Top 10 Tech Companies To Watch In Right Now

The custom prosthetics and orthotics market is shaping up to be the next place where 3-D printing is headed. Companies like Stratasys (NASDAQ: SSYS  ) and 3D Systems (NYSE: DDD  ) have increased their exposure to this multi-billion-dollar industry. In this video, Fool.com contributor Steve Heller sits down with The Motley Fool's Erin Miller to discuss why this is another area where 3-D printing is changing the landscape and how it could lead to billions in new revenues.

3D Systems is at the leading edge of a disruptive technological revolution, with the broadest portfolio of 3-D printers in the industry. However, despite years of earnings growth, 3D Systems' share price has risen even faster, and today the company sports a dizzying valuation. To help investors decide whether the future of additive manufacturing is bright enough to justify the lofty price tag on the company's shares, The Motley Fool has compiled a premium research report on whether 3D Systems is a buy right now. In our report, we take a close look at 3D Systems' opportunities, risks, and critical factors for growth. You'll also find reasons to buy or sell the stock today. To start reading, simply click here now for instant access.

Top 10 Tech Companies To Watch In Right Now: Semtech Corporation(SMTC)

Semtech Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, designs, produces, and markets analog and mixed-signal semiconductor products. The company?s product lines include protection products comprising filter and termination devices that provide protection for electronic systems from voltage spikes; power management products consisting of switching voltage regulators, combination switching and linear regulators, smart regulators, and charge pumps; and discrete semiconductor products, such as rectifiers, assemblies, and other products. It also offers wired communication, ultra-high speed Serializer/Deserializer, and modulator driver products that perform timing, synchronization, and amplification functions in high-speed networks; chips and transceivers for short reach, metro, and long haul applications; and high performance transceivers for datacenter applications. In addition, the company provides wireless and sensing products that perform radio frequency functions in indust rial, medical, and networking applications; and sensing functions in industrial and consumer applications. It serves original equipment manufacturers and their subcontractors in the computing, communications, consumer, and industrial end-markets directly, and through independent distributors and sales representative firms in North America, the Asia Pacific, and Europe. Semtech Corporation was founded in 1960 and is headquartered in Camarillo, California.

Top 10 Tech Companies To Watch In Right Now: Open Ec Technologies Inc. (OCE.V)

Open EC Technologies, Inc. provides e-business software, services, and solutions. It develops and markets electronic data interchange (EDI) software primarily to retailers, financial and public institutions, utility and pharmaceutical companies, and wholesalers in North America and Asia. It also offers e-commerce software; software through Internet portals and licenses; and consulting and support services. In addition, the company provides a healthcare information exchange solution to connect healthcare providers and healthcare payers, for healthcare claims, eligibility, payments, purchasing, and records, as well as medical claim clearing and billing services. Its products are used by customers, software companies, and resellers to implement standards based electronic commerce, EDI, business to business commerce, and business document exchanges. The company was founded in 1981 and is headquartered in North Vancouver, Canada. As of October 25, 2012, Open EC Technologies Inc . operates as a subsidiary of QHR Technologies Inc.

Top 10 Low Price Stocks To Watch Right Now: Flextronics International Ltd.(FLEX)

Flextronics International Ltd. provides design and electronics manufacturing services to original equipment manufacturers. The company offers its services to a range of products in the infrastructure, mobile communication devices, computing, consumer digital devices, industrial, semiconductor capital equipment, clean technology, aerospace and defense, white goods, automotive and marine, and medical devices markets. Its services include design and engineering services, such as contract design, joint development manufacturing, and original design and manufacturing services in a range of technical competencies that include system architecture, user interface and industrial design, mechanical engineering, enclosure systems, thermal and tooling design, electronic system design, reliability and failure analysis, and component level development engineering; and systems assembly and manufacturing services, including enclosures, testing, and materials procurement and inventory mana gement services. The company also offers various component product solutions comprising rigid and flexible printed circuit board fabrication, display and touch solutions, optomechatronics, and power supplies; after market supply chain logistics services; and reverse logistics and repair services, such as returns management, exchange programs, complex repair, asset recovery, recycling, and e-waste management services for consumer and midrange products, printers, PDA's, mobile phones, consumer medical devices, notebooks, PC's, set-top boxes, game consoles, and infrastructure products. It has operations in Asia, the Americas, and Europe. Flextronics International Ltd. was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in Singapore.

