We always like to present stock ideas from the top firms that 24/7 Wall St. covers on Wall Street with an eye toward solid value. Chasing the proverbial high-flyers can often be a lesson in pain for investors. The UBS Quality Growth at a Reasonable Price (Q-GARP) portfolio has always had companies that feature:

1. Quality metrics: high and stable profitability
2. Growth: high expected earnings growth
3. Valuation: low valuation relative to peers

The portfolio has outperformed the S&P 500 benchmark substantially since inception.

We screened the first 2016 report from the portfolio managers and analysts with an eye toward the technology stocks in the portfolio. After a horrible January that was somewhat helped by a late in the month rally, tech stocks that are included look very solid for investors who have a somewhat higher risk tolerance.

Alphabet

The technology giant is a top pick at UBS for 2016, and it reports earnings after the close Monday. Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL), through its subsidiaries, builds technology products and provides services to organize information.

The company offers Google Search, which provides information online; Google Now offers information to users when they need it; AdWords is an auction-based advertising program; AdSense enables websites that are part of the Google network to deliver ads; DoubleClick Ad Exchange is a marketplace for the trading display ad space; and other advertising platforms include AdExchange and AdMob.

The company also provides YouTube, which offers video, interactive and other ad formats; Android, an open source mobile software platform; hardware products such as Chromebook, Chrome OS devices, Chromecast and Nexus devices; Google Play, a cloud-based digital entertainment store for apps, music, books and movies; Google Drive, a place for users to create, share, collaborate and keep their stuff; and Google Wallet, a virtual wallet for in-store contactless payments.

Google remains the undisputed leader in Internet search, and when you add in a diverse portfolio, continued growth is not out of the question. YouTube watch time accelerated a massive 60% year over year, and the average view session was up 50% to 40 minutes. The YouTube surge last year represented the best growth in two years.

Many Wall Street analysts have lauded the numerous upcoming catalysts and point out that the company showed consistent revenue growth, margin stabilization and finally gave cash back in the form of a $5.1 billion stock buyback last year. Last, but certainly not least, the company remains one of the best overall portfolio plays that focuses on the biggest Internet trends: the mobile/multi-Screen shift, wearable devices, video, the Internet of Things and much more. Alphabet delivers investors the full package.

The Thomson/First Call consensus price target is $860.69. The stock closed trading on Friday at $761.35.
Apple

Shares of the world’s biggest and boldest technology company are down a stunning 28% from highs posted in the spring of 2015. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) revolutionized personal technology with the introduction of the Macintosh in 1984. Today, Apple leads the world in innovation with iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Apple TV. Apple’s four software platforms — iOS, OS X, watchOS and tvOS — provide seamless experiences across all Apple devices and empower people with breakthrough services, including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay and iCloud.

Apple has continually stayed in the limelight as the Silicon Valley behemoth comes out with a ton of new products for the Apple nation to embrace. In what is becoming a new trend, many of the former bullish analysts on the stock somewhat yawned at some the new offerings last fall, saying that it was really “no big deal.”

While the company posted earnings that beat fourth-quarter estimates, it missed on almost every other metric, most importantly on product sales, where they came in under the 75 million units estimated for iPhone sales. The stock has been battered, though it rallied back big on Friday’s huge move to the upside.

Top analysts note that many of the Apple suppliers did indeed preannounce negative earnings, and they think there is potential risk to the estimates for the March quarter. Most remain comfortable with estimates for 45 million iPhones, and while the March quarter chatter could remain an issue, the long-term story remains in place and should work well through the balance of 2016 and beyond.

Apple investors receive a 2.14% dividend. The consensus price objective is $136.59, and shares closed last Friday at $97.34.

Facebook

The huge social media leader posted gigantic numbers that truly blew most of Wall Street away. Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) has Instagram, which many see revenues tripling in 2017 as opposed to 2016, as well as Premium video and Graph Search capabilities to strengthen the social media giant’s earnings flow.

Top analysts have noted in the past that Facebook and Instagram account for 5% of users’ total media time, but the company doesn’t come close to capturing 5% of total advertising budgets. Instagram advertising opened up in the fourth quarter. The company reported revenues for the December quarter that were 10% ahead of many Wall Street estimates.

Most Wall Street analysts note that Facebook remains the top beneficiary of the adoption of mobile Internet trends with total U.S. Internet time spent on Facebook and Messenger. Other metrics continue to explode, and the key is that no viable challengers are anywhere in sight. Many have cited positive monthly data use, easier growth comparisons and positive data on ad revenue drivers as the top catalysts. The Facebook longer term opportunities are almost unmatched by its mega-cap consumer Internet peers.

Some Wall Street analysts also noted that the holidays for 2015 may be the time when advertisers truly embraced mobile ads on a global basis. With over 1.5 billion global users who spend the large majority of their mobile time on Facebook, the company continues to own the social media stratosphere.

The consensus target price is $132.75, and that is bound to jump. The shares closed Friday at $112.21.

There you have it, quality tech stocks at a reasonable price. While these are not for conservative accounts, they do make sense for long-term investors willing to have a technology presence in their portfolios.

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