Microsoft, Juniper Show There’s Still Some Growth

Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Juniper (NASDAQ: JNPR) posted better than expected quarterly results late Thursday, but shares of both companies were little changed after hours after they issued cautious outlooks.

Microsoft’s earnings of 48 cents a share and sales of $15.06 billion were both better than expected, but the company offered current quarter and full-year guidance that were just below analyst estimates and said the spending environment has turned cautious. Still, the results weren’t as bad as feared, and the company’s shares gained 1% after hours.

Juniper’s adjusted earnings of 32 cents a share and sales of $947 million were both well above estimates, but the company’s outlook ranged from just above estimates to well below, but said it was optimistic despite the uncertain environment. Its shares lost 3% after hours.

Stocks ended another volatile day mixed after trading in a wide range during the day, as the spectacle of House hearings and a Washington Mutual credit default swap auction kept the financial crisis front and center.

Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) started out the day sharply lower on a holiday sales warning, then battled back to end the day up slightly.

Citrix (NASDAQ: CTXS) and F5 (NASDAQ: FFIV) surged 10% each on solid results and guidance, but Baidu (NASDAQ: BIDU) fell 14% despite posting strong results.

Seagate (NYSE: STX) and LSI (NYSE: LSI) fell on their earnings reports, and Cadence (NASDAQ: CDNS) tumbled 25% after saying it may restate its first-half results.

Level 3 (NASDAQ: LVLT) plunged 39% on its outlook, and Phoenix Tech (NASDAQ: PTEC) fell 35% on its results. Syntel (NASDAQ: SYNT) gained 15% on its earnings news.

Sony (NYSE: SNE) fell 8% after slashing guidance.

Jupitermedia (NASDAQ: JUPM), publisher of this Web site, surged 28% on plans to sell its images business.

The Nasdaq fell 11 to 1603, the S&P rose 11 to 908, and the Dow gained 172 to 8692. Volume rose to 7.29 billion shares on the NYSE, and 3.19 billion on the Nasdaq. Decliners led by a 21-12 margin on the NYSE, and 20-8 on the Nasdaq. Downside volume was 57% on the NYSE, and 73% on the Nasdaq. New highs-new lows were 10-826 on the NYSE, and 2-564 on the Nasdaq.