By Rex Crum
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Tech stocks came to life late
Wednesday, as much of the sector scored gains ahead of the release
of Cisco Systems Inc.'s financial results.
Cisco (CSCO) shares rose 14 cents to close at $24.49 ahead of
the company's fiscal first-quarter results.
Analysts surveyed by FactSet Research estimate Cisco will earn
40 cents a share on $10.75 billion in sales, compared with a profit
of 36 cents a share revenue of $9 billion during the same period a
year ago.
With Cisco turning its back on losses, other tech stocks
followed suit. Gains came from Apple Inc. (AAPL), Hewlett-Packard
Co. (HPQ), Broadcom Corp. (BRCM), Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) and Dell
Inc. (DELL), among others.
The Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) rose almost 16 points to close
at 2,578 and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) eked out a
small gain.
Research In Motion Ltd. (RIMM) shares rose $3.44, or more than
6%, to close at $58.44. Earlier in the day, RIM said it would price
its upcoming Playbook device at less than $500. The Playbook is set
to go on sale in the U.S. in the first quarter of next year.
Limelight Networks Inc. (LLNW) rose 22 cents, or almost 3%, to
$7.96, gaining for another day after reports came out saying the
Web-content delivery company may be in line to get more business
from Netflix Inc. (NFLX).
Google Inc. (GOOG) shares fell $1.95 to $622.88. The Internet
kingpin came in for attention over its plan to give 10% raises to
all of its 23,000 employees.
Video-technology company Sonic Solutions Inc. (SNIC) fell $1 a
share, or more than 8%, to close at $11.09. Late Tuesday, the
company issued a weaker-than-expected revenue forecast for its
second quarter ended Sept. 30.
Other losses came from Western Digital Corp. (WDC), down $1.05,
or 3%, to close at $33.52, as well as Lam Research Corp. (LRCX),
down 78 cents to close at $46.20 and Advanced Micro Devices Inc.
(AMD), down 20 cents, or 2.3%, to end the day at $7.75.