By Rex Crum, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Tech stocks generally advanced
Thursday, with kingpin Apple Inc. gaining following a buyback
proposal from investor Carl Icahn, but several notable losses came
after earnings or forecasts from the likes of Fusion-io Inc. and
Symantec Corp.
Apple (AAPL) rose $1.29 a share to reach $526.25 after Icahn
published a letter he sent to Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook in
which he outlined a proposal for the company to buy back $150
billion worth of its stock.
In the letter, Icahn lauded Cook and Apple, and said his only
major criticism with the company comes from "the size and timeframe
of Apple's buyback program. It is obvious to us that it should be
much bigger and immediate."
Several other tech stocks were getting punished by investors in
the wake of their late-Wednesday quarterly reports.
Fusion-io Inc. (FIO) shares slumped almost 26% to $9.64, after
the data-storage technology company reported disappointing
quarterly results and gave a weak outlook, and said that Chief
Financial Officer Dennis Wolf is leaving the company. J.P. Morgan
analyst Mark Moskowitz cut his rating on Fusion-io's stock to
underweight, or sell, from neutral.
Symantec (SYMC) was down 11.5% at $21.79 a share, as the
security software company reported a decline in its fiscal
second-quarter sales and lowered its full-year forecasts.
Akamai Technologies Inc. (AKAM) fell 10.5% to $46.40 after the
Internet content-delivery company said its upcoming results could
be affected by pricing negotiations on a new contract with its
largest customer, Apple.
Angie's List Inc. (ANGI) gave up almost 3%, to trade at $15 a
share, after the online professional-services referral company
reported weaker-than-expected third-quarter sales and gave a
revenue forecast that fell short of Wall Street analysts'
estimates.
However, the Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) rose 11 points to
3,918. Gains came from sector leaders such as Microsoft Corp.
(MSFT) and Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN)
Microsoft is scheduled to report its fiscal first-quarter
results after the close of trading Thursday. It will be the first
time Microsoft has given a quarterly report since CEO Steve Ballmer
said in August that he would retire and the company agreed in
September to acquire Nokia Corp.'s (NOK) mobile-handset
business.
Amazon also is to report quarterly results after the market
closes.
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