2015 Top Stock Picks: AMBA, SWKS, RMBS

The Money Morning 2015 top stock picks saw a rather big pullback in our seemingly always red-hot biotech stocks. But what is turning out to be the more exciting story for 2015 are semiconductor stocks.

Our best performing of the semiconductor tech stocks this year is Ambarella Inc. (Nasdaq: AMBA). Ambarella makes the chips for security cameras, automotive cameras, and wearable video cameras. Money Morning Defense and Tech Specialist Michael Robinson discussed AMBA stock back in August.

AMBA stock is up almost 45% this year.

There's also Skyworks Solutions Inc. (Nasdaq: SWKS), a leading chip firm that is a great play on wireless connectivity and the Internet of Everything. SWKS stock is up 33.5%. According to Robinson, Skyworks "ranks as a force in the mobile and broadband markets."

"The fact is, chips are at the heart of high tech," Robinson said. "From smartphones and PCs to our WiFi routers and GPS in our cars to LED lights in our homes, semiconductors make it all possible."

Rambus Inc. (Nasdaq: RMBS) is developing next-gen for smartphones and tablets. RMBS stock is up 25.4%.

If you don't want to pick and choose semiconductor tech stocks, you can always buy one of the broader tech ETFs.

The SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF (NYSE Arca: XSD) portfolio holdings include Rambus and Skyworks. It also has holdings in Intel Corp. (Nasdaq: INTC) and Avago Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq: AVGO) - another chipmaker that's up more than 20% this year. XSD is up 8.2%.

Now here's our full list of 2015's top performing stock picks from Money Morning. Check them out in the table below...

Money Morning's Top Stocks 2015

Biotech stocks are still on the move this year, with our top performer in the sector still up close to 50% on the year.

But we're starting to see some exciting developments in tech stocks - primarily in chipmakers.

Here are our top 10 for year-to-date gains as of the May 7 close:

 

Name Symbol 2015 Gain %
Prothena Corp. Plc PRTA 49.9
Ambarella Inc. AMBA 44.5
JD.com Inc. JD 43
U.S. Silica Holdings Inc. SLCA 36.8
Skyworks Solutions Inc. SWKS 33.1
Novavax Inc. NVAX 33.1
Boston Scientific Corp. BSX 29.7
Alon USA Energy Inc. ALJ 28.4
Thoratec Corp. THOR 26.3
Rambus Inc. RMBS 25.4

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