AOL Time Warner stock edged higher Tuesday on a report that former chairman Steve Case has talked privately about spinning off the AOL unit.
Case’s comments, reported by the New York Times, may just reflect frustration over his waning influence at the company, but they have also been echoed by fellow board member Ted Turner, and other senior company officials have said they may consider a sale or spinoff of the unit if it doesn’t grow as forecast.
The blockbuster merger of AOL and Time Warner, announced in January 2000, has never resulted in the predicted synergies, and the share price has been battered by declining results and an accounting scandal at AOL.
The broader market soared Tuesday on better than expected home sales and consumer expectations. Biotechs continued to lead the market higher in the wake of Genentech’s breakthrough colon cancer treatment results announced last week.
The Nasdaq soared 46 to 1556, the S&P 500 surged 18 to 951, and the Dow soared 179 to 8781. Volume surged to 1.51 billion shares on the NYSE, and 1.94 billion on the Nasdaq. Advancers led 23-9 on the NYSE, and 23-8 on the Nasdaq. Upside volume was 84% on the NYSE, and 89% on the Nasdaq. New highs-new lows were 417-9 on the NYSE, and 284-6 on the Nasdaq.
After the close, Semtech warned.
During the day, eBay surged 3.6% to clear the $100 level.
Symantec rose 5.1% after winning a defense contract.
Computer Sciences rose 2.3% on an oursourcing deal.
ADC Telecom surged 7.6% on an optical networking deal.
Intel rose 3% on plans to target the small business server market, and IBM rose 3% on its own server plans.
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