By Rex Crum
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Tech stocks closed mostly higher
Tuesday, but the session was highlighted by several big losses,
including double-digit percentage declines from Lexmark
International Inc., Tellabs Inc. and Unisys Corp.
Lexmark (LXK) gave up $10.01 a share, or 21%, to fall to $37.71.
The printing and imaging-technology firm reported a third-quarter
net profit of $72 million, or 90 cents a share, up sharply from the
year-ago period. Excluding one-time items, Lexmark said it would
have earned $1.09 a share to easily top Thomson Reuters-compiled
consensus of 98 cents a share.
Lexmark also said quarterly sales rose 6.4% to $1.02 billion --
a figure short of the $1.04 billion consensus.
Separately, Lexmark said Paul Curlander would retire as chief
executive and be replaced by executive vice president Paul Rooke.
See more on Lexmark's results and CEO succession.
Tellabs (TLAB) shed $1.06 a share, or more than 13%, to fall to
$7 after the communications-equipment maker gave a fourth-quarter
sales forecast of $410 million to $430 million, short of analysts'
consensus of $442 million.
Unisys (UIS) shares tumbled by almost $7, or more than 22%, to
close at $24.26.
The computer-services company reported a third-quarter profit of
$28.3 million, or 65 cents a share, on revenue of $961 million.
Analysts had forecast earnings of 86 cents a share and $1.01
billion in revenue.
Zoran Corp. (ZRAN) also took a hit, with its shares falling
$1.38, or more than 18%, to $6.18 after the maker of
video-compression chips gave a disappointing fourth-quarter
forecast.
Texas Instruments Inc. (TXN) also slipped, giving up 10 cents a
share to close at $28.88. Late Monday, the chip maker reported a
60% increase in third-quarter earnings and issued a fourth-quarter
forecast that was relatively in line with Wall Street
estimates.
Other losses came from Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO), Apple Inc.
(AAPL), Oracle Corp. (ORCL) and Dell Inc. (DELL)
nternational Business Machines Corp. (IBM) rose 83 cents a share
to $140.67. The tech giant said its board approved an additional
$10 billion for stock repurchases on top of $2.3 billion remaining
from a prior authorization. The company also declared a regular
cash dividend of 65 cents a share.
The Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) rose 6 points to 2,497 and the
Morgan Stanley High Tech 35 Index (MSH) posted a slight gain. The
Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) slipped into the red.