It is hard to believe how something so new and important ends up becoming passé so quickly. Ten years ago the thought that a smartphone that could do almost everything a personal computer could do was unthinkable, especially since the smartphone was still being invented.

Technology in all its forms constantly changes and evolves, and those who fail to change often end up in the technology graveyard.

These days, while some of the older school tech companies are getting hit on their over exposure to certain areas like personal computers (PCs), other companies continue to innovate and pull ahead of the pack.

In a new research report from Jefferies, the analysts highlight three companies that are doing just that, and posting outstanding earnings as well.

Electronic Arts

This company is a leading video game developer that should benefit from not only the continuing rise in new console sales, but also the rising trend of mobile gaming. Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA) produces top-selling games and related content and services under the EA brand in various categories, including action-adventure, role playing, racing and first-person shooter games.

The company, which is very well known for its EA sports games like Madden Football, has made the move into mobile play by adapting many of the top franchise titles, which have been popular for years, into the mobile arena.

The company announced solid earnings last week, and the video trailer for the company’s new game Battlefield had an incredible 21 million views in just four days on YouTube. The game is set in World War 1, which sets it apart from traditional futuristic games. The huge viewership could portend big sales. The analysts noted that the company also expects 45% growth in next generation consoles this year.

The Jefferies price target for the stock is a bold $105, and the Thomson/First Call consensus target price is listed at $83.93. The stock closed Friday at $75.20 per share.
Equinix

This stock will set you back a few bucks, but it has a stellar upside potential. Equinix Inc. (NASDAQ: EQIX) has had earnings per share revisions and target price revisions moved up solidly over the past six months. The company provides data center services to protect and connect the information assets for the enterprises, financial services companies and content and network providers primarily in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the Asia-Pacific.

Equinix connects companies directly to their customers and partners in networked data centers through its Equinix interconnection platform.

Wall Street analysts have cited the company’s strong double-digit top-line growth, solid corporate execution, multiyear secular tailwinds from the shift to hybrid cloud architectures and increasing return of capital to shareholders as all positives that justify the multiple. Other analysts have cited the company’s global footprint, growth that is fueled by interconnection capabilities and the strong margin expansion.

The Jefferies team recently met with the top management at Equinix and found that the trends at the company remain very strong. In fact, they are so strong the company does not feel the need to steer away from the current premium pricing policy.

Investors in Equinix are paid a 2.03% dividend. The Jefferies price target for the stock is $380. The consensus target is at $368.06. Shares closed most recently at $344.37.

NVIDIA

This is a top chip stock that reported stellar earnings last week. NVIDIA Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA) is one of the leaders when it comes to supplying graphics processing technology for the 3D graphics market, including desktop graphics processors and gaming consoles.

NVIDIA is also moving into visual computing chips for cars, mobile devices and supercomputers. The company has a technology partnership with electric car maker Tesla Motors. It has been able to use its ability to leverage past investments, with a more controlled spending structure ahead on unified, which enables strong cash flow that is allowing a focus on capital return, which is currently estimated to be $1 billion next year.

The company posted monster earnings for the most recent quarter that beat both sales and earnings consensus estimates handily while also providing guidance that was better than expected. Top Wall Street analysts feel the stock is maturing to a platform company from a pure chip company, and the Jefferies team sees the stock continuing to benefit from four secular trends: virtual reality, PC gaming, chips in the automobile industry and graphic processing units, or GPUs, in the cloud.

Jefferies analysts also like the company’s long-term prospects in its core markets, which is offset to some degree by some legacy declines. Some on Wall Street do note the ongoing litigation with Qualcomm and Samsung as a potential negative, as well as the uncertainty surrounding Intel royalties, but they view the company as transforming.

NVIDIA investors are paid a 1.12% dividend. The Jefferies price objective is set at $45, and the consensus target is much lower at $40.89. The stock closed Friday up big at $40.98, a gain of over 15%.

These three tech stocks are the wave of the future, and they are continuing to expand their core businesses into additional areas, which should help to keep the overall growth rates edging higher.

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