Technology Spdr (XLK): Top Hardware and Software Picks for 2017 - Drexel Hamilton

Drexel Hamilton analyst, Brian White, published his top technology picks for the coming year: Apple (AAPL), Box (BOX),Salesforce (CRM), Splunk (SPLK) and Twilio (TWLO).

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL): The analyst thinks 2017 could be the breakout year for the company as expectations build for a major iPhone 8 product cycle and the company sits on a $216 billion overseas cash hoarde as a more favorable tax repatriation policy may be just over the horizon. The analyst thinks that when taking overseas cash into account, the dividend yield could climb to 3.5%-4.0%.

Box (NYSE: BOX): The analyst thinks BOX is one of the exciting stories of 2017 due to new product releases like Box Governance and Box Zones which should have a more pronounced financial impact in the coming year.

Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM): This appears to be the best way to play the cloud trend. Salesforce should continue to expand the reach of Service Cloud and ramp the Commerce Cloud (Demandware acquisition), while also demonstrate early traction with Einstein.

Splunk (NASDAQ: SPLK): The premiere Big Data play, Splunk is down 12% YTD despite excellent
results in 2016. In 2017, Splunk should continue to pull ahead of the competition with the benefit of scale, brand recognition and technological leadership.

Twilio (NYSE: TWLO): The disruptive, next-generation, cloud play should deliver the fastest sales growth within the analyst's coverage universe in 2017.

These names are representative of the Technology Select Sector Spdr Fund (NYSE: XLK).

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