By Rex Crum, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Tech stocks put in day of broad
gains Thursday, with Intel Corp. among the advancers as the
semiconductor giants got a late boost after putting out its
quarterly results just minutes before the market closed.
Intel (INTC) shares ended the day up by 2.6% at $22.68 after the
company reported a fourth-quarter profit of $2.6 billion, or 48
cents a share, compared withe earnings of $3.4 billion, or 64 cents
a share in the same period a year ago. Sales for the quarter ended
Dec. 29 fell 3% from a year ago to $13.5 billion.
Excluding one-time items, Intel would have earned $2.6 billion,
or 51 cents a share, while analysts surveyed by FactSet had
forecast Intel to earn 45 cents a share on $13.5 billion in
revenue.
EBay Inc. (EBAY) also put in an upbeat performance, as its
shares rose 2.4% to close at $54.17 after the company's earnings
report late Wednesday. For its 2012 fourth quarter, eBay said 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 eBay's mobile business as one
of the key drivers of the company's strong year, as eBay mobile
handled $13 billion worth of transactions in 2012 -- more than
double the amount of 2011.
In addition to Intel, other chip stocks gained ground, including
Micron Technology Inc. (MU), Broadcom Corp. (BRCM), KLA-Tencor
Corp. (KLAC) and Texas Instruments Inc. (TXN)
The Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) climbed more than 18 points to
close at 3,136, while the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX)
rose 2% and the Morgan Stanley High Tech 35 Index (MSH) added
0.7%.
Juniper Networks Inc. (JNPR) ended the day with a gain of 14%,
to close at $21.28, 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 wrote 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 firm 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 4% to close at $6.79.
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 from $20. Hall said 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." Cisco shed eight cents to close at $20.95.
Losses also came from Apple Inc. (AAPL) and Hewlett-Packard Co.
(HPQ), while Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), Facebook Inc. (FB) and Dell
Inc. (DELL) ended the day with small gains.
(DELL)
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