By Rex Crum, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Tech stocks gained Wednesday,
with Amazon.com Inc. receiving some positive attention from Goldman
Sachs analyst Heath Terry and Synaptics Inc. is surging after it
announced an acquisition to boost its touchscreen technology
offerings.
Amazon (AMZN) rose 2.4% to $340.27, after Terry added the
company to his "conviction list" and maintained his buy rating on
the stock. Terry also raised his price target on Amazon to $430 a
share from $400. In a research note, Terry said he believes
Amazon's investments in its Web Services business, Amazon Fresh
delivery service and digital hardware are "driving incremental
growth and furthering Amazon's high returns."
Synaptics (SYNA) shares climbed more than 24%, to $82.54, after
the touchscreen technology company said it would acquire Renesas SP
Drivers for $475 million. Renesas makes semiconductors that are
used to power the touchscreens in tablets and smartphones.
Synaptics also used the acquisition as a reason to raise its
fiscal fourth-quarter sales outlook to between $300 million and
$310 million from a prior forecast of $275 million to $295 million.
Analysts surveyed by FactSet had forecast Synaptics to report sales
of $285.6 million for the quarter.
Online professional services referral company Angie's List Inc.
(ANGI) was up by 3.7% at $11.91 a share. Before the market opened,
Wunderlich Securities analyst Blake Harper raised his rating on
Angie's List to buy from hold saying he expects the company to show
"improving sales productivity, traction with the e-commerce
marketplace, and the rollout of tiered pricing to all markets."
Gains also came from Pandora Media Inc. (P), Yahoo Inc. (YHOO),
Apple Inc. (AAPL) and Oracle Corp. (ORCL).
The Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) was off by 5 points at 4,332,
while the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) managed to edge
its way into positive territory.
More must-reads from MarketWatch:
Five most-popular tech stocks among hedge funds
Larry Ellison shows off new Oracle database system
GoPro looks to raise $427.2 million with IPO
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires