Tech Winners & Losers: Activision Blizzard

Trading was mixed in tech stocks Tuesday with video-games publisher Activision Blizzard emerging as one of the biggest gainers after it said it expects first-quarter results to exceed earlier guidance.

Activision Blizzard(ATVID Quote) gained $2.02, or 6.1%, to $34.96 after the company boosted its profit forecast for the first quarter.

Revenue for the quarter is expected to be about $650 million, compared with $495.5 million a year ago, and above analysts' expectations of $ 516.1 million. Activision's earlier outlook had pegged revenue at $500 million.

Excluding charges, Activision Blizzard said EPS is likely to be in the range of 21 cents to 23 cents, compared with 11 cents the year before, and higher than analysts' expectations of 14 cents. Activision's earlier EPS outlook, excluding charges, was for 13 cents.

Games retailer GameStop(GME Quote) was up $1.46, or 3.6%, to $41.73. Microsoft announced a $50 price cut to its Xbox 360 game console Monday at the E3 Media & Business Summit in Los Angeles.

Shares of Yahoo!(YHOO Quote) continued to lose ground as the company traded words over its failed acquisition deal with Microsoft(MSFT Quote). Yahoo General Counsel Michael Callahan said in his testimony Tuesday to a congressional committee that Microsoft is teaming up with activist investor Carl Icahn to force a "fire sale" of Yahoo. Microsoft had offered Yahoo $31 a share but the latter rejected it as being too low. Yahoo's stock was off 84 cents, or 3.8%, to $21.72.

At the same congressional hearing, Microsoft general counsel Brad Smith accused Yahoo! of collaborating with Google(GOOG Quote) to turn online search into a duopoly. Microsoft reports its results after market close Thursday. Microsoft shares were up $1.01, or 4%, to $26.15, in early trading.