Tech Stocks in Motion

Shares of White Electronic Designs(WEDC Quote) were among technology's winners Thursday, rising 8% after the maker of semiconductor components and computer displays posted better-than-expected fourth-quarter results.

The company reported a loss of $8.3 million, or 34 cents a share, on sales of $30 million. Excluding one-time items, however, the company earned $2.3 million, or 9 cents a share, for the quarter ended Oct. 1. The results were at the top end of White Electronic's earnings guidance of 7 cents to 9 cents a share, and above the 7 cents a share that analysts polled by Thomson First Call expected. During last year's fourth quarter, the company earned $900,000, or 4 cents a share, on sales of $28.8 million. Shares were trading up 40 cents to $5.54.

Ciena(CIEN Quote) rose 3% after the network equipment company posted fourth-quarter results that were better than expected. The company posted a pro forma loss, which excludes one-time items, of $11.6 million, or 2 cents a share. Analysts expected a slightly wider loss of 3 cents a share. Ciena's sales came in at $118.2 million, beating Wall Street's forecast of $116.1 million. A year ago, the company posted a pro forma loss of $33.9 million, or 6 cents a share, on sales of $82 million.

Looking ahead, Ciena projects first-quarter sales will be flat to up slightly sequentially. The company also expects to post gross margin improvement from the fourth-quarter figure of 39.9%. Analysts expect first-quarter sales of $117.4 million. Shares were trading up 8 cents to $3.14.

Shares of Xilinx(XLNX Quote) rose modestly after the chipmaker lifted its third-quarter sales outlook. The company now sees sequential sales growth of 4% to 8%, up from a previous forecast of 1% to 5%. Xilinx continues to expect gross margin of 62% to 63%. Xilinx attributed the sales bump to better-than-expected sales from customers in North America and Asia Pacific. Xilinx also plans to repatriate $500 million in foreign earnings, which will result in a tax charge of about $27 million. Shares were trading up 11 cents to $26.59.