Tech Winners & Losers: Intel

Tech stocks were slightly red on Thursday, as the broader market rallied from new lows triggered by bleak unemployment data as well as a warning from Intel(INTC Quote) that its fourth-quarter sales will be down significantly.

The Nasdaq fell 2.3 points to 1497 in recent trading.

Late Wednesday, Intel cited weaker-than-expected demand for PCs , and slashed its fourth-quarter sales forecast to $9 billion, plus or minus $300 million. That's down from its previous estimate of $10.1 billion to $10.9 billion.

Intel's shares tumbled 3.7% to $13.02 on Thursday.

The company's warning had a ripple effect on other related businesses. Synaptics(SYNA Quote), for instance, which makes touch pads for PCs, plunged 15.1% to $19.84. Lazard Capital downgraded its rating on the stock to sell from hold, and lowered its full-year earnings estimate to $1.83 a share from its previous forecast of $1.97 a share.

Shares of Hewlett-Packard(HPQ Quote) and Dell(DELL Quote) also felt Intel's news. H-P was down 6.7% to $29.07 while Dell dropped 14.4% to $8.99.

Several analysts provided a cautious outlook on Dell, including Goldman Sachs, which chopped its rating to sell from neutral based on expected deterioration in margins and earnings. The firm also cut its price target cut to $9 from $14.

Shares of Research In Motion(RIMM Quote) declined 8.4% to $39.56 after several analysts took down their estimates on the company.

Among them was Merrill Lynch analyst Vivek Arya, who cut his earnings estimate for the third quarter to 80 cents a share from 95 cents a share. Arya cited macro-economic headwinds as well as a late launch of its new Blackberry Storm and Bold devices.