By Rex Crum, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Groupon Inc. and Micron
Technology Inc. were among the few notable tech stocks to rise
Tuesday as much of the sector gave up it its early gains and
finished the day in the red.
Groupon (GRPN) pulled back from its high point, but still closed
with a gain of 4.5% at $6.78 to add to the prior-day's gains. On
Monday, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster said recent checks show
Groupon has increased the number of deals available on its site,
and is taking more steps in its turnaround to become more of a
destination for e-commerce consumers.
Munster said Groupon has increased the number of deals on its
network to 200,000 from about 140,000 at the end of 2013, and he
expects the company to reach 500,000 deals within three to four
years.
Micron (MU) rose 4% to end the day at $32.50 a share after the
memory chipmaker reported better-than-expected quarterly results
late Monday.
Online radio company Pandora Media Inc. (P) edged up by 7 cents
a share to close at $28.27. Canaccord Genuity analyst Michael
Graham said that recent meetings with Pandora have given him
"renewed confidence in Pandora's ability to exceed our revenue
targets over time."
Apple (AAPL) ended the day down by 55 cents a share to close at
$90.28 following reports that said the company is set to begin
production of the so-called iPhone 6 in China next month. The
newest version of Apple's smartphone will reportedly come out in
two models, with screen sizes of 4.7 inches and 5.5 inches, and
will ship in September. If such reports are true, the next release
would fall in line with Apple's historical pattern of introducing a
new iPhone in time for the annual Christmas and holiday shopping
seasons.
If Apple does increase the size of its iPhone screens, it would
add to the arms race that has developed around bigger screens for
smartphones. Apple rivals such as Samsung and HTC have released
phones with screens of up to 5.7 inches, and last week, Amazon.com
Inc. (AMZN) unveiled its Fire phone with a 4.7-inch screen.
Google Inc. (GOOG) shed $1.75 a share to close at $572.54 in
advance of the company's annual I/O developers conference, which
starts Wednesday in San Francisco. Google is expected to give
updates on features of its Android operating system, and possibly
show of smartwatches that run on Android.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) ended the day down
by 18 points at 4,350, and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index
(SOX) shed 0.7%.
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