New Highs for Microsoft, NetGear and Seagate (MSFT, NTGR, STX)

Tech companies continue to rally, today shares of Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), NetGear Inc. (NASDAQ:NTGR), and Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX) hit new 52-week highs.

Microsoft (MSFT) hit $29.49 before backing down to $29.38 a share and Seagate (STX) hit a new 52-week high of $17 today.  In a joint venture, Microsoft is going to use Seagate software and its EVault cloud service to take on Symantec's backup products in heterogeneous Windows shops.

Data Protection Manager 2010 will use Seagate's i365 software to bring non-Windows server environments into the Windows backup and recovery fold, and its EVault service to add cloud backup and recovery to the existing hard drive and tape destinations. In effect Microsoft is OEM'ing the Seagate software and service.

NetGear (NASDAQ:NTGR) shares peaked at $20.81 today and are up 80% in 2009.  On Tuesday (Nov 10th) UBS added shares of Netgear (NTGR) to the "Least Preferred" list. The firm maintains Netgear at Neutral with a $20 price target.  After this weeks' performance UBS may up its price target as the stock is trending up to the $21 level.