By Dan Gallagher, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Technology stocks held on to
modest gains by Thursday's closing bell, led by a sharp upswing at
BlackBerry Inc. and Angie's List that offset declines at sector
giant Cisco Systems.
The Nasdaq Composite index (RIXF) closed up a fraction to 3,199
while the Morgan Stanley High-Tech Index (MSH) edged up 0.2% and
the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) added about 0.8%.
BlackBerry (RIMM) jumped nearly 8%, reversing from an earlier
loss. A regulatory filing by former co-CEO Jim Balsillie showed the
former leader of the smartphone maker had sold all of his shares in
the company. He had held an ownership stake of more than 5% as
recently as late 2011, according to Dow Jones Newswires.
Balsillie stepped down as co-CEO in early 2012 as part of a
major shake-up at the company that brought in current chief
Thorsten Heins, who is leading the launch of the new BlackBerry 10
platform.
Angie's List (ANGI) surged nearly 24% following strong results
and a positive forecast. Several analysts issued positive reports
on the results, noting that the company is improving on its
business model that largely has users paying for its content.
Weighing on the tech sector was Cisco Systems (CSCO) , which saw
its shares close down about 0.7% after the network giant reported a
small sales gains for its second fiscal quarter and issued a
forecast that was in line with Wall Street's estimates. The stock
had rallied 25% since the company's prior earnings report.
"Investors may have to wait a bit longer if they were hopeful
that Cisco Systems' earnings report would spark a rally in tech,"
wrote Scott Thompson of FBR Capital on Thursday, who added that the
results "fell short of breakout performance."
Dell (DELL) closed down 0.4%. Raymond James downgraded the
stock, on the belief that the company is unlikely to fetch much of
a higher price in its pending buyout deal.A filing also revealed
that founder and CEO Michael Dell agreed to take a lower valuation
of his own shares in order to get partner Silver Lake to raise the
bid price.
NetApp (NTAP) reversed from an earlier loss, closing up a
fraction at $35.86. Earnings jumped 32% at the provider of network
storage solutions, but NetApp's shares had also run up by more than
36% over the last three months.
Rohit Chopra of Wedbush kept his neutral rating on NetApp
following the results, writing that "we remain cautious on the
uncertain spending environment and advise investors to remain on
the sidelines until signs of sustainable growth and visibility
emerge."
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) shares picked up nearly 3% after slipping
earlier. Needham & Co. downgraded the chip maker to a hold
rating following its results. "Rising opex growth is outpacing
revenue growth, eliminating any earnings leverage," analyst
Rajvindra Gill wrote in a note.
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