By Rex Crum, MarketWatch

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Tech stocks delivered a mostly upbeat trading performance Tuesday, as the sector prepared for an onslaught of earnings reports.

Intel (INTC) , which kicked off the tech results, saw shares rise more than 2% to close at $32.14. Shortly after the market closed, Intel reported third-quarter earnings of 66 cents a share on $14.55 billion in revenue, beating FactSet analysts estimates for earnings by a penny.

Netflix Inc. (NFLX), which reports its third-quarter results after Wednesday's market close, rose 2.4% to close at $449.12.

Other gains came from Pandora Media Inc. (P), Oracle Corp. (ORCL), Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) and online travel agency Orbitz Worldwide Inc. (OWW), which rose 2.4% to close at $7.60 a share after having its rating upgraded to outperform from market perform by FBR Capital Markets analyst Jake Fuller.

Apple Inc. (AAPL) shed 1% to close at $98.75 in advance of a company event Thursday that is expected to focus on the release of new iPads

Alibaba Group (BABA) gave up 17 cents to close at $84.95 a share. However, UBS analyst Erica Werkun initiated her coverage of the Chinese Internet company with a buy rating and $100-a-share price target.

The Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) rose 13 points to close at 4,227 and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) added almost 2%.

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