Techs Stage Knicks-Like Rally Into Positive Territory
SAN FRANCISCO -- If you looked only at the final score, you'd probably say it was a pretty good day for the technology sector. But like the New York Knicks in their playoff victory against the Miami Heat on Sunday, tech stocks had to rally late to avoid a stinging defeat.
And, as with the Knicks, it was the
team
play that made the difference.
After disappointing analysts last spring,
Hewlett-Packard
(HWP)
earned $918 million, or 88 cents a share, in its third quarter, surpassing the
First Call
consensus of 80 cents a share.
Shares of H-P closed the day up 3 5/16, or 4%, at 87 1/2.
Both
Dell
(DELL) - Get Dell Technologies Inc. Class C Report
and
Lycos
TheStreet Recommends
(LCOS)
report their quarterly results Tuesday.
Dell, which is expected to
post first-quarter earnings of 16 cents a share after the close tomorrow, finished up 2 1/16, or 5%, at 43 1/4. Lycos, which is expected to report a third-quarter loss of 3 cents a share, in line with Wall Street's consensus, closed up 1 3/8, or 1%, at 108 1/2.
America Online
(AOL)
closed up 10 3/4, or 9%, at 136 ahead of its meeting with analysts on Wednesday.
Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette
analyst Jamie Kiggen put a note out on the company this morning, urging investors to "buy AOL today." Kiggen said that recent weakness in Internet stocks matches the pattern seen a year ago, but he expects "tremendous seasonal strength" in the second half of the year to ignite the sector.
Amazon.com
(AMZN) - Get Amazon.com Inc. Report
recovered from an 11-point loss to close up 5 1/4, or 4%, at 137 5/8. The stock came under pressure after the company said it would be selling books from
The New York Times
bestseller list at a 50% discount, adding to fears about when the company will be profitable. The stock got a boost from
Credit Suisse First Boston
, which estimated that sales of the bestseller titles "account for no more than 2% to 3%" of Amazon's sales.
When is a 50% discount not enough?
Chicken Soup for the (blank)
Another John Grisham lawyer book
Another Anne Rice vampire tale
Monica's Story
Suzanne Somers' Get Skinny on Fabulous Food