By Rex Crum
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Upbeat reactions to several
earnings reports and a fresh swipe by Oracle's chief executive at
Hewlett-Packard Co.'s new CEO made for an active Wednesday in the
tech sector.
The Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) fell 6 points to 2,490.
However, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) rose nearly 2%,
led by gains from Broadcom Corp. (BRCM) on the heels of the
communication chipmaker's third-quarter financial results.
In an statement late Tuesday, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison took some
swings at the new brass at H-P (HPQ) -- CEO Leo Apotheker and
Chairman Ray Lane.
A trial is scheduled to begin Nov. 1 in a software lawsuit
between Oracle (ORCL) and SAP AG (SAP),where Apotheker had served
as CEO until earlier this year. The trial centers around how much
SAP should pay in damages for stealing Oracle's software a few
years ago.
Ellison said that "a majority of this theft occurred while Mr.
Apotheker was CEO of SAP," and that Oracle intends to present
evidence of Apotheker's involvement when the trial begins in
federal court in Oakland, Calif.
In his statement, Ellison added that he expects Lane, a former
company president at Oracle, to keep Apotheker "far, far away from
the courthouse until this trial is over."
U.S.-listed shares of SAP traded off by $2.42, or 4.5%, to
$51.67, following lackluster results and outlook issued by the
German company.
Oracle shares rose 12 cents to $28.75, while H-P gave up 24
cents to trade at $42.72.
Other declines came from Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), Apple Inc.
(AAPL), IBM Corp. (IBM), Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) and Google Inc.
(GOOG).
A major decliner, Molex Inc. (MOLX) shares fell $1.61, or more
than 7%, to $20.98. The selling came after the maker of electronic
connector products gave a weaker-than-expected forecast for the
second quarter ending in December.
On the upside, Broadcom shares rallied $3.17, or 8.5%, to $40.36
as the company's third-quarter earnings rose almost four times from
a year ago. Broadcom also gave a strong fourth-quarter
forecast.
Compellent Technologies Inc. (CML) shares surged by $4.17, or
more than 20%, to $23.87 after the data-storage technology company
posted third-quarter earnings that rose 47% from a year ago. Piper
Jaffray also raised its rating on Compellent to overweight
following the company's report.
RF Micro Devices Inc. (RFMD) climbed 61 cents, or 10%, to $7
after the company reported better-than-expected second-quarter
results late Tuesday.
JDA Software Group Inc. (JDAS) shares rose $2.73, or more than
12%, to $24.88. Late Tuesday, the supply-chain management software
company reported a third-quarter profit of $8.3 million, or 20
cents a share, on $158.4 million in sales, a reversal after having
posted a loss in the same period a year ago.
Router and wireless-networking equipment company Netgear Inc.
(NTGR) saw its shares rise $2.64, or more than 9%, to $30.87 after
reporting upbeat third-quarter earnings on Tuesday.
Chip-equipment maker FormFactor Inc. (FORM) was up by 52 cents a
share, or 6%, to $8.90 following third-quarter results in which in
lost 55 cents a share on $47.3 million in sales. The results were
slightly better than analysts' forecasts.
Silicon Image Inc. (SIMGE) shares surged $1.42, or more than
31%, to $5.97 after the chipmaker reported late Tuesday a
third-quarter profit of $9.5 million, or 12 cents a share, on $60.5
million in sales. During the year-ago period, Silicon Image lost
$15.5 million, or 21 cents a share.