By Rex Crum, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Tech stocks put in a mostly
downbeat performance Wednesday, but it was a big executive shake-up
at online social-gaming company Zynga Inc., and gains from Apple
Inc. and Brocade Communications Systems Inc. that claimed much of
the sector's attention during the day.
Zynga (ZNGA) edged up 6 cents a share, or 2%, to $2.97, after
Chief Executive Don Mattrick said David Ko, the company's chief
operating officer, had resigned. Mattrick wrote in a memo to
Zynga's employees that Chief Technology Officer Cadir Lee and Chief
People Officer Colleen McCreary are also leaving the troubled
gaming company.
It was the latest in a string of management shake-ups at Zynga
over the past year, but the first for Mattrick, who became CEO in
July after running the division at Microsoft Corp. (MSFT)
responsible for the Xbox videogame console and other gaming
products.
Apple (AAPL) shares climbed almost 2%, to close at $498.50 after
earlier climbing above the $500-a-share mark for the first time
since Jan. 23. On Tuesday, Apple's stock rose 5% after activist
investor Carl Icahn after he tweeted he had taken a "large
position" in Apple, and that he believes the company should expand
its stock buyback plan.
Brocade (BRCD) shares surged almost 16%, to $7.99, after the
networking-technology company reported a surge in its third-quarter
results late Tuesday. Brocade said it earned $118.7 million, or 26
cents a share, on revenue of $536.6 million.
Excluding one-time items, Brocade said it would have earned 19
cents a share, while Wall Street analysts had forecast the company
to earn 12 cents a share on $519 million in sales.
Other gains came from Netflix Inc. (NFLX), eBay Inc. (EBAY) and
Oracle Corp. (ORCL).
But enough decliners emerged to drag the tech-heavy Nasdaq
Composite Index (RIXF) down by 15 points to close at 3,669 and the
Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) gave up 1.6%.
Cree Inc. (CREE) put in one of the tech sector's largest
percentage declines, falling more than 22% to $58.83 On Tuesday,
the LED lighting technology products company gave a
weaker-than-expected forecast for its fiscal first quarter, saying
it expects to earn 36 cents to 41 cents a share on revenue between
$380 million and $400 million. Analysts had forecast Cree to earn
43 cents a share on $398.4 million in sales for the quarter.
JDS Uniphase Corp. (JDSUD) fell almost 4%, to close at $14.23,
after the optical-networking equipment company on Tuesday reported
sales that fell from a year ago due to weak demand for optical
components from telecom customers.
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO), which reported quarterly results
after the close of trading, rose 6 cents a share to end the day at
$26.18.
Sector leaders also in the red included Google Inc. (GOOG)
Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ), Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), Yahoo Inc.
(YHOO) and Pandora Media Inc. (P).
(ORCL)
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