By Rex Crum, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Most leading tech stocks flexed
their muscles and advanced Thursday, with Pandora Media Inc. among
the gainers ahead of its quarterly earnings report, due after the
close of trading.
Pandora (P) shares rose 2.3%, to $29.09 as the Internet radio
company prepared to report its fiscal third-quarter results after
the market closes. Analysts surveyed by FactSet estimate Pandora
will earn 6 cents a share, excluding one-time items, on $177
million in revenue, up from a profit of 5 cents a share on revenue
of $120 million in the same period a year ago.
Facebook Inc. (FB) was up by 36 cents a share at $46.81. On
Wednesday, FBR Capital Markets analyst William Bird initiated his
coverage of Facebook with an outperform rating and $60-a-share
price target.
Yahoo Inc (YHOO) rose 2.5% to $36.50 a share amid speculation
that the Internet company could be on track to make a big
acquisition in the wake of increase its stock buyback plan by $5
billion.
Gains also came from Micron Technology Inc. (MU), up almost 4%
at $19.52; Groupon Inc. (GRPN), which rose almost 3% to $9.48 a
share; Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN), up 1.5% to trade at $367.96 a share,
and Netflix Inc. (NFLX), which rose 2.3% to $347.34.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) rose 32 points to
3,953, while the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) was up by
almost 1%.
One notable decliner was GameStop Corp. (GME), which fell by
more than 8%, to $48.10 a share. The videogame retailer reported
better-than-expected third-quarter results on Thursday, but gave a
fourth-quarter outlook that failed to meet Wall Street analysts
forecasts.
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