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The growth vs value debate takes on technology stocks

The haves & the have nots in tech
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The haves & the have nots in tech

With S&P 500 information technology services stocks trading down more than 3 percent year to date after a volatile downturn in August, some household names have fared better than others.

Shares of Microsoft are trading more than 6 percent lower, IBM has seen an almost 8 percent decline, and shares of Qualcomm plunged almost 24 percent year to date. Facebook, on the other hand, is still 14 percent in the green year to date, and shares of Netflix are trading 135 percent higher.

While some traders see the latest downturn as an opportunity to buy shares of blue-chip companies on the dip, others aren't so sure. The state of technology companies with large market capitalizations can be viewed through the lens of value versus growth investing strategies, analysts told CNBC's "Power Lunch" Monday.

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"Companies like IBM, Qualcomm, are companies with good long-term prospects that have been beaten up pretty badly," said David Katz, chief investment officer at Matrix Asset Advisors, on "Power Lunch" Monday. "We would use this volatility and this downside to pick up some of those high-quality names that are very much out of favor."

Katz, a self-identified value investor, falls into what Fidelity Investments called the "diamond in the rough" approach to investing: holding on to stocks that have potential for turnaround situations.

That's in contrast to growth investing, a strategy where funds focus on companies that managers believe will experience faster than average growth as measured by revenues, earnings or cash flow, according to Fidelity.

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"In the tech sector, you want to have a more growth-oriented approach," said Eddie Perkin, chief equity investment officer at Eaton Vance on "Power Lunch" Monday, who prefers companies such as Facebook. "You want to favor some of these mega trends, whether it's mobile, or advertising."

August's technology sector swings are far from the first to spur the growth versus value debate, which dates back to famous investors like T. Rowe Price and Warren Buffett.

But even if an investor squabbles with the details of investment strategies, Katz and Perkin said there are technology stocks that meet both value and growth criteria, like Hewlett Packard, trading down 30 percent year to date, and Google, trading up 18 percent year to date.

Disclosure: Eddie Perkin owns shares of Google.

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