The tech sector evolves quickly, and that can turn one-time stars into afterthoughts in the blink of an eye. But Validea CEO John Reese says it’s not yet time to throw in the towel on brand-company’s older tech stars.

“America loves a second act. Whether it’s Mike Tyson reemerging after scandal, prison and bankruptcy to become a tragi-comic star of the screen, or Martha Stewart returning from prison a little softer, a little less uptight, we love to see once-powerful figures falter and then rise again in different form,” Reese writes in his Forbes.com column. “The stock market is no stranger to second acts. Often the market’s second acts come in the form of a once-high-powered, popular growth stock that hits a wall, and is presumed by just about everyone to be a total has-been. Then, some time later, after its shares have gotten cheap and the company has made some adjustments, the stock becomes an attractive value play.”

Reese says a lot of that seems to be happening in the tech sector right now, where his Guru Strategies are finding value in some tech firms that many consider passée. Among them: internet-pioneer-turned-“brand-company” AOL, which gets high marks from his Joel Greenblatt-based strategy.