By Rex Crum, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Facebook Inc. was in the tech
sector spotlight Thursday in the wake of the social-networking
leader's upbeat second quarter earnings. Amazon.com Inc. and
Pandora Media Inc. also garnered attention ahead of their earnings
reports.
Facebook (FB) shares rose almost 6% to $75.32, after touching a
record $76.74, after the company reported a fiscal second-quarter
profit of $791 million, or 30 cents a share, on revenue of $2.91
billion Wednesday. During the year-ago period, Facebook earned $333
million, or 13 cents a share, on $1.81 billion in sales.
Facebook said that its capital spending rose 40% from a year ago
as 62% of its revenue in the quarter came from mobile ads.
Aaron Kessler, of Raymond James, reiterated his outperform
rating on Facebook's stock and raised his price target on the
shares to $80, saying "our expectation for continued strong
advertiser demand, especially for mobile, [and] we expect solid
engagement trends to continue."
Amazon (AMZN) shares rose by $2.63 to $360.80 ahead of the
e-commerce company's quarterly results due after the close of
trading. Pandora (P), which is also on tap to give its
second-quarter report after the market closes, was up by almost 1%
at $27.80.
Gains also came from Yahoo Inc. (YHOO), IBM Corp. (IBM), Micron
Technology Inc. (MU) and eBay Inc. (EBAY).
Angie's List Inc. (ANGI), was nowhere near advancing, as its
shares plunged almost 23% to $7.87.
On Wednesday, Angie's List reported weaker-than-expected
second-quarter results, as the online professional services
recommendation company said it lost $18.4 million, or 31 cents a
share, compared with a loss of $14.3 million, or 25 cents a share,
a year ago. Wall Street analysts had expected the company to lose
24 cents a share. At least five Wall Street analysts cut their
ratings on Angie's List following its report.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) fell 3 points to
4,470.
More must-read tech news from MarketWatch:
Amazon's Kindle, Fire products in spotlight with company's
earnings
Facebook investors OK with company's big spending
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