Research spending keeps these techs on top

Article Excerpt

These three tech leaders continue to hit new highs. Those gains are mainly due to high research spending, which helps them develop new products and fuel their future growth. While that spending hurts their current earnings, recent acquisitions further enhance their long-term prospects. We see one of the three as suitable for new buying. CISCO SYSTEMS INC. $48 (Nasdaq symbol CSCO; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 4.6 billion; Market cap: $220.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 4.5; Dividend yield 2.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.cisco.com) is a leading maker of hardware and software that links and manages computer networks. In response to slowing demand for traditional routers and switches, Cisco continues to expand into faster-growing fields such as software for managing network security, conferencing and collaboration. As part of that strategy, the company has agreed to pay $2.35 billion for Duo Security Inc. The privately held firm makes software for clients that uses a two-step process to verify a person’s identity before connecting them…