed to decrease from the same period last year. Despite the mixed results of the gross profit margin, MSI's net profit margin of 11.02% is significantly lower than the industry average. In its most recent trading session, MSI has closed at a price level that was not very different from its closing price of one year earlier. This is probably due to its weak earnings growth as well as other mixed factors. Despite the fact that it has already risen in the past year, there is currently no conclusive evidence that warrants the purchase or sale of this stock. The company, on the basis of change in net income from the same quarter one year ago, has significantly underperformed when compared to that of the S&P 500 and the Communications Equipment industry. The net income has significantly decreased by 41.2% when compared to the same quarter one year ago, falling from $342.00 million to $201.00 million. Net operating cash flow has significantly decreased to -$666.00 million or 189.87% when compared to the same quarter last year. In addition, when comparing to the industry average, the firm's growth rate is much lower. You can view the full analysis from the report here: MSI Ratings Report Must Read: 10 Stocks Carl Icahn Is Buying 3. Polycom Polycom comprises 1.6% of Soros' portfolio as of Dec. 31. The 10.6 million-share position was a decrease of 7.6% from the previous quarter. TheStreet Ratings team rates Polycom as a buy with a ratings score of B. TheStreet Ratings team has this to say about its recommendation: "We rate Polycom (PLCM) a buy. This is driven by a few notable strengths, which we believe should have a greater impact than any weaknesses, and should give investors a better performance opportunity than most stocks we cover. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures, impressive record of earnings per share growth, compelling growth in net income and good cash flow from operations. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had lackluster performance in the stock itself."Highlights from the analysis by TheStreet Ratings team include: PLCM's revenue growth has slightly outpaced the industry average of 0.0%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues slightly increased by 0.3%. Growth in the company's revenue appears to have helped boost the earnings per share. Although PLCM's debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24 is very low, it is currently higher than that of the industry average. To add to this, PLCM has a quick ratio of 1.91, which demonstrates the ability of the company to cover short-term liquidity needs. Polycom reported significant earnings per share improvement in the most recent quarter compared to the same quarter a year ago. The company has demonstrated a pattern of positive earnings per share growth over the past two years. We feel that this trend should continue. During the past fiscal year, Polycom turned its bottom line around by earning $0.30 versus -$0.11 in the prior year. This year, the market expects an improvement in earnings ($0.91 versus $0.30). The net income growth from the same quarter one year ago has significantly exceeded that of the S&P 500 and the Communications Equipment industry. The net income increased by 1140.2% when compared to the same quarter one year prior, rising from -$1.97 million to $20.48 million. Net operating cash flow has significantly increased by 78.08% to $90.78 million when compared to the same quarter last year. In addition, Polycom has also vastly surpassed the industry average cash flow growth rate of -19.80%. You can view the full analysis from the report here: PLCM Ratings Report Must Read: 10 New Stocks Billionaire David Einhorn Loves 2. Level 3 Communications comprises 2% of Soros' portfolio as of Dec. 31. The 3.8 million-share position represents a decrease of 30.5%, over the previous quarter. Level 3 is also one of Renaissance Technologies' top holdings and shows up in Southeastern Asset Management's portfolio. There is no TheStreet Ratings data for this stock at this time. 1. Alibaba Group comprises 5% of Soros' portfolio and is its top holding as of Dec. 31. The fund maintained its 4.4 million-share position in the stock from the previous quarter. Alibaba is also one of the top holdings at Julian Robertson's Tiger Management and shows up in John Griffin's Blue Ridge Capital portfolio. There is no TheStreet Ratings data for this stock at this time. Must Read: Warren Buffett's Top 10 Stock Buys

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