Wednesday's Tech Winners & Losers

Shares of Applied Micro Circuits(AMCC Quote) were among technology's losers Wednesday, falling 7% after the chipmaker said it received a subpoena from the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California related to its stock option practices.

Applied Micro said the subpoena requested documents related to the company's historical stock-option practices. In addition, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California has opened an investigation into the company's option practices as well, Applied Micro said. The company, which previously announced that its audit committee is conducting a self-initiated review of its stock option-grant practices, said it doesn't expect to complete its review before June 29, the extended deadline to file its annual report with the Securities and Exchange Commission. As a result, the company has pushed back a special meeting of shareholders until July 28. Shares were recently trading down 18 cents to $2.44.

Palm(PALM Quote) fell 2% after the maker of handheld computer devices agreed to settle a patent-infringement suit with Xerox(XRX Quote). As part of the settlement, which relates to a lawsuit that was filed by Xerox in April 1997, Palm agreed to pay Xerox $22.5 million for a license for three patents. Palm said that it would take a charge during the fourth quarter related to the license payment. Palm shares were trading down 37 cents to $17.95, while Xerox rose 6 cents to $13.35.

Rambus (RMBS Quote) shares tumbled 11% after the tech licensing company said it may need to restate prior periods' results due to discrepancies in stock option-award dates. Rambus also said it may need to record additional charges related to stock-option expenses for the periods. Shares were down $2.56 to $20.57.

Shares of Identix(IDNX Quote) rose 1% after the biometric technology company said it received $3.3 million in new orders for its TouchPrint enhanced-definition fingerprint and handprint scan systems. The orders, which were received over the past few weeks, are from federal agencies and state and local law enforcement agencies that are upgrading and expanding live scan networks, Identix said. The company said that it plans to recognize revenue from the orders during the next three months. Shares were trading up 7 cents to $6.70.