By Rex Crum, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Tech stocks started out the
second quarter on a mostly down note Monday, but eBay Inc. scored
one of the sector's few notable gains, in the wake of the online
retailer's meeting with financial analysts last week.
EBay (EBAY) rose 4.6%, to $56.66 a share, with many analysts
coming away upbeat about the company's prospects following last
Thursday's analyst day. It was eBay's first such meeting in two
years. U.S. stock markets were closed on Friday.
Canaccord Genuity analyst Michael Graham raised his rating on
eBay to buy from hold, and increased his price target on the stock
to $67 a share from $56. Graham based his views on the likelihood
eBay will be able to sustain its growth levels, as well as more
options for its PayPal electronics payment business.
"We believe payments growth could surprise [with gains] as
PayPal could gain significant share of future blended
offline-online payments," Graham said in a research note.
BlackBerry Inc. (RIMM) shares rose 3.6%, to $14.98, as more
industry analysts issued positive reports on the smartphone maker
following its quarterly results last Thursday.
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) was up 1.6% at $21.22 a share. Late
Thursday, Cisco said it would raise its quarterly dividend by 3
cents a share to 17 cents.
Video game retailer GameStop Corp. (GME) rose 5%, to $29.34,
also in the wake of its better-than-expected quarterly results last
Thursday.
However, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) fell
almost 16 points, to 32.51, and the Philadelphia Semiconductor
Index (SOX) gave up more than 1% as the latest data on U.S.
manufacturing levels retreated in March.
Among tech stocks in the red, losses came from Micron Technology
Inc. (MU), Oracle Corp. (ORCL), Apple Inc. (AAPL) and Amazon.com
Inc. (AMZN).
Dell Inc. (DELL) was off 5 cents a share at $14.28. In a
Securities and Exchange Commission filing last Friday, Dell Chief
Executive Michael Dell said the company's prospects were bleak if
it didn't go through with a $24.4 billion bid to go private.
Intel Corp. (INTC) shares were down almost 2%, at $21.44. JMP
Securities analyst Alex Gauna cut his rating on Intel to market
perform, or the equivalent of neutral. In a research note, Gauna
said he lowered his view on the world's largest semiconductor
company on the "discovery of technology roadmap issues that add to
an already challenging outlook," and other matters.
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