Top 10 Tech Companies To Watch In Right Now: Marchex Inc.(MCHX)

Marchex, Inc. operates as a call advertising and small business marketing company. The company?s products, services, and technologies enable advertisers to reach consumers across mobile, online, and offline sources. It offers call advertising products and services to national advertisers, advertising agencies, and small advertiser reseller partners, which include pay-for-call through the Marchex Pay-For-Call Exchange and call analytics solutions comprising phone number and call tracking, call mining, keyword-level tracking, click-to-call, Website proxying, and other call-based products that enable customers to utilize mobile, online, and offline advertising. The company also offers small business marketing products that enable reseller partners of small business advertisers, such as Yellow Pages providers and vertical marketing service providers to sell call advertising and/or search marketing products through their existing sales channels, which are fulfilled across the c ompany?s distribution network, such as mobile sources, search engines, and traffic sources. In addition, it offers pay-per-click advertising to online users in response to their keyword search queries or on pages they visit throughout the company?s distribution network of search engines, shopping engines, third party verticals, local Websites, mobile distribution, and publishing network. Further, the company offers publishing network, which includes the company?s owned and operated Websites that help users to make decisions about the availability of local products and services. The Websites in the company?s publishing network include small business listings, as well as expert and user-generated reviews on small businesses. Marchex, Inc., through its products and services distributes advertisements from various advertisers and its reseller partners? advertisers. The company was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Seattle, Washington.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Paul]  

  ThinkEquity said though it is favorable on the 2011 prospects of a number of companies in the online marketing services ecosystem, it believes that Marchex has a relatively open-ended opportunity as the early leader in the emerging market for call-based advertising.

  "We are particularly favorable on the company's partnership with Skype, by which the company is selling and providing technology to enable advertiser-sponsored Skype Out calling over PCs," analysts said.

Top 10 Tech Companies To Watch In Right Now: Exfo Electro-Optic Com Npv(EXF.TO)

EXFO Inc. designs, manufactures, and markets test and service assurance solutions in the telecommunications industry worldwide. The company?s wireline test equipment includes FTB-1 platform, a single-slot modular platform to fiber-to-the-home and Ethernet testing applications; FTB-200 compact platform, which include a range of singlemode and multimode optical time-domain reflectometers, automated optical loss test sets, and SONET/SDH analyzers up to 10 Gbit/s, as well as gigabit Ethernet and 10 gigabit Ethernet testers; and FTB-500, a third-generation field-testing platform for datacom testing, OTDR analysis, optical loss, and Ethernet testing. Its wireless test equipment comprises 2G, 3G, and 4G/LTE protocol analyzers for network operators, which allows engineers to troubleshoot networks in order to find the source of errors and fix them. The company also provides wireline/wireless service assurance systems, including Brix System, an integrated hardware and software solu tion that delivers end-to-end quality of service and quality of experience visibility, as well as real-time Internet protocol service monitoring and verification for next-generation networks. In addition, it offers IQS-600 platform to support single-button operation for automated testing. Further, the company provides protocol and distributed analyzers bridging to service assurance for protocol analysis to verify correct network behavior; network simulators for regression and load testing applications; and mobile communications intelligence tools for police, armed forces, and other governmental organizations to fight organized crime and terrorists. It serves wireless and wireline network operators, equipment manufacturers, cable television companies, public utilities, private network operators, third-party installers, equipment rental companies, large enterprises, component vendors, and laboratory researchers. EXFO Inc. was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Quebec, Can ada.

Top 10 Tech Companies To Watch In Right Now: Red Hat Inc.(RHT)

Red Hat, Inc. provides open source software solutions to enterprises worldwide. It also offers enterprise-ready open source operating system platforms. The company provides Red Hat Enterprise Linux, an operating system designed for enterprise computing; JBoss Enterprise Middleware that offers a suite of products for developing, deploying, integrating, and managing distributed, composite, and Web-based applications and services; and Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization for Servers, including Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization Hypervisor, a hypervisor based on KVM technology that converts the Red Hat Enterprise Linux kernel into a virtualization platform; and Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization Manager, a server virtualization management system, which provide capabilities for host and guest operating systems, such as availability, live migration, power manager, storage manager, and system scheduler. It also offers other Red Hat enterprise technologies, which comprise Red Hat MRG t hat integrates open and scalable messaging; Red Hat Developer, which provides integrated development environments and support for application developers; and Red Hat Directory Server that centralizes application settings, user profiles, group data, policies, and access control information into a network-based registry. In addition, the company offers Red Hat systems management solutions, such as RHN, RHN Satellite, Red Hat Customer Portal, and JBoss ON; and infrastructure enterprise technologies, including software development tools, clustering of systems and services, and directory services. Further, it provides consulting, training, and support services. The company sells its enterprise technologies through subscriptions. It has strategic alliances with Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.; and Intel Corporation. The company was formerly known as Red Hat Software, Inc. and changed its name to Red Hat, Inc. in June 1999. Red Hat, Inc. was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Ral eigh, North Carolina.

