Their market dominance cuts your risks

Article Excerpt

These two tech firms are seeing stronger sales and earnings as their clients rebound from COVID-19. Their dominant positions in niche markets also cut your risk. AGILENT TECHNOLOGIES INC. $125 is a buy. The company (New York symbol A; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 305.0 million; Market cap: $38.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 6.9; Dividend yield: 0.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.agilent.com) makes specialized testing equipment for medical research laboratories and industrial clients. Its equipment includes mass spectrometers, used to analyze substances. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to spur strong demand for Agilent’s equipment from pharmaceutical firms working on vaccines and new drugs. That offsets weaker sales to universities. In its fiscal 2021 first quarter ended January 31, 2021, the company’s revenue rose 14.1%, to $1.55 billion from $1.36 billion a year earlier. If you disregard the contribution of recent acquisitions and currency exchange rates, revenue gained 11.3%. Thanks to an effective cost-control program, earnings before unusual items jumped 30.2%, to $328 million from $252…