Read the June 2013 issue of Tech-Stock Prospector on your Amazon Kindle or Kindle for iPad/iPhone app.

Order the new issue of TSP for Kindle here.

Here are some of the topics covered in the June 2013 issue:

*The bullish case for Apple

*Salesforce goes shopping for its Marketing Cloud

*The next possible buyout targets in interactive marketing

*Intel finally getting some traction in mobile

*EMC returns more cash to shareholders

*Palo Alto Networks suffers its first stumble

*New security solutions boost Infoblox

*Wall Street eyes Yahoo more favorably

*How Cisco Systems is getting back in the game

*Can Aruba Networks stay competitive?

*A big addressable market for Cornerstone OnDemand

*Figuring out the right valuation for Salesforce

*Why some smart money managers like Informatica

*Workday builds out its product portfolio

*The next positive catalyst for Electronic Arts

*A surprising management shake-up at Fusion-IO

*Deal Report: Textura IPO

Read the June 2013 issue of Tech-Stock Prospector on your Amazon Kindle or Kindle for iPad/iPhone app.

Order the new issue of TSP for Kindle here.

Here are some of the topics covered in the June 2013 issue:

*The bullish case for Apple

*Salesforce goes shopping for its Marketing Cloud

*The next possible buyout targets in interactive marketing

*Intel finally getting some traction in mobile

*EMC returns more cash to shareholders

*Palo Alto Networks suffers its first stumble

*New security solutions boost Infoblox

*Wall Street eyes Yahoo more favorably

*How Cisco Systems is getting back in the game

*Can Aruba Networks stay competitive?

*A big addressable market for Cornerstone OnDemand

*Figuring out the right valuation for Salesforce

*Why some smart money managers like Informatica

*Workday builds out its product portfolio

*The next positive catalyst for Electronic Arts

*A surprising management shake-up at Fusion-IO

*Deal Report: Textura IPO

After bouncing 12% yesterday, Marketo (MKTO, $21.46) shares today are up 8.4%. The stock yesterday reached a post-IPO low of $17.20.

Traders hammered Marketo following the announcement early this month that Salesforce (CRM) would purchase key competitor ExactTarget (ET).

Marketo went public in May at $13 a share and opened for trading at $20.

CLSA raises its Google (GOOG, $899.75) price target by $100 to $1,100, saying the company continues to make progress on the mobile monetization front.

TripAdvisor (TRIP, $63.85) has purchased GateGuru, a leading app for flight and airport information worldwide. Built on a mix of user-generated content and information from airports, flyers can access estimated security wait times and real-time flight status updates, along with detailed airport maps showing gate locations, restaurants and stores.

For more on TripAdvisor, see the April 2013 issue of Tech-Stock Prospector (TSP #134).

Read the June 2013 issue of Tech-Stock Prospector on your Amazon Kindle or Kindle for iPad/iPhone app.

Order the new issue of TSP for Kindle here.

Here are some of the topics covered in the June 2013 issue:

*The bullish case for Apple

*Salesforce goes shopping for its Marketing Cloud

*The next possible buyout targets in interactive marketing

*Intel finally getting some traction in mobile

*EMC returns more cash to shareholders

*Palo Alto Networks suffers its first stumble

*New security solutions boost Infoblox

*Wall Street eyes Yahoo more favorably

*How Cisco Systems is getting back in the game

*Can Aruba Networks stay competitive?

*A big addressable market for Cornerstone OnDemand

*Figuring out the right valuation for Salesforce

*Why some smart money managers like Informatica

*Workday builds out its product portfolio

*The next positive catalyst for Electronic Arts

*A surprising management shake-up at Fusion-IO

*Deal Report: Textura IPO

Pacific Crest starts LinkedIn (LNKD, $180.37) at ‘Outperform’ with a price target of $215. The shares trade at 85 times the 2014 consensus EPS estimate of $2.10, vs. the expected growth rate of 43.8%.

Goldman Sachs removes Palo Alto Networks (PANW, $43.15) from the ‘Conviction Buy’ list, saying the growth story is taking longer to play out.

