By Rex Crum, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Many leading tech stocks ended
the day with gains Tuesday, but it was declines from the likes of
Apple Inc., Facebook Inc. and social-gaming company Zynga Inc. that
weighed on the sector.
Dell Inc., however, got a lift after another big shareholder
said it opposed a planned privatization deal led by its founder and
CEO.
The Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) ended the day on a down note,
giving up 5.5 points to close at 3,186. The Philadelphia
Semiconductor Index (SOX) eked out a small gain, but the Morgan
Stanley High Tech 35 Index (MSH) closed just below its break-even
point.
Apple (AAPL) shares gave up 2.5% to close at $467.90 after Chief
Executive Tim Cook addressed a Goldman Sachs technology conference
in San Francisco Tuesday. Cook dismissed a recent suit launched
against Apple by activist investor David Einhorn.
Facebook (FB) shares shed more than 3% to close at $27.37 after
Bernstein Research analyst Carlos Kirjner cut his rating on the
stock to market perform, or neutral, from outperform. Kirjner also
took down his price target on Facebook's stock to $27 a share from
$33.
In a research note, Kirjner said that mobile inventory and
exchange issues were at the heart of his rating downgrade.
Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM) shares gave up 1.3% to fall to $65.89. J.P.
Morgan analyst Rod Hall cut his rating on the communications
technology company to neutral from overweight over the chances that
smartphone adoption rates will begin to slow down by 2014.
Dell (DELL) shares rose 9 cents to $13.79 after T. Rowe Price
announced that it will oppose the buyout deal led by Michael Dell
and Silver Lake for $13.65 per share.
"We believe the proposed buyout does not reflect the value of
Dell and we do not intend to support the offer as put forward,"
wrote Brian Rogers, T. Rowe Price's chairman, in a statement.
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) shares edged up 6 cents to close at $177.95
after the company said it signed a deal with DreamWorks Animation
(DWA) to create its first original series for children. The show,
"Turbo F.A.S.T." will debut in December and is based on the
DreamWorks movie "Turbo," which premieres in theaters this
summer.
Netflix's newest content deal came one day after it lost out to
cable TV network Starz (STRZA) for the exclusive right to movies
from Sony Pictures (SNE).
AOL Inc.(AOL) posted one of the tech sector's bigger gains of
the day, rising 4.5% to close at $37.85 and adding to Monday's
gains, which came after RBC Capital Markets analyst Mark Mahaney
raised his rating on the online media company's stock to outperform
from sector perform.
Gains also came from Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ), Microsoft Corp.
(MSFT) and Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN).
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