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It's the time of year when NFL analysts and fans start speculating about which head coaches are going to lose their jobs.
We do the same thing in the business world. But not just for fun. Management reshuffling can turbocharge a company's share price.
Today I'm highlighting five tech CEOs who will be under enormous pressure in 2015, making these stocks to watch...
Watching for the Pink Slip
We're going through this exercise today because the quality of a company's leadership has a major impact on the value of your investment.
Indeed, it's at the heart of Rule No. 1 of my five-part Tech Wealth Secrets system, which says "great companies have great operations."
And those great operations almost always come in the form of excellent leadership.
The New England Patriots wouldn't be the best team in the NFL without Bill Belichick at the helm - and Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) might be floundering without Satya Nadella.
It's our job now to find the Joe Philbins and Rex Ryans of the tech world.
Consider the case of Mike Jeffries, who abruptly left the CEO spot of Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE: ANF) last week. Lately, under Jeffries, the iconic casual wear retailer was ringing up poor sales - and the stock was off nearly 18% year to date.But, like I said before, a switch at the top can create a special situation for investors. And the day Jeffries left, A&F's stock surged 8% on heavy volume.
In other words, the departure of an embattled CEO can be a major share-price catalyst.
So, let's take a look at five high-tech leaders who are clearly on the hot seat.
Embattled Tech CEO No. 1: Dick Costolo, Twitter
You know an executive is under duress when he becomes the subject of an unflattering portrait in a major financial publication.
So it goes for Dick Costolo. Back in July, Forbes ran a hard-hitting story about Costolo's performance at Twitter Inc. (NYSE: TWTR) - and gave him six months to succeed or be shown the door.
The article noted Costolo had recently shuffled senior management, to shake things up. But if anything, things have actually gotten worse since then.
Though Twitter is a must-have app for millions of people, analysts were disappointed with third-quarter user growth. Wall Street thought Twitter would add 16 million to 18 million new monthly active users. But the number came in at 13 million, 38% below the high-end estimate.
For Costolo, the timing was bad. Just a few weeks later, Twitter celebrated its first year as a publicly traded company. While so far this year the Standard & Poor's 500 Index has gained 9%, Twitter stock is down 43%.
But Costolo was far from the only high-tech CEO to get battered in the press in 2014...
About the Author
Michael A. Robinson is a 36-year Silicon Valley veteran and one of the top tech and biotech financial analysts working today. That's because, as a consultant, senior adviser, and board member for Silicon Valley venture capital firms, Michael enjoys privileged access to pioneering CEOs, scientists, and high-profile players. And he brings this entire world of Silicon Valley "insiders" right to you...
- He was one of five people involved in early meetings for the $160 billion "cloud" computing phenomenon.
- He was there as Lee Iacocca and Roger Smith, the CEOs of Chrysler and GM, led the robotics revolution that saved the U.S. automotive industry.
- As cyber-security was becoming a focus of national security, Michael was with Dave DeWalt, the CEO of McAfee, right before Intel acquired his company for $7.8 billion.
This all means the entire world is constantly seeking Michael's insight.
In addition to being a regular guest and panelist on CNBC and Fox Business, he is also a Pulitzer Prize-nominated writer and reporter. His first book Overdrawn: The Bailout of American Savings warned people about the coming financial collapse - years before the word "bailout" became a household word.
Silicon Valley defense publications vie for his analysis. He's worked for Defense Media Network and Signal Magazine, as well as The New York Times, American Enterprise, and The Wall Street Journal.
And even with decades of experience, Michael believes there has never been a moment in time quite like this.
Right now, medical breakthroughs that once took years to develop are moving at a record speed. And that means we are going to see highly lucrative biotech investment opportunities come in fast and furious.
To help you navigate the historic opportunity in biotech, Michael launched the Bio-Tech Profit Alliance.
His other publications include: Strategic Tech Investor, The Nova-X Report, Bio-Technology Profit Alliance and Nexus-9 Network.