While the firm admits that there are concerns about near-term execution issues, its confidence in Palo Alto’s fundamental position in networking security remains unchanged.

Goldman thinks investors are underestimating the strength of Palo Alto’s subscription business and the longevity of growth as the market shifts to NGFWs.

Shares of SPS Commerce (SPSC, $56.27) today finished up 7.5% on 2.6x average daily volume and no news. The stock hit a new all-time high at $56.69.

For more on SPS Commerce, a provider of cloud-based supply chain management solutions, see TechStock Radar—May 30, 2013.

Oracle (ORCL, $34.47) reports fiscal Q4 (May) results after the close on Thursday. The company had a tough FQ3 because of deal slippage and continued weakness in the hardware business. The May quarter is a seasonally strong one, so look for Oracle to have closed at least some of those pushed deals. The consensus estimates: EPS of 87 cents on revenue of $11.13 billion.

Demandware (DWRE, $35.68) shares this morning hit a new post-IPO high at $35.83. The company went public in March 2012 at $16. So far this year, the stock is up 30%.

For more on Demandware, see TechStock Radar—May 23, 2013.

Goldman Sachs starts coverage of ChannelAdvisor (ECOM, $15.45), a provider of cloud-based enterprise e-commerce solutions, at ‘Buy’ with a price target of $20.

ChannelAdvisor went public in May at $14 a share and opened for trading at $17.60.

At the recent market cap of $316 million, the shares trade at 5.9 times 2012 revenue of $53.5 million.

Cowen starts coverage of Teradata (TDC, $56.08) at ‘Underperform’ with a price target of $45 based on declining sales productivity and increased competition in data warehousing.

MKM Partners starts coverage of Yelp (YELP, $30.14) at ‘Buy’ with a price target of $42, saying the company is well positioned as more local advertising migrates online. Local businesses are realizing they need to reach potential customers via the Web and mobile. Looking way down the road, the firm thinks Yelp is capable of reaching revenue of $2.2 billion to $2.9 billion in 2020, with a 40%+ operating margin.

For more on Yelp, see the April 2013 issue of Tech-Stock Prospector (TSP #134).

Shares of networking security vendor Palo Alto Networks (PANW, $44.10) have taken out the June 4 low of $43.50, hitting a new post-IPO low of $43.20.

Palo Alto went public last July at $42 and opened for trading at $55.20.

For our latest update on Palo Alto’s long-term growth prospects, see the June 2013 issue of Tech-Stock Prospector (TSP #136). Order the new issue here for your Kindle or Kindle for iPad/iPhone reading app.

Evercore Partners raises its Google (GOOG, $883.27) price target to $1,050 from $925 and adds the stock to its Conviction Buy List. The firm says Google is gaining traction across new products and services (Maps, Glass, Fiber and Cars) as its core business (including Search) is getting stronger.

Read the June 2013 issue of Tech-Stock Prospector on your Kindle or Kindle for iPad/iPhone app.

Order the new issue of TSP for Kindle here.

Here are some of the topics covered in the June 2013 issue:

*The bullish case for Apple

*Salesforce goes shopping for its Marketing Cloud

*The next possible buyout targets in interactive marketing

*Intel finally getting some traction in mobile

*EMC returns more cash to shareholders

*Palo Alto Networks suffers its first stumble

*New security solutions boost Infoblox

*Wall Street eyes Yahoo more favorably

*How Cisco Systems is getting back in the game

*Can Aruba Networks stay competitive?

*A big addressable market for Cornerstone OnDemand

*Figuring out the right valuation for Salesforce

*Why some smart money managers like Informatica

*Workday builds out its product portfolio

*The next positive catalyst for Electronic Arts

*A surprising management shake-up at Fusion-IO

*Deal Report: Textura IPO

After rallying from the April low of $18.18 to the recent high of $22.46, shares of Tibco Software (TIBX, $21.24) have come in a bit, but remain above the 50-day moving average at $20.41. Traders are watching short-term resistance at $21.50.

