By Rex Crum, MarketWatch

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch)--Tech stocks had a mostly upbeat session Thursday, with Apple Inc. in focus following its $3 billion deal to buy Beats, and Palo Alto Networks Inc. posting strong gains following an upbeat quarterly earnings report.

Apple (AAPL) rose almost 2% to close at $635.38 a share after the company said late Wednesday it would acquire Beats, which includes high-end headphone maker Beats Electronics and the Beats Music streaming service. The deal's $3 billion price tag makes it Apple's largest acquisition in the company's nearly 40-year history.

Analysts that follow Apple tended to view the deal as positive, with the focus likely being on the Beats Music streaming service.

"Apple appears most interested in the Beats Music streaming service, which will exist alongside iTunes Radio," said Steve Milunovich, of UBS. "Catching up to Spotify and Pandora is a tall order; Apple may have concluded that it needed a separate brand and approach."

The deal was also announced less than a week before Apple kicks off its annual Worldwide Developers Conference, at which the company is expected to show off a new service related to software and home networking.

Palo Alto Networks Inc. (PANW) rose more than 5%, to $73.17 a share, after the network security technology company reported better-than-expected quarterly results on Wednesday. Palo Alto said it earned 11 cents a share, on $150.7 million in revenue, while analysts surveyed by FactSet had forecast Palo Alto to earn 10 cents a share on sales of $146.1 million.

Palo Alto also said it settled litigation with Juniper Networks Inc. (JNPR) over a long-running patent dispute. Under terms of the agreement, Palo Alto will pay Juniper a one-time settlement of $175 million. The companies agreed to license patents from each other and not sue each other for eight years.

Netflix Inc. (NFLX) shares climbed 3.5% to end the day at $415.20. Netflix Chief Executive Reed Hastings used his appearance at the Code/Conference to criticize cable TV giant Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) for "taxing" the Internet, as well as Comcast's plan to acquire Time Warner Cable (TWC).

Among other tech stocks, gains came from Twitter Inc. (TWTR), Facebook Inc. (FB) and Microsoft Corp. (MSFT)

The Nasdaq Composite Index (SOX) rose almost 23 points to 4,247 and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) edged into positive territory.

More must-reads from MarketWatch:

Twitter shares fly as sentiment on users shifts

Apple needs Beats deal to revive iTunes

After Beats, what's up for Apple at WWDC?

Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSK)
Historical Stock Chart
From Feb 2024 to Mar 2024 Click Here for more Comcast Charts.
Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSK)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2023 to Mar 2024 Click Here for more Comcast Charts.