With the trading year already half over and the earnings report tidal wave ready to start, many of the top Wall Street firms are tweaking their lists of stocks to buy for institutional and high net worth clients. In a new report, UBS has made changes to the firm’s Quality Growth At a Reasonable Price (Q-GARP) list.

The UBS Q-GARP stock list has outperformed the S&P 500 by a cumulative 66% since its inception in 2007, and it presents investors with outstanding ideas to add to long-term growth portfolios.

We screened the report for current changes and also for the current technology stocks in the portfolio, as they have been hit hard this year and may present investors the best value.

The UBS team removes eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) from the portfolio, citing the upcoming spin-off of the PayPal unit as a major reason for the removal. The separation will be completed on Friday, and starting next Monday PayPal will begin trading on the Nasdaq under the stock symbol PYPL. The UBS team feels that eBay as a standalone company will experience slower growth; hence, the removal.

Apple

This company remains the world’s biggest and boldest technology company. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) has stayed in the limelight with the release of the Apple Watch, and while not generating the kind of in-store mania the iPhone 6 release did, reports indicate that 2.5 million orders for the new wearable device were taken by the company in the United States alone and it continues to grow

Many Wall Street analysts say investors need to stay long the stock into second-quarter earnings. They see strong continued iPhone 6 sales and numerous catalysts on the horizon. The company is also widening its lead over Google in the app marketplace. In fact, revenue at Apple’s global App Store was about 70% higher than on Google Play in the first quarter, compared with about a 60% advantage last year.

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With a recent huge streaming music announcement, with some concessions made due to pushback from superstar Taylor Swift, the company continues to expand the gigantic reach it already commands. Apple is also updating the iOS operating system, updating and adding new apps and expanding Apple Pay. In other words, it is continuing to add to its 800-pound gorilla status.

Apple investors are paid a 1.7% dividend. The UBS price target for the stock is at $150. The Thomson/First Call consensus figure is at $148.88. The stock closed Monday at $125.66.
Facebook

This incredible fast-growing company remains the face of social media. Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) has been grinding higher over the past year after a big run up in 2013 to early 2014, when the stock almost doubled, and the social media behemoth does not look to be slowing down as analyst across Wall Street continue to recommend the stock and have moved price targets higher.

With Instagram, Premium video and Graph Search capabilities, some analysts feel that the company can drive revenue growth even without a huge increase in advertising placement. It has been reported that Instagram is opening its platform for advertisers, particularly direct response advertisers via new direct response ad units like mobile app install ads. With a talented and experienced sales team, this should only continue to drive revenue higher.

Most Wall Street analysts point to the fact that Facebook remains the top beneficiary of the adoption of mobile Internet trends, with total U.S. Internet time spent on Facebook and Messenger up 19.6% in May. Other metrics continue to explode, and the key is there is no viable challengers anywhere in sight. They cite positive monthly data use, easier growth comparisons and positive data on ad revenue drivers as the top catalysts.

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Facebook also recently announced a willingness to share ad revenue to acquire premium content, a totally new avenue for the company. They hope to draw content away from Google’s YouTube. Facebook will offer contributors 55% of the revenue from ads that appear alongside videos, the same split as YouTube. The spots will be part of a new feature that suggests clips to Facebook users who are already watching videos. This is yet another step forward for the company as it builds a hedge to the social media train that at some point may hit critical mass.

The $92 UBS price target is less than the consensus target of $97.76. The shares closed Monday at $90.10 apiece.

Google

The technology giant is striving to expand customer offerings and increase the brand reach. Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL) recently introduced Android Pay, a revamped photos and a lightweight Android derivative operating system they call Brillo, which is designed to power the Internet of Things. The company also recently announced a new mobile version for the Android OS, which is expected to be released this fall.

While Google has competition in search, the company’s search advertising numbers are still rising year-over-year a stellar 20% from big direct response advertisers and a solid, but lower 15% from more traditional retailers. As many have expected, search traffic on desktop is growing modestly on a year-over-year basis, but aggregate traffic growth is being driven by mobile.

Google remains the undisputed leader in Internet search, and when you add in a diverse portfolio that includes everything from the Android platform, to You Tube, the Google Wallet for automatic pay, to the Google Flights tool continued growth is not out of the question.

Some prominent Wall Street analysts also think that Google can be a big winner in augmented reality (AR) in both the hardware and services categories. With Google Glass and the company’s big investment in Magic Leap for hardware and virtual reality and AR apps powering the computing of the future, Google’s massive trove of data will be key to enabling both.

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Google stock has dramatically underperformed over the past year and with a gigantic stash of cash, and new directions in countless technology silos, the future is extremely bright for the company.

The UBS price target is $675. The consensus price target is posted at $6340.09. The stock closed trading on Monday at $571.73.

Qualcomm

This is a top technology stock that has totally underperformed this year. Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) lowered its full-year earnings and revenue forecasts to start off the year, as it lowered the sales outlook for its semiconductor business. That was not what analysts were expecting. The stock is a Wall Street favorite, and many are sticking to their guns, basically saying that trading at current levels, the stock is at 14.81 times estimated 2015 earnings, it is a tremendous long-term value. Qualcomm is a quality tech company with recurring royalty revenue and a strong footprint, so patient investors may fare very well.

The company is reported to be losing chip business and activist investors Jana Partners is reported to be pressuring the company to spin off its chip business. Jana also wants Qualcomm to cut costs, accelerate a share buyback, improve disclosures and refresh its board. Jana is listed as one of the company’s largest shareholders with a reported $2 billion stake. Reports indicate that the company does not want to spin of the chip business, and a showdown could occur.

The growth of 3G mobile technologies in emerging markets, like China and India, has positively impacted Qualcomm and could be a difference maker going forward. Qualcomm is and has been for years a market leader in the development of 3G CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) technologies. The company recently developed an LTE chipset that supports SCDMA (Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access) technology. China’s mobile network runs on this, and it could provide the company with a huge leg up in years to come.

Qualcomm investors are paid a 3.1% dividend. UBS has a $71 price target for the stock, which is rated Neutral at the firm, and the consensus target is lower at $74.78. Shares closed Monday at $63.43.

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Technology has been hard hit this year and may be offering investors the best entry point in some time. With Microsoft announcing a July 29 release date for Windows 10, and the Apple iPhone 6s due out later this year, there are plenty of catalysts to help the sector turn around.

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