By Rex Crum
Tech stocks began came to life in afternoon trading Wednesday as
AT&T Inc.'s plans to do away with unlimited wireless-data plans
highlighted the sector's action.
The Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF), home to many leading tech
stocks, wavered in early trading before rising 36 points, or 1.6%,
to 2,253. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) rose 2% and
the Morgan Stanley High Tech 35 Index (MSH) was up 1.4%.
Among leading tech stocks, hard-disk drive maker Seagate
Technology (STX), rose 64 cents a share, or 4.4%, to $15.10,
Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ), was up 98 cents at $46.56 a share, and
gains also came from Apple Inc. (AAPL), IBM Corp. (IBM) and Intel
Corp. (INTC).
AT&T Inc. (T) rose 35 cents a share to $24.68 after the
telecom giant said it would end its unlimited wireless-data plans
and move toward a tiered billing structure.
Research In Motion Ltd. (RIMM) rose $2.37 a share, or 4%, to
$61.37. Shaw Wu, an analyst with Kaufman Bros., said AT&T's
tiered-data plan is positive for RIM as its e-mail network "enjoys
a bandwidth efficiency advantage."
DivX Inc. (DIVX) shares climbed $1.76, or 25%, to $8.72 after
Sonic Solutions Inc. (SNIC) said it would acquire the digital media
company for $323 million. The deal values DivX at $9.83 a share, a
41% premium over its Tuesday closing price.
Separately, Sonic released preliminary fourth-quarter earnings
results. The company said it earned $1.2 million, or 4 cents a
share, on $26.4 million, compared with earnings of $328,000, or a
penny a share, on $32.2 million in sales a year ago.
Sonic's shares fell $1.19, or more than 10%, to $10.64.