By Benjamin Pimentel, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Amazon.com Inc. and chip stocks
weighed down the tech sector on Friday, but the group got a lift
from rising shares of Facebook Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co. and Apple
Inc.
Amazon (AMZN) reported results that beat Wall Street estimates,
but analysts noted signs of slower growth. That was enough to sink
the stock, which shed 7.2% to close at $254.81, though some
analysts remained upbeat about the company's direction.
"We continue to see the company benefiting from the secular
shifts of retail, advertising, computing power and infrastructure
moving to the Internet/Cloud," Topeka Capital analyst Victor
Anthony said in a note.
Meanwhile, chip stocks headed south, weighing down the tech
sector. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) was down 1.1%,
while the Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) gave up a fraction to close
at 3,279. The benchmark ended the week up 2.3%.
Among the top chip decliners was KLA-Tencor (KLAC), whose shares
were down 6.8% to close at $52.11. The semiconductor capital
equipment posted a decline in earnings and revenue on Tuesday.
Shares of Altera Corp. (ALTR) also fell 5.3% to close at $31.20
after the chip company reported a weaker-than-expected sales
outlook. Expedia (EXPE) saw its stock fall 10% to close at $58.56
after the online travel site's outlook raised worries about its
Hotwire asset.
Also in the red were shares of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and
Texas Instruments.(TXN)
On the upside, Facebook Inc. (FB) saw its stock rise 2.7% to
close at $26.85. Raymond James analyst Aaron Kessler upgraded the
stock to strong buy, citing "the expectation for increasing
monetization driven by new ad formats" and "increasing ad
load."
"We believe Facebook constrained its ad load in the fourth
quarter," he wrote.
Zynga (ZNGA) shares also rose, up 7% to close at $3.35. Apple
Inc. (AAPL) also traded up 2.2% to close at $417.20, while
Hewlett-Packard (HGH.XX) rose 2% to close at $19.97, the best
performer on the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The Dow was up 12
points closing at 14,713.
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