By Rex Crum
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Upbeat reactions to several
earnings reports and a fresh swipe by Oracle chief Larry Ellison at
Hewlett-Packard Co.'s new CEO made for an active day in the tech
sector on Wednesday.
In an statement late Tuesday, Ellison, Oracle's (ORCL) chief
executive, took some swings at the new brass at H-P (HPQ), CEO Leo
Apotheker and Chairman Ray Lane. A trial begins Monday in a
software between Oracle and SAP AG (SAP),where Apotheker had been
CEO until earlier this year. The trial centers around how much SAP
should pay Oracle in damages for stealing Oracle's software a few
years ago.
Ellison said, in his statement, that "a majority of this theft
occurred while Mr. Apotheker was CEO of SAP," and that Oracle
intends to present evidence of Apotheker's involvement in the theft
when the trial begins in federal court in Oakland, Calif. on Nov.
1. Ellison added that he expects Lane, a former company president
at Oracle, to keep Apotheker "far, far away from the courthouse
until this trial is over."
Oracle shares rose 12 cents to $28.75, while SAP was off by
$2.42 a share, or 4.5%, to $51.67. H-P's stock gave up 24 cents a
share to trade at $42.72.
Other declines came from Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), Apple Inc.
(AAPL), IBM Corp. (IBM), Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) and Google Inc.
(GOOG).
Molex Inc. (MOLX) shares fell $1.61, or more than 7%, to $20.98
after the maker of electronic connector products gave a
weaker-than-expected quarterly earnings forecast.
The Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) fell 6 points to 2,490. The
Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) rose almost 2%, led by gains
from Broadcom Corp. (BRCM).
Broadcom shares rose $3.17, or 8.5%, to $40.36 following the
communication chipmaker's strong third-quarter results, in which
its earnings rose almost four times from a year ago. Broadcom also
gave a strong fourth-quarter forecast.
Compellent Technologies Inc. (CML) shares surged by $4.17, or
more than %, to $23.87 after the data-storage technology company
posted third-quarter earnings that rose 47% from a year ago. Piper
Jaffray also raised its rating on Compellent to overweight
following the company's report.
RF Micro Devices Inc. (RFMD) climbed 61 cents a share, or 10%,
to $7 after the company reported better-than-expected
second-quarter results late Tuesday.
JDA Software Group Inc. (JDAS) rose $2.73 a share, or more than
12%, to $24.88. Late Tuesday, the supply chain management software
company reported a third-quarter profit of $8.3 million, or 20
cents a share, on $158.4 million in sales after posting a loss in
the same period a year ago.
Router and wireless-networking equipment company Netgear Inc.
(NTGR) saw its shares rise $2.64, or more than 9%, to $30.87 after
reporting upbeat third-quarter earnings on Tuesday.
Chip-equipment maker FormFactor Inc. (FORM) was up by 52 cents a
share, or 6%, to $8.90 following its third-quarter report in which
in lost 55 cents a share on $47.3 million in sales. The results
were slightly better than analysts' forecasts.
Silicon Image Inc. (SIMGE) shares surged $1.42, or more than
31%, to $5.97 after the chipmaker reported late Tuesday a
third-quarter profit of $9.5 million, or 12 cents a share, on $60.5
million in sales. During the year-ago period, Silicon Image lost
$15.5 million, or 21 cents a share.