The Best (And Worst) Channel Stocks Of Q1

Q1 Channel Stocks

Channel stocks enjoyed a solid first quarter on Wall Street. Well, some of them. Of the 13 companies featured here, seven posted double-digit percentage gains in the quarter ended March 31. Two companies lost market capitalization in the quarter and four others grew below the Dow Jones average growth rate (6.4 percent) for the quarter.

Here's a closer look at the best and worst channel stocks of the first quarter.

Sapient

Mar. 31, 2011: $11.45
Dec. 31, 2010: $12.10
Change: -5.4%

Sapient shares fell nearly $1 per share on Feb. 17, despite reporting financials that beat expectations two days earlier.

GTSI

Mar. 31, 2011: $4.62
Dec. 31, 2010: $4.71
Change: -1.9%


GTSI's quarter was relatively uneventful, but that was a nice change for the Virginia-based federal VAR after a rough 2010 that included a temporary suspension by the Small Business Administration and a new CEO in December.

PC Connection

Mar. 31, 2011: $8.86
Dec. 31, 2010: $8.86
Change: 0.0%

PC Connection "broke even" in the first quarter, a period in which the company reported a 22-percent increase in sales and a 73-percent increase in earnings for the fourth fiscal quarter. The Merrimack, N.H.-based VAR also acquired ValCom Technology for $11.6 million in the first quarter.

Agilysys

Mar. 31, 2011: $5.74
Dec. 31, 2010: $5.63
Change: 2.0%

Agilysys was named to CRN's Tech Elite 250 in the first quarter, though the company reported a decrease in revenue and earnings in February for the third fiscal quarter ended Dec. 31, 2010.

Avnet

Mar. 31, 2011: $34.09
Dec. 31, 2010: $33.03
Change: 3.2%

Avnet announced during the first quarter that Rick Hamada would succeed Roy Vallee as CEO as of July 4. The Phoenix-based distributor also announced a partnership with Brocade to team on data center selling.

Synnex

Mar. 31, 2011: $32.73
Dec. 31, 2010: $31.20
Change: 4.9%

Synnex reported strong first-fiscal quarter financials for the quarter ended Feb. 28, but noted that the earthquake and tsunami in Japan could have an impact on product availability in the future.

Ingram Micro

Mar. 31, 2011: $21.03
Dec. 31, 2010: $19.09
Change: 10.2%

Ingram Micro was named BMC's first U.S. distributor in early March and also launched a recycling program for printer cartridges and cell phones in the first quarter.

Accenture

Mar. 31, 2011: $54.97
Dec. 31, 2010: $48.49
Change: 13.4%

Accenture shares closed as low as $48.98 as recently as March 16 but gained $2.33 per share on March 25 after the company posted strong earnings and raised guidance.

Tech Data

Mar. 31, 2011: $50.86
Dec. 31, 2010: $44.02
Change: 15.5%

Tech Data was the strongest broadline distributor on Wall Street in the first quarter. During that period, the Clearwater, Fla.-based company launched new software licensing platform to help VARs simplify that process.

Meanwhile, Tech Data earned $77.3 million, or $1.63 per diluted share, on sales of $7.12 billion in sales. Analysts had estimated earnings of $1.43 per share on $6.87 billion on sales for the fourth quarter.

ScanSource

Mar. 31, 2011: $37.99
Dec. 31, 2010: $31.90
Change: 19.1%

ScanSource shares increased $2.73 per share on Jan. 28 a day after the company posted impressive earnings and sales growth. Most recently, Catalyst Telecom, a sales unit of ScanSource, became the first distributor to become fully compliant in the Avaya Connect Distribution program, according to ScanSource.

Arrow Electronics

Mar. 31, 2011: $41.88
Dec. 31, 2010: $34.25
Change: 22.3%

In February, Arrow launched a social networking site for IBM VARs, and saw its stock increase by nearly $2 per share on Feb. 2 after the company posted better than expected profit for the fourth fiscal quarter.

Insight Enterprises

Mar. 31, 2011: $17.03
Dec. 31, 2010: $13.16
Change: 29.4%

Insight shares increased from $14.61 to $19.10 over a two-day span in early February, then settled back down in the $17 dollar range. Insight was also named to CRN's Tech Elite 250.

PC Mall

Mar. 31, 2011: $10.37
Dec. 31, 2010: $7.57
Change: 37.0%

PC Mall shares jumped nearly $1 per share on Feb. 16 after reporting strong financial results for the fourth quarter. They continued to climb after PC Mall also agreed to acquire assets of eCost.com for $2.3 million later in February.