Blue chips dragged tech stocks lower despite tame economic data that helped
ease rate hike concerns. After a strong opening in Internet issues,
investors showed signs of worry ahead of key earnings out after the bell,
sending the Dow plunging 94.71 to 11,087.47, while the Nasdaq held on to
early gains, finishing up 19.97 to 3,913.86. Pockets of strength in
infrastructure and Net bellwethers kept the ISDEX
closing higher by 2.41%.
Oracle finished the day up 3 1/8 to 84 15/16. The
second largest software maker weighed in with Q1 results after the bell,
delivering $0.17 per share, ahead of the consensus forecast by four cents,
and a penny better than the whisper number. The firm has topped Wall
Street’s estimates in its last four consecutive quarters, and investors
rewarded the stock in after hours trade following another strong showing
and a 2-for-1 stock split announcement.
Shares of Adobe Systems squeaked into the negative
column, slipping 9/16 to 125 3/8 ahead of its Q2 earnings and a 2-for-1
stock split after the bell. The desktop publishing software maker reported
$0.57 per share excluding non-recurring items, beating analysts’
expectations by a nickel. Red Hat also followed suit
with Q2 earnings by late afternoon, delivering a loss of a penny, ahead of
consensus estimates by the same. Shares of the Linux player closed up 1 1/8
to 25 1/4.
Investors gave fiber-optics and networking plays a boost, sending shares of
JDS Uniphase climbing 2 1/8 to 106 15/16 as Cisco
Systems eased 1/16 to 61 1/4. Rival Extreme Networks
soared 4 to 93 3/8, while Juniper Networks
marched 1/4 to 198 7/8.
Shares of Network Appliance added 3 11/16 to 115 11/16
after PaineWebber reiterated its buy rating on the file server
manufacturer. The investment bank expects the company will announce a new
product offering boasting twice the raw storage capacity previously
anticipated that should close the gap with rival EMC .
Amazon.com jumped 2 7/16 to 44 7/8 despite Lehman
Brothers maintaining its “neutral” rating on the online retailing giant
citing that it doesn’t expect the upcoming holiday season to come in as
strong as past seasons.
Banc of America initiated coverage on priceline.com
with a “market perform” rating, but said the name-your-own-price firm would
need to boost its repeat sales in order to be less dependent on new
customer growth. Shares headed lower on the news, shedding 15/16 to 27.
Shares of eBay edged 5 15/16 to 68 7/16 following a
“buy” rating from Banc of America with a price target of $80. The
underwriter expects that healthy margins from the online auctioneer will
continue to be strong and sees next quarter’s earnings coming in ahead of
the consensus $0.04 per share.
Oracle Earnings Top Estimates