Marketo (MKTO, $20.54) shares today are down more than 6% on no news. The recent IPO remains well above it offer price of $13 and is holding above the first-day opening price of $20, but is well off the post-IPO high of $26.77.

Wunderlich starts coverage of TripAdvisor (TRIP, $63.18) at ‘Buy’ with a price target of $75 because it expects the company’s community of users and user-generated content to continue to drive market share growth in the online travel segment. The firm thinks the network effects of the company’s active user base should provide significant competitive advantages.

Wunderlich expects TripAdvisor over time will be able to monetize its mobile platform (primarily bookings from tablets apps) as well as it does on the desktop.

We profiled TripAdvisor in the April 2013 issue of Tech-Stock Prospector (TSP #134).

Read the June 2013 issue of Tech-Stock Prospector on your NOOK tablet.

Order the new issue of TSP for NOOK here.

Here are some of the topics covered in the June 2013 issue:

*The bullish case for Apple

*Salesforce goes shopping for its Marketing Cloud

*The next possible buyout targets in interactive marketing

*Intel finally getting some traction in mobile

*EMC returns more cash to shareholders

*Palo Alto Networks suffers its first stumble

*New security solutions boost Infoblox

*Wall Street eyes Yahoo more favorably

*How Cisco Systems is getting back in the game

*Can Aruba Networks stay competitive?

*A big addressable market for Cornerstone OnDemand

*Figuring out the right valuation for Salesforce

*Why some smart money managers like Informatica

*Workday builds out its product portfolio

*The next positive catalyst for Electronic Arts

*A surprising management shake-up at Fusion-IO

Shares of Infoblox (BLOX, $27.58) today are again showing relative strength, hitting a new all-time high at $28.06 on active volume. So far this week, the stock is up 7.6%.

For more on Infoblox, a provider of appliance-based network infrastructure solutions, see the June 2013 issue of Tech-Stock Prospector (TSP #136).

Gigamon (GIMO, $25.80), a provider of network traffic intelligence solutions, went public this morning at $19 a share and opened for trading at $23.08.

The company’s Traffic Visibility Fabric consists of distributed network appliances that enable an advanced level of visibility, modification and control of network traffic. Gigamon competes with Cisco, Juniper, Brocade and Arista.

Revenue in 2012 rose 42% to $96.7 million. In Q1, revenue rose 54% to $25.8 million. There are 29.46 million shares outstanding after the offering.

Needham raises its Google (GOOG, $879.81) price target to $1,000 from $900 following the Waze purchase, saying the transaction is strategically important because the social aspect of the platform will help enhance Google Maps. Plus, Google kept Waze out of the hands of Facebook (FB) and Apple (AAPL).

Shares of Salesforce.com (CRM, $37.38) have pulled back to test the recent low of $37.10. The 50-day moving average of $42.12 is declining and headed for a potential downside crossover of the 200-day moving average at $40.88. The RSI is falling from 31.7.

Google (GOOG, $883.92) confirms that it has purchased Waze, saying it is excited about the prospect of enhancing Google Maps with some of the traffic update features provided by Waze and enhancing Waze with Google’s search capabilities. No purchase price was disclosed.

UBS is cautious on Marketo (MKTO, $21.39), initiating coverage with a ‘Neutral’ rating and a price target of $22, saying the Salesforce (CRM) purchase of ExactTarget (ET) creates uncertainties in the market. While UBS thinks Marketo is well positioned for rapid growth, the firm points out that there is a premium valuation.

BMO Capital initiates Tableau Software (DATA, $58.11) at ‘Market Perform’ with a price target of $57, saying the high valuation (16x on the 2014 revenue estimate) will be challenging to defend even though demand for BI 2.0 tools appears to be solid and the company’s solutions stack up well (with respect to both product architecture and pricing) against direct rivals Qlik Technologies (QLIK) and Tibco Software (TIBX).

Fidelity discloses a 10.6% stake in Juniper Networks (JNPR, $19.08). The money manager now owns 54 million shares, up from 44.4 million shares at the end of March. In Q1, Fidelity added 10.38 million shares of the networking equipment vendor.

