By Matt Andrejczak, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- BlackBerry shares shined Thursday
morning as the rest of the technology sector stalled in early
trades.
BlackBerry (RIMM) rose 3% to $14.98 after the phone maker
reported a surprise fourth-quarter profit of $98 million.
Blackberry's revenue and shipments did come in below the consensus
analyst forecast, however.
Red Hat shares lost 36 cents to $49.62 after its sales fell shy
of Wall Street's estimate. The maker of open-source software posted
a fourth-quarter profit of $43 million, up from $36 million in the
year-ago period.
Paychex (PAYX) inched up 6 cents to $34.52 after posting a
quarterly profit of $144.5 million.
Overall, the broader technology sector inched lower, with the
Morgan Stanley High-Tech Index(MSH) and the Philadelphia
Semiconductor Index (SOX) were both down around 1 point. The Nasdaq
Composite (RIXF) fell 2 points to 3,254.49
Tech stocks are poised to end the first quarter with a gain.
The Morgan Stanley High-Tech Index is up 7% so far for the
quarter that ends today, while the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index
13%. By comparison, the Nasdaq Composite is up 8% for the
quarter.
Among the large tech companies, the top gainers for the first
quarter are:
--Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) : 65%.
--Dell (DELL) : 41%.
--BlackBerry: 26%.
--Yahoo (YHOO) : 19%.
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