By Benjamin Pimentel
The tech sector surrendered gains Wednesday, as a daylong rally
powered by Yahoo Inc. and SanDisk Corp. ran out of steam shortly
before the market close.
Yahoo (YHOO) shares rose 49 cents, or almost 3%, to $17.66 a day
after the Internet powerhouse reported third-quarter profit that
tripled from the year-earlier period.
"The company is benefiting from the macro improvement and big
brand advertisers' need to find online spending at scale,"
Broadpoint AmTech analyst Benjamin Schachter said in a note.
Meanwhile, shares of SanDisk (SNDK) soared $2.05, or 9.5%, to
$23.53 after the memory chip maker swung to a third-quarter profit,
beating Wall Street's estimates.
Wedbush analyst Betsy Van Hees wrote in a note that "favorable
NAND suppy/demand environment, increased retail demand from the
upcoming holiday season and continued strength in its OEM [original
equipment manufacturer] business drives impressive fourth quarter
guide."
Apple continued to flex its muscles for a second day. The
company's shares reached an all-time high of $208.71 before pulling
back. Apple closed with a gain of $6.16 a share, or more than 3%,
to close at $204.92.
On Monday, Apple reported a 46% rise in its fiscal
fourth-quarter earnings and on Tuesday introduced revamped iMac
desktop and MacBook laptop computers for the holiday season.
But those broad gains failed to keep the Nasdaq Composite Index
(RIXF) from closing in the red. The Nasdaq gave up almost 13 points
to close at 2.150, while the Morgan Stanley High Tech 35 Index
(MSH) shed 0.5%.
The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) also had a rough day,
giving up 1.3% as shares of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Texas
Instruments (TXN) and Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) retreated.
Cisco Systems (CSCO) also closed in the red, giving up 15 cents
a share to end the day at $23.96. Before the market opened, Wedbush
analyst Matthew Robison upgraded the networking gear-maker to
outperform from neutral, citing the company's growth opportunities,
including aggressive moves to reclaim market share.
Losses also came from other tech giants, including Amazon.com
(AMZN), IBM Corp. (IBM), Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) and Dell Inc.
(DELL).
Seagate Technology (STX) fell 36 cents a share to $15.19 after
the computer hard disk-maker reported a decline in sales, despite
posting a big jump in profit.
Polycom Inc. (PLCM) also slumped, falling 16.5% after the video
conferencing systems company reported mixed results that analysts
said were weighed down by higher-than-expected investment
spending.
Investors also awaited earnings reports after the market close
from the likes of online retailer eBay Inc. (EBAY), VMware Inc.
(VMW), Novellus Systems Inc. (NVLS) and Lam Research Corp.
(LRCX).