By Rex Crum, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Investors prepared for a busy day
of earnings reports from the tech sector Thursday, with Microsoft
Corp., Amazon.com Inc. and Pandora Media Inc. all scheduled to
deliver quarterly results after the close of trading.
Microsoft (MSFT) rose 40 cents a share to $44.79 ahead of the
software giant's fiscal first-quarter results. Analysts surveyed by
FactSet estimate Microsoft will earn 49 cents a share on $22
billion in revenue for the period ended in September.
Amazon (AMZN) is expected to post a loss of 76 cents a share on
$20.8 billion in sales when it gives its third-quarter report after
the close of trading. Analysts are expected to focus on the
online-retailer's latest spending levels as it heads into the busy
holiday-shopping season. Amazon shares rose $2.28 to $315.25
Thursday.
Pandora (P) shares were up by 58 cents at $23.30. The
Internet-radio company is forecast to earn 8 cents a share on
$238.5 million in sales for its third quarter. Gains in mobile-ad
revenue and listener hours will be among the key factors in
Pandora's results.
Among other leading tech stocks, advances came from Apple Inc.
(AAPL), Netflix Inc. (NFLX), Oracle Corp. (ORCL) and Facebook Inc.
(FB).
Yelp Inc. (YELP) was a big loser on the day, with its shares
falling almost 175 to $58.51. Late Wednesday, the online review and
recommendation company reported better-than-expected third-quarter
results, but was taken to task for giving a fourth-quarter revenue
outlook that fell short of Wall Street analysts' forecasts.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) rose 63 points, or
1.5%, to 4,445 and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) was
also up by 1.5%.
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