By Rex Crum, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Angie's List Inc. shares were a
rare standout among tech stocks Thursday on what turned out to be a
mostly negative day for the tech sector.
Angie's List (ANGI) ended the day up by 8.4%, at $14.85 after
Raymond James analyst Aaron Kessler raised his rating on the online
professional-services recommendation company to strong buy from
outperform. In a research note, Kessler said that following a
survey of merchants, he expects Angie's List's sales productivity
and member additions to improve in the early part of this year.
Mild gains also came from Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE),
Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) and Pandora Media Inc. (P)
But decliners were in the majority, with Twitter Inc. (TWTR)
down another 3.8% to close at $57.05 a share. Before the market
opened, Cowen & Co. analyst John Blackledge initiated his
coverage of Twitter with an underperform, or sell rating and a
$32-a-share price target.
In a research note, Blackledge said a survey of advertising
buyers suggested that they rate their return on their investments
with Twitter below that of other social-networking sites like
Facebook Inc. (FB) and LinkedIn Corp. (LNKD). Blackledge added that
"the key investment controversy for Twitter centers on growing
revenue rapidly."
Apple Inc. (AAPL) gave up 1.3% to close at $536.52. Bloomberg
reported that Apple rival Samsung is preparing for a spring release
of its new Galaxy S5 smartphone, which may include eye scanning
technology for the first time.
Graphics chipmaker Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) fell 3.7%, to $15.75.
Canaccord Genuity analyst Bobby Burleson cut his rating on Nvidia
late Tuesday to hold from buy on the grounds that there is limited
potential for the company to exceed his earnings and sales
forecasts this year.
Losses also came from Seagate Technology (STX), down 2.7% to
close at $58.01; Arm Holdings Plc (ARMHY), off by almost 8% at
$48.79 and Groupon Inc. (GRPN), which fell nearly 3%, to
$11.44.
Compuware Corp. (CPWR) shed 26 cents a share to close at $10.84
after the business-software maker said it reached an agreement with
activist investor Elliott Management Corp. Under the deal, Elliott
will be eligible to nominate two directors to Compuware's board of
directors and it will agree to forgo a proxy fight for control of
the Compuware board.
The Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) gave up 9 points to fall to
4,156 and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) ended the day
down by almost 1%.
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