By Rex Crum
The tech sector edged lower Tuesday, but Hewlett-Packard Co.
managed to hold on to a small gain as the world's largest
technology company is set to deliver its second-quarter earnings
report after the market close.
Decliners included EMC Corp. (EMC), Seagate Technology (STX),
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), Dell Inc. (DELL) and Cisco Systems Inc.
(CSCO).
QAD Inc. (QADI) shares fell 58 cents, or more than 10%, to $5.13
after the maker of software for manufacturers gave a
weaker-than-expected quarterly forecast. The company now expects to
lose 4 cents to 5 cents a share on $50 million to $51 million in
sales, down from earlier estimates of a profit of 3 cents a share
on $54 million in revenue.
H-P (HPQ) remained upbeat, rising 32 cents a share to $47.85.
Analysts surveyed by FactSet Research estimate H-P will earn $1.06
a share on $29.86 billion in sales for its fiscal second
quarter.
The Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) stumbled, off by 8 points to
2,346. The Morgan Stanley High Tech 35 Index(MSH) and the
Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) slipped into the red.
Gains came from IBM Corp. (IBM), Apple Inc. (AAPL) and Research
In Motion Ltd. (RIMM).
RightNow Technologies Inc. (RNOW) rose 70 cents a share, or
4.6%, to $16.10 after FBR Capital Markets analyst David Hilal
raised his rating on the software company to outperform from market
perform. Hilal said that he expects RightNow to get more deals
involving contact centers for businesses' customer service
operations and sign more bookings in the coming months.