By Rex Crum
The tech sector joined in a broad-market slide Tuesday
afternoon, with nearly every major sector leader in the red as
concerns mounted about the state of the euro and the ongoing
European debt crisis.
Among leading tech stocks, Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) fell 58
cents a share to $46.98 with its quarterly earnings on tap for
after the market close. 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.
Leading the decline was the negative sentiment about Europe and
whether another so-called "flash crash" of the market could occur,
similar to the one that happened earlier this month.
Decliners also included EMC Corp. (EMC), Seagate Technology
(STX), Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), Dell Inc. (DELL) and Cisco Systems
Inc. (CSCO)
QAD Inc. (QADI) shares fell 57 cents, or 10%, to $5.14 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.
The Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) stumbled, falling more than 36
points, or 1.6%, to 2,317. The Morgan Stanley High Tech 35 Index
(MSH) was off by 1.8% and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index
(SOX) gave up nearly 3%.
The few gainers included IBM Corp. (IBM), up 9 cents at $130.57,
and RightNow Technologies Inc. (RNOW), which rose 51 cents a share,
or 3.3%,to $15.91.
Before the market opened, FBR Capital Markets analyst David
Hilal raised his rating on the software firm to outperform from
market perform. Hilal said that he expects RightNow to get more
deals involving contact centers for customer-service operations and
sign more bookings in the coming months.