Shares of Red Hat jumped 8% Tuesday after Prudential gave the company its second upgrade in two weeks.
Red Hat shares have recovered 29% in recent weeks after plunging 62% earlier this year on accounting concerns.
Prudential upped Red Hat to “overweight” from “neutral,” following an upgrade from First Albany two weeks ago.
Prudential analyst Brent Thill said Red Hat’s “current share price sufficiently discounts the concerns that have kept us on the sidelines over the past six months.” He also dismissed as premature concerns about competition from Novell .
“Red Hat remains the leader in the Linux market, which is among the fastest-growing segments of the enterprise software market,” Thill said. “We are still in the early innings of adoption by major corporations.”
Red Hat will report quarterly results on Dec. 22.
Stocks fell Tuesday on an unexpected drop in consumer sentiment and concern about the pace of holiday retail sales. Cautious comments by Merrill Lynch ahead of Intel’s mid-quarter update on Thursday weighed on techs and sent shares of Intel 3% lower on the day.
The Nasdaq lost 10 to 2096, the S&P 500 declined 4 to 1173, and the Dow fell 47 to 10,428. Volume rose to 1.55 billion shares on the NYSE, and 1.91 billion on the Nasdaq. Decliners led 19-14 on the NYSE, and 17-14 on the Nasdaq. Downside volume was 58% on the NYSE, and 56% on the Nasdaq. New highs-new lows were 283-11 on the NYSE, and 202-12 on the Nasdaq.
After the close, Analog Devices revealed an SEC inquiry into stock option grants. Omnivision
beat estimates.
During the day, Semtech slipped 1% after meeting estimates but warning.
Eon Communications soared 39% after being certified to connect to the Defense Department’s communications network.
Loudeye surged 16% on a music video deal.
Cray tumbled 15% on a downgrade.
