Barron's Picks And Pans: Apple, Viacom, Micron And More

• This weekend's Barron's takes a look at a long-suffering media company poised for a turnaround.
• Other featured articles offer the prospects for a solar power outfit with a strong balance sheet and a lender in a sweet spot of high growth.
• The outlooks for a chip maker riding a tailwind and a consumer electronics giant with a respectable dividend yield are also examined.

"Viacom Flips the Script: Stock Has 40% Upside" by Robin Goldwyn Blumenthal makes the case that long-suffering media company Viacom, Inc. VIAB is tracking a new course toward a turnaround. See how a new CEO is shaking things up, shifting priorities and reinvesting in the company. The stock has risen since he took up the reins but still looks cheap, according to Barron's.

In "Dark Clouds May Be Lifting for SolarEdge," Andrew Bary suggests that shares of Solaredge Technologies Inc SEDG, which makes optimizers and inverters, could rise by 40 percent or more in the next year. See why Barron's thinks that, with its strong balance sheet, the solar power outfit offers staying power until the industry comes back in vogue.

Jack Willoughby's "Why Silicon Valley Bank's Stock Could Rise 25%" takes a look at whether this lender to venture capitalists and startups is headed into a sweet spot of high growth. Discover why Barron's believes SVB Financial Group SIVB is poised for several years of rapid earnings growth that dwarfs expectations for most other banks.

See also: When It Comes To Your Portfolio, Work Smarter, Not Harder

While the growth cycle at Micron Technology, Inc. MU could be extended, it won't last forever, according to "Micron, Up 170%, Could Move Higher. But Be Wary" by Tiernan Ray. The current market conditions for Micron are proving extraordinarily favorable, though the CEO announced his retirement last month and the company has yet to name a successor.

In Johanna Bennett's "Apple iPhone, Dividend Buzz Can Keep Stock Hot," see why one key analysts says that even with Apple Inc. AAPL shares near an all-time high, investors should expect another 20 percent gain. While Apple is trading near its highest price-to-earnings multiple in five years, there is much to like, including a respectable dividend yield.

Also in this week's Barron's:

• Barron's exclusive list of the world's best CEOs
• The president turns his focus to tax reform
• How soon the passive investing bubble could pop
• James Bond's new watch
• Behavioral obstacles to successful value investing
• A promising plan for bank reform
• The latest Penta Quarterly
• Whether long-short stock funds have lost their shine
• The fallout for ETFs if consumer staples should fall
• Whether energy stocks are new a bottom

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