Tech Stocks Dip Amid Earnings Reports

Strategic Insights -

Technology stocks declined Thursday, with losses coming from the computer services and semiconductor sectors. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 16 points to 2173, a four-year low. Amex Computer Technology Index shed 7.5 points, or 1%, to 729.94. Dell Inc. (DELL), Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO), Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ), Intel Corp. (INTC), and International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) experienced declines, while Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) and Google Inc. (GOOG) rose ahead of their earnings reports.

Key Takeaways:

  • The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 16 points to 2173, a four-year low, on Thursday.
  • The Amex Computer Technology Index fell 7.5 points, or 1%, to 729.94.
  • Tech stalwarts Dell Inc. (DELL), Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO), Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ), Intel Corp. (INTC), and International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) declined by 1.2%, 2%, 1.3%, 1.2%, and 0.8% respectively.
  • Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) and Google Inc. (GOOG) rose ahead of their earnings reports, up 0.6% and 0.4% respectively.
  • Sybase Inc. (SY) rose 4.8% after topping Wall Street's expectations with a second-quarter profit of $25 million, or 27 cents a share, on revenue of $204.4 million.
  • EMC Corp. (EMC) matched Wall Street's target with second-quarter earnings of 12 cents a share, but its full-year outlook of 50 cents to 51 cents a share is slightly below expectations.

Statistics:

  • The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 16 points to 2173.
  • The Amex Computer Technology Index shed 7.5 points, or 1%, to 729.94.
  • Sybase Inc. (SY) earned $25 million, or 27 cents a share, on revenue of $204.4 million in the second quarter.
  • Analysts polled by Thomson First Call expected, on average, profit of 23 cents on revenue of $196.3 million.
  • EMC Corp. (EMC) reported second-quarter earnings of 12 cents a share.
  • The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index dropped 8.48 points to 468.38.
  • Broadcom Corp. (BRCM), PMC-Sierra Inc. (PMCS), and Xilinx Inc. (XLNX) fell ahead of their earnings reports, down 3.8%, 2.7%, and 3.6% respectively.

Sources:

  • Dow Jones Commodities News Select via Comtex
  • COMTEX (http://www.comtexnews.com)
  • Thomson First Call
  • Sybase Inc. (SY) press release
  • EMC Corp. (EMC) press release
  • Company websites and financial reports.