By Rex Crum, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- It was no April Fool, Monday, as
the start of April lived up to the month's reputation as the
cruelest, at least for tech stocks, with losses from the likes of
Apple Inc. and Intel Corp. leading the sector downward despite
gains by eBay Inc. and BlackBerry Inc.
Apple (AAPL) shares fell more than 3% to close at $428.91, after
CEO Tim Cook issued a signed public apology on the company's
Chinese website for customer service issues over the company's
products in that country.
The move followed reports last week that Chinese regulators were
preparing to crack down on the company following complaints that
its customer service policies weren't on par with other markets. As
part of the move on Monday, Apple said it has "improved" its repair
policy for the iPhone 4 and 4S models in China, and plans to
increase the "supervision and training" of authorized service
providers.
Intel Corp. (INTC) shares fell almost 2% to $21.43. 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 road map issues that add to
an already challenging outlook."
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) fell more than 28
points to close at 3,239, while the Philadelphia Semiconductor
Index (SOX) slipped 2% and the Morgan Stanley HIgh-Tech Index (MSH)
fell almost 1% The broad market was also in decline as a gauge of
U.S. manufacturing dropped in March.
EBay Inc. (EBAY) scored one of the sector's few notable gains,
rising 3% to $55.71 a share, as many analysts came 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 4.6% to $15.11 as more
industry analysts issued positive reports on the smartphone maker
following its quarterly results last Thursday.
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) gave up 7 cents a share to close at
$20.83. Late Thursday, Cisco said it would raise its quarterly
dividend by 3 cents a share to 17 cents.
Videogame retailer GameStop Corp. (GME) climbed 6.4%, to end the
day at $29.76, also in the wake of its better-than-expected
quarterly results last Thursday.
Among large-cap techs, notable decliners by midday Monday
included Micron Technology Inc. (MU), Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN). and
Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM).
Dell Inc. (DELL) was off 3 cents a share to close at $14.30. 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.
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