An analyst’s upgrade of Yahoo (NASDAQ: YHOO) sent the company’s shares 5.4 percent higher on Tuesday and the Nasdaq past the 2100 level for the first time in nearly a year.
The upgrade from Bernstein analyst Jeffrey Lindsay was similar to a Bank of America/Merrill Lynch upgrade of the company last week.
Lindsay said investors are valuing Yahoo’s core business at just $4.40 a share — half its value — after factoring out cash and the company’s Asian holdings. The analyst also sees an improving advertising outlook.
The Nasdaq added 0.5 percent on a day that saw stocks like Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY), Seagate (NASDAQ: STX), Western Digital (NYSE: WDC) and VMware (NYSE: VMW) touch 52-week highs. eBay and the drive makers benefited from upgrades.
Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) will reports its quarterly results late Wednesday. Analysts expect earnings of 30 cents a share from Oracle on a 3.3 percent decline in sales to $5.25 billion, according to Thomson Reuters.
Zoom (NASDAQ: ZOOM) gave back 24 percent a day after nearly tripling on results from a new acquisition.
Better than expected retail sales and optimistic comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke sent the broader market higher.
After the close, Adobe (NASDAQ: ADBE) shares fell after the company announced better than expected quarterly results and the acquisition of Omniture (NASDAQ: OMTR).
The Nasdaq rose 10 to 2102, the S&P 500 was up 3 to 1052, and the Dow gained 56 to 9683. Volume rose to 6.19 billion shares on the NYSE, and 2.4 billion on the Nasdaq. Advancers led by a 26-11 margin on the NYSE, and 15-11 on the Nasdaq. Upside volume was 58 percent on the NYSE, and 64 percent on the Nasdaq. New highs-new lows were 288-79 on the NYSE, and 114-8 on the Nasdaq.