By Benjamin Pimentel, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Technology stocks retreated
Friday, weighed down by sliding shares of Microsoft Corp and Cisco
Systems. Google's newly split stocks also declined.
Microsoft (MSFT) was down 2.7% at $39.92, the worst performer on
the Dow Jones Industrial Average(DJI), which was off 46 points.
Cisco(CSCO), also was weighing on the Dow. The stock shed 1.6% to
$22.72.
Shares of Micron Technology (MU), which rose a day after the
semiconductor company beat Wall Street's earnings and revenue
estimates, turned negative, recently down 3%.
Newly split Google stocks were in the red after posting gains on
their first day of trading on Thursday. The Class A Google shares
(GOOGL) were down 3.4%, while the nonvoting Class C shares (GOOG)
were off 3.5%.
On the upside, shares of GrubHub (GRUB), the online food
delivery company, jumped 40% as the company began trading on the
New York Stock Exchange.
The session began on an upbeat note for Micron as executives at
the Boise, Idaho-based chip company painted an upbeat picture of
the memory-chip market and reported a sharp gain in sales.
"We've seen pretty good demand signals on the memory side,"
Micron President Mark Adams said. "We feel pretty bullish for the
memory market for consumer and client devices," he added, as he
also pointed to strong demand in the server and networking
market.
Micron has been going through a transition following its
acquisition of another memory chip company, Elipida, which was
widely expected to strengthen its market position, and a fire that
damaged the plant of rival Hynix, which limited supply of DRAM
chips.
On the call with analysts on Thursday, Adams said the DRAM
market "has normalized following the recovery of one of our
competitor's fabs in China." Still, he added, "DRAM market
conditions remain favorable. And inventories in the channel remain
relatively tight below normal levels."
Topeka Capital analyst Suji De Silva raised his price target for
the stock to $27 from $25. "With healthy supply-demand balance and
pricing, Micron margins improved and we expect the company to
sustain these higher margin levels going forward," he told
clients.
"We also believe Micron demand is firming across multiple end
markets, supported by the company's product development efforts,"
he added.
The Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) fell 2% to 4,154. The
benchmark was on track to end the week down a fraction. The Morgan
Stanley High Tech 35 Index (MSH) and the Philadelphia Semiconductor
Index (SOX) were each down about 2%.
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