By Rex Crum, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Most leading tech stocks advanced
Thursday, with Pandora Media Inc. among the gainers ahead of its
earnings report after the close of trading and Micron Technology
Inc. getting a lift following upbeat comments on the chipmaker from
influential investor David Einhorn.
Pandora (P) shares rose 3.5%, to $29.42 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.
The results come out about two weeks after Pandora released its
listener metrics for October, which showed Pandora users listening
to 1.47 billion hours of music on the service during the month, a
gain of 18% from the same period a year ago.
Mark Mahaney of RBC Capital Markets said in a research note that
details about audience metrics and advertising revenue will be key
details that investors will key in on regarding Pandora's results
and outlook. The call will also be notable for being the first one
to include new Chief Executive Brian McAndrews, and the last one
before the company shifts its fiscal year to one that matches the
calendar year.
Facebook Inc. (FB) was up by 1% at $46.86 a share. 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.
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) was up by 5.5% at $19.82 a share.
Speaking on CNBC, activist investor David Einhorn said he was in
favor of the long-term prospects for the memory chipmaker due to
consolidation in the DRAM memory market and new uses for DRAM chips
in products such as smartphones and videogame consoles.
Among other tech stocks, Groupon Inc. (GRPN) rose 3% to $9.50 a
share; Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) was up by 1% to trade at $365.96 and
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) rose 2.2% to $346.74.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) climbed 37 points
to 3,958, while the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) was up
by more than 1%.
One notable decliner was GameStop Corp. (GME), which fell by
more than 6%, to $48.96 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.
Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (MRVL), Autodesk Inc. (ADSK) and
Splunk (SPLK) are scheduled to report earnings after the bell.
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