Aruba, Salesforce, Apple: Tech Premarket

NEW YORK (TheStreet) - Aruba Networks (ARUN) shares surged 12.65% to $19.06 before market open on Friday, boosted by the company's fourth-quarter revenue hike.

The Sunnyvale, Calif.-based firm, which makes equipment for telecom networks, saw its sales rise 22% to $139.2 million for the three-month period ending in July. Excluding items, Aruba earned 18 cents a share in the quarter, up from 17 cents a share in the prior year's quarter. Analysts were looking for sales of $136.8 million and earnings of 17 cents a share in Aruba's fiscal fourth quarter.

"Our traditional core verticals performed well in the quarter and we saw continued growth among the general enterprise," explained Aruba CEO Dominic Orr, in a statement released after market close on Thursday. "We believe that demand for wireless LAN networks remains solid."

Aruba was also one of the most active pre-market Nasdaq stocks on share volume of 55,878.

Autodesk (ADSK), however, was a big loser after the company's disappointing second-quarter results, released on Thursday.

"Our own execution challenges, combined with an uneven global economy, resulted in disappointing revenue results for the quarter," noted Autodesk CEO Carl Bass, in a statement.

The computer-aided-design (CAD) software specialist plans to make job cuts in an attempt to combat the tough macroeconomic environment.

Shares of San Rafael, Calif.-based Autodesk plunged 22.99% to $27.50 before market open. Autodesk was also one of the most active pre-market Nasdaq stocks on share volume of 253,897.

Salesforce.com (CRM), however, was another big loser in pre-market trading as investors responded to the company's second-quarter results, released on Thursday.

As predicted, the customer relationship management (CRM) specialist flew past Wall Street's top and bottom line forecasts, although its earnings guidance weighed heavily on its shares.

For its fiscal third quarter, Salesforce.com projected earnings between 31 cents and 32 cents a share, below Wall Street's estimate of 34 cents. Investors balked at the outlook, pushing Salesforce.com shares down in after-hours trading.

The San Francisco-based company, which is one of TheStreet's top cloud stocks, saw its shares slump 4.01% to $140.88 in pre-market trading.

Apple (AAPL), which hit a new all-time high of $674.88 on Tuesday, slipped 0.17% to $661.48.

HP (HPQ), which saw its shares slump more than 8% on Thursday following its third-quarter results earlier this week, gained 0.14% to reach $17.66.

--Written by James Rogers in New York.

Follow @jamesjrogers

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