2012 was a pretty successful year for the tech sector as a whole. The SPRD Technology ETF (XLK) is up nearly 13% year to date. But what does next year hold? Breakout welcomed Ironfire’s founder and CEO, Eric Jackson, to weigh in.
For starters, Jackson thinks 2013 will be a banner one for stocks in general, saying, "It wouldn’t surprise me if the S&P went up 20 percent.” More specifically, Jackson offered some thoughts on a few current and former tech heavyweights:
Facebook (FB)
“I think Facebook’s facing an ‘either/or’ 2013,” says Jackson. “It could be a massively successful one for the stock, or it could end up kind of limping in the second half of the year.”
The technology guru cites questions surrounding sales, the management team and the continued transition to mobile as potential pitfalls for Zuckerberg and company. Still, he expects “a monster Q4 when they announce it in January” and says they’ve done a great job at “throwing everything at the wall and seeing what sticks,” which includes the fact that they’re up for buying any company that looks interesting.
Research in Motion (RIMM)
Jackson defended his purchase of Research in Motion on Breakout earlier this month and is now calling it his “sleeper pick” for 2013. While admitting some risk, he says, “I think this thing even here [at almost $14 a share] has a long way to go up.”
A key factor in the success or demise of the company will be the Blackberry 10 operating system and the new phones built to run it. Set to be released at the end of January, Jackson thinks that, “if just a small minority of those 80 million [worldwide Blackberry subscribers] buy these things, it’s gonna be a big profit year for RIM.”
Furthermore, Jackson argues that “there’s gotta be a number three player” behind cell phone juggernauts Apple (AAPL) and Android (GOOG), and perhaps Blackberry 10 will cement that status.
It all leads to a call for a $40 stock by the end of 2013.
Yahoo! (YHOO)
Jackson weighed in on our employer, stating, “I love Yahoo. Anybody that thinks the stock has had a huge move from $14 to $19, they’re not seeing the end of their noses. This thing is still massively undervalued.” He points to Yahoo’s 24% stake in Alibaba group as a key factor in their success, notably the fact that the Asian e-commerce giant is poised to surpass Amazon (AMZN) in total revenue in the coming years.
Jackson finishes by claiming Yahoo! is “ready to show the world they still matter,” to the tune of $30 a share by the end of 2013.
