By Rex Crum, MarketWatch E-commerce leader could see
'significant catalyst' with PayPal spinoff
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Tech stocks started the week with
mild gains Monday, with eBay Inc. among the advancers after Stifel
Nicolaus analyst Scott Devitt raised his rating on the e-commerce
company to buy from hold.
EBay (EBAY) shares rose 1.2% to $55.45 following Devitt's
upgrade. In a research note, Devitt said that eBay's planned spin
off of its PayPal electronic-payments business "could be a
significant catalyst for its shares" and set a price target on
eBay's stock of $65. Devitt also said eBay's shares could reach as
high as $75 "if the [PayPal] spin is executed flawlessly and fully
embraced by investors."
In addition to eBay, gains also came from Facebook Inc. (FB),
Google Inc. (GOOGL) and Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN).
Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE) shares rose 12 cents to $72.53. The
software company is scheduled to report its fiscal fourth-quarter
results after Thursday's market close.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) rose almost 12
points to 4,792, and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX)
edged into positive territory.
Declines came from GoPro Inc. (GPRO), which was down 3.7% at
$69.50 and Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ), which was off by almost 2% at
$38.65. Twitter Inc. (TWTR) also gave up 2.7% to slip to
$37.45.
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