By Rex Crum, MarketWatch

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Most leading tech stocks advanced Thursday, with Pandora Media Inc. among the gainers ahead of its earnings report after the close of trading and Micron Technology Inc. getting a lift following upbeat comments on the chipmaker from influential investor David Einhorn.

Pandora (P) shares rose 3.5%, to $29.42 as the Internet radio company prepared to report its fiscal third-quarter results after the market closes. Analysts surveyed by FactSet estimate Pandora will earn 6 cents a share, excluding one-time items, on $177 million in revenue, up from a profit of 5 cents a share on revenue of $120 million in the same period a year ago.

The results come out about two weeks after Pandora released its listener metrics for October, which showed Pandora users listening to 1.47 billion hours of music on the service during the month, a gain of 18% from the same period a year ago.

Mark Mahaney of RBC Capital Markets said in a research note that details about audience metrics and advertising revenue will be key details that investors will key in on regarding Pandora's results and outlook. The call will also be notable for being the first one to include new Chief Executive Brian McAndrews, and the last one before the company shifts its fiscal year to one that matches the calendar year.

Facebook Inc. (FB) was up by 1% at $46.86 a share. On Wednesday, FBR Capital Markets analyst William Bird initiated his coverage of Facebook with an outperform rating and $60-a-share price target.

Yahoo Inc (YHOO) rose 2.5% to $36.50 a share amid speculation that the Internet company could be on track to make a big acquisition in the wake of increase its stock buyback plan by $5 billion.

Micron Technology Inc. (MU) was up by 5.5% at $19.82 a share. Speaking on CNBC, activist investor David Einhorn said he was in favor of the long-term prospects for the memory chipmaker due to consolidation in the DRAM memory market and new uses for DRAM chips in products such as smartphones and videogame consoles.

Among other tech stocks, Groupon Inc. (GRPN) rose 3% to $9.50 a share; Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) was up by 1% to trade at $365.96 and Netflix Inc. (NFLX) rose 2.2% to $346.74.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) climbed 37 points to 3,958, while the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) was up by more than 1%.

One notable decliner was GameStop Corp. (GME), which fell by more than 6%, to $48.96 a share. The videogame retailer reported better-than-expected third-quarter results on Thursday, but gave a fourth-quarter outlook that failed to meet Wall Street analysts forecasts.

Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (MRVL), Autodesk Inc. (ADSK) and Splunk (SPLK) are scheduled to report earnings after the bell.

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