Netflix, Inc. (NFLX), Zillow Inc (Z), MGIC Investment Corp. (MTG): These 5 Stocks Are Off to a Great Start in 2013

The bigger they are …
Here’s a shocker. There are 3,077 stocks on the U.S. markets with market caps above $200 million. Of these, the 50th strongest year-to-date gains in 2013 came from Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ)‘s 68% climb. Yep, HP ranked in the top 1.6% of the total market’s strongest returns this quarter.

The computing giant reported a surprising profit jump in February, igniting a steady climb that’s still going on to this day.

It’s an impressive surge, and HP shares are trading just above their year-ago prices right now. Investors abandoned this stock in droves last year as the acquisition of software outfit Autonomy became a burden. CEO Meg Whitman has restored some trust in HP as a long-term investment, mostly thanks to that unexpectedly strong bottom line in the first quarter.

But I’m not buying this turnaround story. Whitman is reaching for too many goals all at once, and she’s rejecting the one idea that could make a real difference right away: breaking HP up into smaller but nimbler consumer and enterprise operations.

I might consider investing in HP’s data-center solutions as a standalone business, but that still-valuable operation is inextricably tied to a rotting consumer division until further notice. I think we’ll see plunging demand for home-style PC systems and printers do real damage to HP’s total top and bottom lines later this year. Share prices are sure to follow suit.

The article These 5 Stocks Are Off to a Great Start in 2013 originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Anders Bylund owns shares of Netflix, but he holds no other position in any company mentioned. Check out Anders’ bio and holdings or follow him on Twitter and Google+.The Motley Fool recommends and owns shares of Netflix and Zillow.

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