By Rex Crum, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Tech stocks put in a slate of
broad gains Thursday, with eBay Inc. on the rise following its
latest earnings report and Juniper Networks Inc. getting a boost
after an analyst with J.P. Morgan raised his rating on the
networking-equipment maker.
EBay (EBAY) shares rose more than 3%, to a multi-year high of
$54.89 after the company's late-Wednesday earnings report. EBay
said that for its 2012 fourth quarter, it earned $751 million, or
57 cents a share, on $4 billion in revenue. Excluding one-time
items, eBay would have earned 70 cents a share.
Analysts surveyed by FactSet had forecast eBay to earn 69 cents
a share, on sales of $3.98 billion. Chief Executive John Donahoe
cited growth in eBay's mobile business as one of the key drivers of
the company's results in the quarter, as eBay mobile handled $13
billion worth of transactions, more than double the fourth quarter
of 2011.
Juniper (JNPR) rose almost 3%, to $21.56 a share, in the wake of
J.P. Morgan analyst Rod Hall raising his rating on the company's
stock to overweight from neutral, and lifting his price target to
$25 a share from $21.
In a research note, Hall said there is evidence that the
slowdown in spending by telecom carriers is at its low point, and
"we believe Juniper is poised to benefit from multiple routing
product cycles in 2013."
Hall also raised his rating on optical-networking company
Infinera Corp. (INFN) to overweight form neutral, saying the
company is likely to see more demand for some of its newer optical
products. Infinera shares rose 6.4%, to $6.95.
But Hall cut his rating on Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) to
underweight, or sell, from neutral, and lowered his price target on
the stock to $18 a share from $20. Hall said, in a research note,
that Cisco "is exposed to sluggish enterprise spending," and that
he believes the positive investor sentiment, and the company's
share price "have gotten ahead of themselves."
Intel Corp. (INTC) rose 1.6%, to $22.47 a share ahead of the
semiconductor giant's quarterly results, due after the market
close.
Gains also came from Apple Inc. (AAPL), Microsoft Corp. (MSFT),
Facebook Inc. (FB) and Dell Inc. (DELL)
(DELL)The Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) climbed by more than 18
points, to 3,135, while the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX)
rose 1.6% and the Morgan Stanley High Tech 35 Index (MSH) added
0.6%.
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