Intel's Lukewarm Report Hasn't Put All Tech Hopes on Ice

The market doesn't seem to be punishing the sector too severely in early action, thanks to happier news from Motorola and Lucent.

Author:: David Shabelman
Publish date:: Apr 14, 1999 10:49 AM EDT

SAN FRANCISCO -- There's a consensus that Intel's (INTC) - Get Report earnings report was something less than stellar, but the degree to which that'll affect the stock or the tech sector is still unknown. Intel was down 3 1/4, or 5.4%, to 57 1/4 this morning.

Though it's dipped slightly in early trading, the tech sector's getting a little help from

Motorola

(MOT)

and

Lucent Technologies

(LU)

Motorola reported first-quarter earnings of 28 cents a share, topping analysts' estimates by 4 cents. The company also said it might beat analysts' sales and earnings expectations in the second quarter. It was trading up 2 1/16, or 2.5%, at 85.

Meanwhile, Lucent attempted to allay fears of an earnings shortfall by saying that it will meet or beat earnings estimates of 15 cents a share on revenue of at least $8 billion. It was trading up 5 13/16, or 9%, at 62 early.

Infoseek

(SEEK)

reported a loss of 39 cents a share, which was 2 cents better than consensus estimates, but the stock was trading down 9 1/8, or 12%, at 70 1/8.

@Home

(ATHM) - Get Report

, which ran up ahead of its earnings report, was lately trading up 1 at 183 after meeting expectations with a 7-cent loss. And

Seagate Technology

(SEG)

has been firmer after beating its fiscal third-quarter earnings expectations, though it warned of softer revenue in its upcoming fiscal fourth quarter. It was up 2, or 7.5%, at 28 5/8.

Looking ahead, both

Apple

(AAPL) - Get Report

and

Ameritrade

(AMTD) - Get Report

will report earnings later today. Apple, which is expected to post its fourth profitable quarter in a

row, was trading up 3/4, or 2%, at 35 3/8.

Ameritrade and most other online brokerages have been among the best-performing tech stocks on continuing expectations of strong earnings. Ameritrade was down 3 1/4, or 2%, at 170 early on, though that was off its high of 188 3/8.

Ups and Downs

Online banking stocks are seeing some profit-taking after this week's stunning run-up.

Net.B@nk

(NTBK)

, which rose 76 points Tuesday on news of a 3-for-1 split, was down 33 1/32, or 14%, at 202. The stock had traded to a high of 249 soon after the opening.

Also,

TeleBanc Financial

(TBFC)

, which operates

telebankonline.com

, was down 7 1/2, or 6%, at 133.