By Rex Crum, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch)--Twitter Inc. flexed its muscles
Wednesday as the social-networking company was one of the few
notable advancers among leading tech stocks on a day in which
decliners caused the sector to give back some of the previous
session's big gains.
Twitter (TWTR) shares rose more than 10%, to close at $33.77,
after Nomura analyst Anthony DiClemente lifted his rating on the
company to buy from neutral and maintained his $43-a-share target
price on Twitter's stock. In a research note, DiClemente said that
with Twitter's share price down around 50% this year, "enough is
enough" and called the company "a now-underappreciated digital
media asset."
Networking technology company JDSU (JDSUD) rose 2% to $11.16 a
share after the company said late Tuesday that it authorized a
stock repurchase plan of $100 million.
Apple Inc. (AAPL) fell $1.62 a share to $624.01. Analyst Toni
Sacconaghi of Bernstein Research raised his price target on Apple's
stock to $700 a share from $615. Sacconaghi said enthusiasm for
Apple continues to grow in anticipation of the next version of the
iPhone, and with the company set for a 7-for-1 stock split on June
9.
Mild gains also came from Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ), Netflix
Inc. (NFLX) and Micron Technology Inc. (MU).
Declines came from online retailers Groupon Inc. (GRPN), Zulily
Inc. (ZU) and eBay Inc.(EBAY).
Other tech stocks in the red included IBM Corp. (IBM),
Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN), Yahoo Inc. (YHOO) and Microsoft Corp.
(MSFT).
The Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF), which includes many leading
tech stocks, fell almost 12 points to 4,225. The Philadelphia
Semiconductor Index (SOX) managed to eke out a small gain by the
end of trading.
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