By Rex Crum
Technology stocks began to show some life in afternoon trade
Wednesday as the sector turned its back on a decline that had been
led by initial negative reaction to Hewlett-Packard Co. reporting a
drop in its quarterly earnings.
The Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) rose almost 12 points to
1,967, while the Morgan Stanley High Tech 35 Index (MSH) and the
Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) both crept into positive
territory.
Gains came from IBM Corp. (IBM), Texas Instruments Inc. (TXN),
Intel Corp. (INTC), Apple Inc. (AAPL), EMC Corp. and Cisco Systems
Inc. (CSCO).
Storage-technology company NetApp Inc. rose 19 cents a share to
$23.05. Analysts at Bank of America and Avian Securities raised
their ratings on NetApp's stock ahead of the company's quarterly
results, due after the market close.
Even H-P (HPQ), shares of which fell more than 2% in early
trade, crawled closer to positive territory. H-P trimmed its losses
to remain down by 14 cents at $43.83 after the company said late
Monday that its fiscal third-quarter earnings declined by 19% from
the same period a year ago.
However, H-P's results still topped the estimates of Wall Street
analysts, many of whom said the company's profit margins remain
strong, and were impressed by H-P's fourth-quarter earnings
outlook, which exceeded analysts' consensus forecasts.