Tech Stocks Stall Ahead of Intel Earnings

Tech stocks stalled Monday ahead of some key earnings reports from Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) and others.

The Nasdaq stalled about 12 points shy of its September high of 2167.7 before pulling back to finish unchanged at 2139.14, and the rest of the market also ended the day off its highs.

Intel will kick off a busy earnings reporting season Tuesday night, and analysts will be watching the chip giant closely for signs that the recovery in chip and IT spending is continuing.

Analysts expect earnings of 27 cents a share from Intel on an 11.8 percent decline in sales to $9.02 billion, according to Thomson Reuters. That would be in the middle of the revised range Intel offered in August, when the company raised its guidance.

On Thursday, the earnings parade will continue with reports from AMD (NYSE: AMD), Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) and IBM (NYSE: IBM). AMD and Google both benefited from analyst upgrades today.

Digital River (NASDAQ: DRIV) was Monday’s biggest mover, off 34 percent on news that the company will lose Symantec’s (NASDAQ: SYMC) business.

Philips Electronics (NYSE: PHG) was a big winner, up 7.6 percent on better than expected results.

The Nasdaq was down a fraction to 2139, the S&P 500 added 4 to 1076, and the Dow rose 20 to 9885. Volume declined to 3.71 billion shares on the NYSE, and 1.79 billion on the Nasdaq. Advancers led by a 21-15 margin on the NYSE, while decliners held a 14-12 edge on the Nasdaq. Upside volume was 67 percent on the NYSE, and 51 percent on the Nasdaq. New highs-new lows were 519-61 on the NYSE, and 212-12 on the Nasdaq.