Stifel upgrades Facebook (FB, $24.28) to ‘Buy’ with a price target of $29, saying it believes the shares have bottomed and that the company presents one of the most compelling investments in the Internet space at this time. The firm thinks positive catalysts (including the eventual monetization of Instagram as well as new overall advertising formats) are being ignored.

Last month, Facebook (FB) was the rumored buyer of Waze, a popular social traffic and mapping app.  But then the talks were said to have broken down over whether the Waze team would be able to stay put in Israel. Over the weekend, Google (GOOG, $879.73) became the new rumored buyer, at a price tag estimated to be around $1.3 billion. There have been various reports that the deal could be announced this week. If Google does buy Waze, it would be a competitive smack to both Facebook and Apple (AAPL).

Read the May 2013 issue of Tech-Stock Prospector on your Kindle or Kindle for iPad/iPhone app.

Order the latest issue of TSP for Kindle here.

Here are some of the topics covered in the May 2013 issue:

*Cloud software shines in Q1 earnings season

*NetSuite shows why it’s a cloud leader

*ServiceNow expanding its addressable market

*Proofpoint raises guidance on key security wins

*SPS Commerce builds its customer base

*Sourcefire raging in networking security

*Adobe Systems gets traction in the cloud

*A valuation reset for Citrix Systems

*Yahoo focuses on content & mobile

*Fusion-IO diversifies its customer portfolio

*LinkedIn disrupts enterprise recruiting

*New growth drivers at Microsoft

*Apple readies its next product cycle

*Akamai sees growth in cloud infrastructure

*Riverbed Technology tries to find footing

*A new capital allocation strategy at Harmonic

*Deal Report: Marketo IPO overview

Shares of Cisco Systems (CSCO, $24.68) today hit a new 52-week high at $24.78. So far this year, the stock has advanced 25.5%.

Shares of Electronic Arts (EA, $23.53) this morning hit a new 52-week high at $23.60 ahead of next week’s big E3 videogame conference in Los Angeles. On Monday afternoon, EA will unveil its next-gen games, including Battlefield 4.

Canaccord Genuity reiterates its RF Micro Devices (RFMD, $5.17) price target of $7.50, saying the chipmaker is well positioned for strong growth, driven by LTE smartphone platform gains and demand for smartphones in emerging markets.

Shares of Responsys (MKTG, $11.37) are continuing to trade higher (+7% today) after a Bloomberg article this morning stated the company could draw buyout interest following the Salesforce (CRM)-for-ExactTarget (ET) deal.  

Since the announcement of that acquisition earlier this week, Responsys shares have advanced more than 17%. For more on Responsys, Tech-Stock Prospector subscribers should see the January 2013 issue (TSP #131)—the stock at the time was trading at $6.50.

Shares of Citrix Systems (CTXS, $61.88) are approaching the April 30 low of $61.50. The RSI is drifting down from 36.3. The November 15 low stands at $56.57.

Communications equipment provider Ciena (CIEN, $18.37 pre market, +12.5%) reports strong fiscal Q2 (April) results and offers above-consensus fiscal Q3 revenue guidance ($515 million to $545 million, vs. consensus of $509.4 million).

Management expects 2H backlog to build, saying North American carriers are now starting to spend on next-generation networks. The company is seeing a strong uptick in 100G orders.

Following an 8% drop yesterday, Marketo (MKTO, $20.81) shares today are down 7.9%. The stock has reacted negatively to Salesforce’s planned purchase of ExactTarget (ET) because the combination will bring an increased level of competition to the cloud-based interactive marketing segment.

FBR Capital starts Workday (WDAY, $61.99) at ‘Market Perform’ with a price target of $64. While the firm is positive on Workday’s ability to increase penetration of its core HR offering and cross-sell financial management modules (and potentially new modules) to existing customers, these are offset by the risks of a high valuation, revenue concentration in one functional area and increased competition at the enterprise level.

Wedge Partners thinks Yelp (YELP, $28.50) will benefit from an expected Apple Maps refresh next week at WWDC. The firm expects Apple at its developers conference to show off an improved Maps platform, which would be a positive for Yelp in terms of its mobile metrics.

