By Rex Crum, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Tech stocks showed strength in
afternoon action Thursday, but some data-storage companies were in
the red after Dell Inc. unveiled a lower-than-expected deal to
acquire Compellent Technologies Inc.
Shares of Compellent (CML) fell 14.5% to $28.80 after the
company said it was in "advanced discussions" about Dell acquiring
Compellent for $27.50 a share.
Compellent's shares have risen more than 70% over the past three
months on speculation that the company could be a takeover target
after Dell lost a bidding war with Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) to
acquire 3Par Inc. over the summer.
CommVault Systems Inc. (CVLT), which has also been viewed as a
possible data-storage takeover target, fell 3.2%.
Shares of networking-equipment maker Ciena Corp. (CIEND) rose
15% after the company gave a mixed fourth-quarter earnings report,
but said it expects its first-quarter sales to surpass analysts'
forecasts.
Chinese Internet video-streaming company Youku.com Inc. (YOKU)
climbed another 28.5% to $43, one day after soaring 161% in its
initial public offering.
E-Commerce Dangdang Inc.(DANG), which rose almost 90% in its IPO
Wednesday, added another $2.30 a share, or almost 8%, to
$32.19.
U.S. shares of Dutch chip-equipment maker ASML Holding (ASMLD)
rose more than 7% after the company forecast fourth-quarter
bookings of $2.66 billion and said it expects demand to improve in
most of its semiconductor market segments.
Among other tech stocks, declines came from Oracle Corp. (ORCL),
Hewlett-Packard Co., Apple Inc. (AAPL) and Intel Corp. (INTC)
(INTC)(INTC)The Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) rose 4 points to
2,613, and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) was up
slightly.