Seagate (NYSE:STX), Western Digital (NYSE:WDC), Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ), SMART Modular (Nasdaq:SMOD) Top IT Hardware Picks of Needham in 2011

Talking technology trends emerging in 2011, Needham & Company said their favorite picks are Seagate Technology (NYSE:STX), Western Digital (NYSE:WDC), Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ) and SMART Modular Technologies (Nasdaq:SMOD).

Needham noted, "Although there are multiple ways to participate in the industry and technology trends we see unfolding in 2011, our top picks for investors are Seagate Technology (Strong Buy), Western Digital (Strong Buy), Hewlett-Packard (Strong Buy) and SMART Modular Technologies (Buy). For STX and WDC, we see the companies benefiting from a recovery in pricing and margins within the industry as well as robust demand from PC and data center spending. HPQ is a top pick given its broad product reach into PCs, servers, networking and services, as well as its likely meaningful participation within the tablet world. Finally, we see SMOD as a highly leveraged play on PC and server growth (with the call option of the SSD business). Further, we view the stock’s recent pullback owing to aggressive DRAM pricing as a unique buying opportunity. In this report, we take a look back at 2010 and the events that shaped the performance within our coverage universe. We then look forward to 2011 and some of the themes and investment opportunities for investors."

Seagate closed Wednesday at $14.70, down $0.08, or 0.54 percent. Western Digital closed at $32.79, losing $0.20, or 0.61 percent. Hewlett-Packard closed at $44.20, gaining $0.57, or 1.31 percent. SMART Modular closed at $5.91, up $0.11, or 1.90 percent.