These niche techs brighten your prospects

Article Excerpt

The two techs we feature below are trading at close to all-times highs. They should move higher still. That’s because they’re leaders in niche markets seeing strong growth. AGILENT TECHNOLOGIES INC. $102 is a buy. The company (New York symbol A; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 308.3 million; Market cap: $31.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 6.0; Dividend yield: 0.7%; 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 has spurred strong demand for Agilent’s equipment from pharmaceutical firms working on vaccines and new drugs. However, the pandemic has hurt sales to industrial clients and universities. In its fiscal 2020 third quarter ended July 31, 2020, Agilent’s revenue fell 1.0%, to $1.26 billion from $1.27 billion a year earlier. If you disregard the contribution of recent acquisitions and currency exchange rates, revenue declined 3.1%. However, thanks to an effective cost-control program, earnings before…