Top 10 Tech Companies To Watch In Right Now: Salesforce.com Inc (CRM)

Salesforce.com, inc., incorporated in February 1999, is a provider of enterprise cloud computing and social enterprise solutions. The Company provides a customer and collaboration relationship management (CRM), applications through the Internet or cloud. Cloud computing refers to the use of Internet-based computing, storage and connectivity technology to deliver a variety of different services. The Company delivers its service through Internet browsers and mobile devices. It markets its social enterprise applications and platforms to businesses on a subscription basis, primarily through its direct sales efforts and indirectly through partners. In January 2011, it acquired Heroku, Inc. and DimDim, Inc. In May 2011, the Company acquired Radian6 Technologies Inc. In September 2011, the Company acquired Assistly. In August 2012, the Company acquired Buddy Media. In May 2013, SalesForce.com Inc acquired Clipboard Inc.

The Company introduced Chatter, a collaboration application for the enterprise to connect and share information securely and in real-time. It serves its customers from third-party data center hosting facilities located in the United States and other countries. The Company�� primary applications are sales cloud, service cloud, salesforce chatter, Salesforce Radian6 and Salesforce Data.com.

The Company�� customers are able to establish a system and process for recording, tracking, and sharing information about sales opportunities, sales leads, sales forecasts, the sales process, and closed business, as well as managing sales territories. Customers are able to create social profiles of their customers, based on information from social networking services like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Its customers are also able to manage unstructured information, such as sales collateral, presentations, price lists, and video assets. In addition, the Sales Cloud encompasses partner relationship management functionality (including channel management and partner portals) and m! arketing automation (including campaigns, and return-on-investment tracking).

The Company�� customer service and support automation features are marketed under its Service Cloud brand and allow its customers to service and engage with their customers. Using the Service Cloud, companies can access a solution for their customer service interactions across every service channel: call centers with phone, email, and chat; Web portals for self-service and customer collaboration; and community interactions within social networks. In addition, built-in collaboration tools enable customer service agents to share information on how to better service customers.

The Company�� Chatter application enables customers to create private employee social networks for companies of all sizes in order to improve employee collaboration. For customers of its Sales and Service Cloud editions, Chatter is included free for all subscribers. In addition, it offers Chatter Plus edition, designed to provide access to Chatter for employees in customers��organizations who are not subscribers of a Sales or Service Cloud edition. It delivered features, including Chatter Now for real-time collaboration, and Chatter Customer Groups enabling users to invite people outside their organizations, such as customers and partners, into their Chatter network to collaborate in a secure environment. Chatter is a core attribute of its Force.com platform and its social capabilities are an integral part of each of its application offerings and its Social Enterprise solution.

The Company�� Radian6 application provides its customers a tool for social media monitoring and marketing. The application allows companies to listen, analyze, engage and measure their brand�� presence within social media. It provides companies with a database of business contacts, company profiles and social insights. Delivered as a service, data.com integrates with its applications to provide the business data that helps companies in! crease th! eir pipeline of sales leads.

The Company�� cloud platforms provide application developers access to new capabilities that can be built into their business applications. These platforms include features popularized by social networking companies, such as profiles, status updates and feeds, and also the capability to extend applications for use on mobile devices. In addition, they run on its Database.com offering, an open enterprise database built for social and mobile computing. Its cloud platforms allow both information technology (IT) departments and independent software vendors (ISV) developers to use several programming languages to build their applications. Developers are able to use the programming languages on its cloud platforms, such as Java and Ruby, to build their applications, and its cloud platforms support multiple other languages to provide developers openness and choice.

The Company has two platform offerings: Force.com and Heroku, and offer additional developer tools, such as Database.com and the AppExchange. The Force.com cloud computing platform provides a feature set and technology environment for building business applications, including data models and objects to manage data, a workflow engine for managing collaboration of data between users, a user interface model to handle forms and other interactions, and a Web services API for programmatic access and integration. Heroku is a cloud platform for application developers to build and deploy social and mobile applications. Built on open standards, Heroku supports multiple frameworks, databases, and languages, including Java and Ruby. The AppExchange is an online directory that provides customers a way to browse, sample, share, and install applications developed on its Force.com platform. Partners and developers can offer their applications and services for a fee on the AppExchange directory. This directory gives its users a way to find and install applications to expand their use of the Force.com platform t! o areas t! hat are complementary to its social enterprise solution.

