Tuesday's Tech Winners & Losers
Tech stocks were again flat Tuesday, as analysts were all over the place on a variety of sector stocks.
Microchip Technology
(MCHP) - Get Report
was tumbling 10.2%, after guiding below Wall Street's fiscal second-quarter revenue estimates. The company sees net sales of between $258 million and $259 million, below the $267.3 million forecast. The chipmaker sees non-GAAP earnings of 38 cents a share, which beat analysts' 36 cents a share projection, but was below prior guidance. AmTech Research downgraded the stock to neutral from buy. Shares were sliding $3.75 to $32.87.
Video game maker
Electronic Arts
( ERTS) was edging 1.9% higher after Citigroup initiated coverage of the stock with a buy rating. The bank set a $75 price target. Shares were gaining $1.09 to $59.60.
Microchip Technology was the biggest mover on the Nasdaq 100, which also includes component Electronic Arts. The index up 2.18 points at 2165.44.
Sprint Nextel
(S) - Get Report
was 2.2% lower after the wireless carrier
made a change in leadership. CEO Gary Forsee is stepping down, effective immediately. He is being replaced temporarily by CFO Paul Saleh while a search for his replacement is conducted. Shares fell 40 cents to $18.10.
Vonage
(VG) - Get Report
shares dropped 9.7%, reversing gains made Monday, after a Citi Investment Research analyst threw cold water on optimism over its patent infringement settlement with Sprint. The analyst said there was still a 40% chance Vonage goes bankrupt or restructures by 2009, according to the
Associated Press
. Shares lost 25 cents to $2.32.
ValueClick
(VCLK)
jumped 9.3%, after
RealMoney.com's
Jim Cramer
stoked the long-running deal rumors for the online advertising company on his "Mad Money" TV show on
CNBC
Monday night. The stock has been a favorite of buyout speculators since earlier this year, when
(GOOG) - Get Report
bought
DoubleClick
and
Microsoft
(MSFT) - Get Report
purchased
aQuantive
. Cramer said he believed ValueClick could be next. The stock was adding $2.37 to $28.89.
United Microelectronics
(UMC) - Get Report
soared 18.7%, after the Taiwanese chipmaker reported a 14.2% jump in net sales in September. The company reported $10.5 million in sales, vs. $9.3 million in September 2006. Shares were rising 68 cents to $4.31.
Hoku Scientific
( HOKU) jumped 9.9%, after the solar panel component maker said it had entered into an agreement with Dynamic Engineering, under which it will receive design and engineering services to build a silicon purification unit to make silicon used in Siemens reactors. Hoku shares jumped 89 cents to $9.94.
LDK Solar
(LDK)
also was on the rise, as the solar panel component maker's shares were rising 8.8% after it upped its third-quarter guidance. The company said it now expected revenue of between $140 million and $150 million, up from its earlier forecast of $115 million to $125 million. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial are expecting revenue of $127.1 million.
The company also refuted allegations by a former employee, saying there were no material inconsistencies in its financial statements regarding inventory reporting. Shares were rising $3.30 to $40.80.