Thursday's Tech Winners & Losers

Symantec's strong quarter lifts shares.
By Priya Ganapati ,

Tech stocks rose higher Thursday following strong earnings reports and positive monthly sales data in the semiconductor industry.

Security software maker

Symantec

(SYMC) - Get Report

gained $2.12, or 12.31, to $19.34 after it beat analysts' estimates for the fourth quarter and

offered a strong outlook

for the current quarter.

Net income for the quarter rose to $186 million from $61 million, the year before. Excluding items, Symantec reported EPS of 36 cents vs. 24 cents a year ago and better than analysts' estimates of 34 cents. Revenue rose to $1.54 billion from $1.36 billion the earlier quarter and was slightly higher than analysts' expectations of $1.53 billion. For the first quarter, Symantec guided revenue in the range of $1.55 billion and $1.59 billion. Excluding charges, earnings are expected to range between 34 cents and 36 cents a share. Analysts are expecting earnings of 31 cents a share on revenue of $1.5 billion.

Comcast

(CMCSA) - Get Report

added $1.76, or 8.6%, to $22.31 after first-quarter revenue

topped analysts' expectations

. Comcast posted earnings of $732 million, or 24 cents a share in the quarter, down from $837 million, or 26 cents a share, a year ago. Excluding items, it reported EPS of 19 cents. Revenue jumped 14% to $8.39 billion. Analysts expected Comcast to earn 19 cents a share on revenue of $8.17 billion. Comcast reaffirmed its full-year guidance for consolidated revenue and operating cash flow growth of 8% to 10%.

AT&T

(T) - Get Report

was up $1.23, or 3.2%, to $39.95. The company launched a nationwide mobile television service in partnership with MediaFlo, a division of

Qualcomm

(QCOM) - Get Report

. Pricing for the service that brings television content to mobile phones starts at $15 a month.

Microsoft

(MSFT) - Get Report

was up 88 cents, or 3.1%, to $29.40 after CEO Steve Ballmer

addressed all employees

of Microsoft and suggested that an end is in sight for a decision on its bid for

Yahoo!

(YHOO)

. Yahoo! has twice rejected Microsoft's $31-a-share offer for it and Saturday marked the passage of a deadline by Microsoft for Yahoo! to accept the deal. Yahoo! closed down 60 cents, or 2.2%, to $26.81.

Chip stocks

Intel

(INTC) - Get Report

and

AMD

(AMD) - Get Report

jumped after a report from the Semiconductor Industry Association showed that global semiconductor sales rose 3.4% during March from the previous month. Worldwide sales were up to $21.1 billion in March from $20.5 billion in February. Sales in the U.S. grew 2.3%, compared with 3.8% worldwide. Shares of Intel rose $1.03, or 4.6%, to $23.29, while AMD gained 26 cents, or 4.4%, to $6.22.

GPS-based navigation devices systems maker

Garmin

(GRMN) - Get Report

recovered some ground following a weak earnings report. Shares of Garmin were up $2.22, or 5.4%, to $43.12 after some analysts suggested that despite the weak report, the company's shares have been oversold and their current valuation makes them attractive.

Robotics company

iRobot

(IRBT) - Get Report

lost $1.73, or 10.8%, to $14.31 after an analyst at Jessup & Lamont downgraded the stock to neutral from buy. iRobot's weak first-quarter results and the recent unexpected departure of the company's chief financial officer weaken investor sentiment around the company, said the analyst.

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