By Dan Gallagher, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Technology stocks showed some
improvement Monday after a weak start, led by gains at Apple Inc.
and Verizon Communications Inc., which are expected to announce a
long-awaited deal to sell the iPhone over the Verizon Wireless
network.
The Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) was down about 0.2% to 2,698,
while the Morgan Stanley High-Tech Index (MSH) was off 0.3%. The
Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) was up 0.3%. All three
indexes were deeper in the red following the opening bell.
Verizon (VZ) has called a news conference for Tuesday morning in
New York City. Neither Verizon nor Apple has specified the reason
for the event, but analysts have widely predicted an iPhone launch
at the carrier in the early part of this year. The device has so
far remained exclusive to AT&T (T) in the U.S. market.
"Apple could be set to launch the CDMA iPhone for Verizon as
early as this Tuesday," Bill Shope of Goldman Sachs wrote in a note
to clients Monday. "We believe our iPhone estimates for the full
year could prove conservative, and a successful launch at Verizon
could add another 5-6 million units to our model."
Apple shares (AAPL) were up 1.4% to $340.75. Verizon shares
edged up fractionally.
Other mobile-device makers were trading in the red. Research In
Motion Ltd. (RIMM) fell nearly 1.2% to $60.95, while Nokia Corp.
(NOK) was off by 1.5%. Motorola Mobility (MMI) was down 1.5% to
$32.58. Brokerage house Morgan Keegan downgraded the stock to a
market perform rating, citing valuation.
"We suspect little earnings risk from any iPhone launch at
Verizon as management has already baked this into their Q1
[first-quarter] guidance," analyst Tavis McCourt wrote in a
note.
Among other tech heavyweights, Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ), Cisco
Systems Inc. (CSCO) , Google Inc. (GOOG), Yahoo Inc. (YHOO) and
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) were all in negative territory.
Dell Inc. (DELL) , Intel Corp. (INTC) and Advanced Micro Devices
Inc. (AMD) were up.
EBay Inc. (EBAY) was up 0.4% after BGC Capital upgraded the
stock to a buy rating, with analyst Colin Gillis calling the
company "the leader in mobile e-commerce," citing more than $2
billion in mobile transactions in 2010.