By Rex Crum, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Gains from Oracle Corp. and
losses from Facebook Inc. stood out among tech stocks Thursday
after the business-software giant reported better-than-expected
quarterly results and the social-networking kingpin announced a
stock offering that includes a big sale by Chief Executive Mark
Zuckerberg.
Oracle (ORCL) climbed by more than 4%,to $36.07 a share, after
the company on Wednesday reported a fiscal second-quarter profit of
$2.55 billion, or 56 cents a share, on $9.28 billion. Excluding
one-time items Oracle would have earned 69 cents a share. Analysts
surveyed by FactSet had forecast Oracle to earn 67 cents a share on
$9.18 billion. On a conference call, Oracle Chief Executive Larry
Ellison highlighted gains in the company's hardware business.
Facebook (FB), meanwhile, was off by 1.7% at $54.60. Before the
market opened, Facebook said it would offer 70 million shares of
company stock for sale, with 27 million shares coming from the
company and the remaining 43 million from major Facebook
shareholders.
And of that 43 million shares, 41.35 million will come from
Facebook CEO Zuckerberg, who is selling the stock to meet tax
obligations. Zuckerberg's shares are valued at about $2.3
billion.
Groupon Inc. (GRPN) shares rose 2.5%, to $11.56. The online
daily-deal company on Thursday launched two offerings for
last-minute Christmas shoppers, digital gift vouchers and
Grouponvelope, which will let merchants offer deals similar to
gift-card programs.
Among other social-media related stocks, Pandora Media Inc. (P)
rose almost 4%, to $28.07, Angie's List Inc. (ANGI), was up by 3%
at $13.81, and LinkedIn Corp. (LNKD) and Yelp Inc. (YELP) also
advanced.
Apple Inc. (AAPL) shares were trimmed by $3.44, to slip to
$547.30. On Thursday, Apple began taking orders for its new Mac Pro
high-end computer.
The Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) fell by 13 points to 4,057.
The broader stock market retreated after the release of several
disappointing U.S. economic indicators.
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