Goldman Sachs adds Salesforce.com (CRM, $37.80) to its ‘Conviction Buy List’ with a price target of $60, saying the company has significant runway in the core sales force automation market as well as in the service, marketing and platform segments.

Goldman looks for Salesforce’s share of the CRM market to grow to 22% in 2016 from 12% today. During this period, the firm forecasts that the size of the CRM market will expand by 32.5% to $26.5 billion.

Read the May 2013 issue of Tech-Stock Prospector on your Kindle or Kindle for iPad/iPhone app.

Order the latest issue of TSP for Kindle here.

Here are some of the topics covered in the May 2013 issue:

*Cloud software shines in Q1 earnings season

*NetSuite shows why it’s a cloud leader

*ServiceNow expanding its addressable market

*Proofpoint raises guidance on key security wins

*SPS Commerce builds its customer base

*Sourcefire raging in networking security

*Adobe Systems gets traction in the cloud

*A valuation reset for Citrix Systems

*Yahoo focuses on content & mobile

*Fusion-IO diversifies its customer portfolio

*LinkedIn disrupts enterprise recruiting

*New growth drivers at Microsoft

*Apple readies its next product cycle

*Akamai sees growth in cloud infrastructure

*Riverbed Technology tries to find footing

*A new capital allocation strategy at Harmonic

*Deal Report: Marketo IPO overview

CLSA reduces its Rackspace Hosting (RAX, $36.28) price target to $33 from $40 following IBM’s announced purchase of SoftLayer. CLSA, which has a ‘Sell’ rating on the Rackspace, thinks the core Managed Hosting business is slowing and competition is increasing. The firm does not see Rackspace as a buyout target, especially now that IBM is out of the picture.

Shares of Marketo (MKTO, $21.88) today are down more than 10% on the CRM-for-ET news. It was rumored that Marketo, which went public just last month at $13 a share (and opened for trading at $20), was on Salesforce’s shopping list before its IPO. Now Marketo faces a tougher competitor in CRM/ET.

For more on Marketo, see TechStock Radar—May 17, 2013.

Salesforce.com (CRM, $41.04) will acquire ExactTarget (ET, $22.10), a provider of cloud-based interactive marketing solutions, for $33.75 a share in a $2.5-billion deal. This is a 52.7% premium to ExactTarget's closing price last night.

This purchase was almost a given after Oracle in December announced the $871-million purchase of Eloqua, which had been a key Salesforce partner.

In the January 2013 issue of Tech-Stock Prospector (TSP #131), we wrote: “Given that Eloqua has been scooped up, ExactTarget now becomes a more likely M&A candidate for Salesforce or other large enterprise players looking for more cloud exposure.” At the time, ExactTarget was trading around $21 a share.

Zynga (ZNGA, $3.02) shares closed down more than 11% after confirming that it plans to cut 18% of its workforce (approximately 520 jobs) and close offices in a move to slash costs. The company also warns that Q2 bookings are expected to be in the lower half of the guidance range of $180 million to $190 million.

Shares of networking security vendor Palo Alto Networks (PANW, $45.52) today are down more than 6% on heavy volume and have hit a new post-IPO low of $45.41.

Palo Alto went public last July at $42 a share and opened for trading at $55.20. The stock made it up to a post-IPO high of $72.61.

For more on Palo Alto, see TechStock Radar—May 3,1 2013.

Shares of Yelp (YELP, $27.45) this morning are down nearly 8% and are approaching the 50-day moving average at $27.31.

Credit Suisse starts coverage of LinkedIn (LNKD, $165.07) at ‘Outperform’ with a price target of $220. For our take on LinkedIn, see the May 2013 issue of Tech-Stock Prospector (TSP #135).

Cantor Fitzgerald raises its Google (GOOG, $871.22) price target to $1030 from $900 based on increasing adoption of Enhanced Campaigns and strength in display ads. The analyst says YouTube monetization is “on a tear.” Cantor raises its 2013 EPS estimate to $45.70 from $45.18; the consensus is $45.79.