The Company offer consulting, deployment and training services to our customers to facilitate the adoption of its social enterprise services. Consulting services consist of services, such as business process mapping, project management services and guidance on best practices in using its service. Deployment services include systems integration, technical architecture and development, configuration and data conversion, as well as developing and delivering customized education programs for its customers. Most of its consulting and deployment engagements are billed on a time and materials basis. It offer a number of traditional classroom and online educational classes that address topics, such as deploying, using, administering and developing on its service. It also offers classes for its partners who deploy its service on behalf of its customers.

Top 10 Tech Companies To Watch In Right Now: Cognex Corporation(CGNX)

Cognex Corporation provides machine vision products that capture and analyze visual information to automate tasks primarily in manufacturing processes. It operates in two divisions, Modular Vision Systems and Surface Inspection Systems. The Modular Vision Systems division develops, manufactures, and markets modular vision systems that are used to automate the manufacture of discrete items, such as cellular phones, aspirin bottles, and automobile wheels by locating, identifying, inspecting, and measuring them during the manufacturing process. The Surface Inspection Systems division develops, manufactures, and markets surface inspection vision systems that are used to inspect the surfaces of materials processed in a continuous fashion, including metals, papers, nonwoven, plastics, and glass. The company serves customers in factory automation, semiconductor and electronics capital equipment, and surface inspection markets. Cognex Corporation sells its products through direct sales force, as well as through a network of integration and distribution partners worldwide. The company was founded in 1981 and is headquartered in Natick, Massachusetts.

Top 10 Tech Companies To Watch In Right Now: Bel Fuse Inc.(BELFB)

Bel Fuse Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, manufacture, and sale of products used in local area networking, telecommunications, business equipment, and consumer electronic applications in North America, Europe, and Asia. It offers various magnetic products, including MagJack integrated connector modules that provide the signal conditioning, electromagnetic interference suppression, and signal isolation for networking, telecommunications, and broadband applications; diplexer and triplexer filters used in high speed, home networking applications that utilize excess bandwidth available on existing coax cabling; power transformer products comprising standard and custom designs for use in alarm, security, motion control, elevator, and medical products; and discrete magnetic components consisting of transformers and chokes for use in networking, telecommunications, and broadband applications. The company also offers modules, such as power conversion mo dules comprising standard and custom isolated and non-isolated DC-DC converters designed to power low voltage silicon devices; and integrated modules that condition, filter, and isolate the electronic signal to ensure accurate data/voice/video transmission, as well as circuit protection products, including board level fuses and polymeric positive temperature coefficient devices for use in televisions, consumer electronics, power supplies, computers, telephones, and networking equipment. In addition, it provides a line of modular connectors, such as RJ45 and RJ11 passive jacks, plugs, and cable assemblies; and compression interfaces, high speed cables, connectors, and enclosures and harnesses. Bel Fuse Inc. sells its products through direct strategic account managers, regional sales managers working with independent sales representative organizations, and authorized distributors. The company was founded in 1949 and is headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey.

Top 10 Tech Companies To Watch In Right Now: Acxiom Corporation(ACXM)

Acxiom Corporation provides marketing technology and services that enable marketers to manage audience, personalize consumer experiences, and create customer relationships. It operates in two segments, Information Services and Information Products. The Information Services segment offers customer data integration, multichannel marketing services, infrastructure management services, and consulting services. This segment also develops, sells, and delivers industry-tailored solutions, including the design and creation of marketing databases and data warehouses; data integration and customer-recognition systems; marketing applications; list processing; and information technology services. The Information Products segment develops and sells various data products, including segmentation products and domestic fraud and risk mitigation products, as well as online advertising products. This segment provides InfoBase-Xa, a customer-centric foundation for various marketing needs with a collection of the United States consumer information available in one source; PersonicXa, a household segmentation and visualization system; and Acxiom Relevance-Xa, an online advertising network that lets marketers reach the consumers interested in their particular product or service. The company serves clients in financial services, insurance, information services, direct marketing, media, retail, consumer packaged goods, technology, automotive, healthcare, travel, and telecommunications industries. It offers its products and services in the United States, Europe, the Asia Pacific, and the Middle East. The company was founded in 1969 and is headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas.