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The Night Watch: Pennies Are Heavenly for Top Tech Earners

The Night Watch: Pennies Are Heavenly for Top Tech Earners

Inktomi, Qualcomm, AOL and more topped estimates by pennies and rose after hours, but Intel and Broadcom slipped despite solid numbers.

Inktomi, Qualcomm, AOL and more topped estimates by pennies and rose after hours, but Intel and Broadcom slipped despite solid numbers.

In an economy of millionaires, what is a penny worth?

Just ask

Inktomi

(INKT)

. The maker of Internet search and traffic management technology posted second-quarter earnings of 1 cent a share. The company ran up 6 to 122 1/4 on 20,000 shares on

Island

after announcing its first profitable quarter, with profits more than tripling. The company lost 7 cents at the same time last year.

If you ask the same question to the folks at

Qualcomm

(QCOM) - Get Free Report

and

Intel

(INTC) - Get Free Report

, which both posted gains tonight that beat Wall Street estimates by 2 cents, you are likely to get different answers.

While Qualcomm took off after hours, rising 7 5/16 to 119 7/16 on 440,000 shares on Island, Intel was left in the dust, dropping 3 3/4 to 125 1/4 on 340,000 shares on Island.

Don't start feeling too sorry for Intel: A remarkable day session sent it 6 points higher to close at 129, in anticipation of strong first-quarter earnings. Strong demand for PCs during an unusually sluggish post-holiday retail season helped the world's largest semiconductor company boost its earnings from 57 cents the same time last year. In a classic example of "buy the rumor and sell the fact," a 37% rise in net income and 71 cents a share in earnings failed to impress. Though Intel beat the

First Call/Thomson Financial

analyst estimate of 69 cents, rumors that it missed its whisper number may have foiled chances for further gains.

While everyone loves to talk on a cell phone, they hate to listen to a stranger's conversation in a public place. Qualcomm walked the tightrope of that love-hate relationship, warning of a seasonal slowing in business due to a change in technology. However, the digital wireless communications company surprised everyone, announcing earnings of 26 cents a share and beating analysts' expectations of 24 cents.

America Online

(AOL)

met both the analyst expectations and the whisper number, posting earnings of 11 cents a share. AOL traded up 1/4 to 60 3/4 on 100,000 shares on Instinet.

Broadcom

undefined

also topped estimates by a penny. The developer of highly integrated silicon solutions one-upped First Call's 19-analyst estimate of 16 cents a share, posting first-quarter earning of 17 cents. Broadcom was a big winner during the day, finishing up 26 5/16, or 21.5%, at 148 9/16. At night the stock took a nosedive, trading down 6 1/2 to 150 1/4 on 14,000 shares on Island.

If a penny were enough to buy the thoughts of nighttime traders, we could surmise that pennies means different things to different traders in this fickle market. With a few exceptions aside, the eye-catchers of the midnight market appeared to be top tech names with strong earnings.

This information is provided by Instinet, a wholly owned subsidiary of Reutersundefined. For further information, please contact Instinet at www.instinet.com.

Island ECN, owned by Datek Online, offers trading, mainly in Nasdaq-listed stocks, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. EDT.

Confused?

TheStreet.com

explains how the rules change when the sun goes down in Investing Basics: Night Owl, a section devoted to after-hours trading.