By Benjamin Pimentel, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Technology stocks dropped
Thursday, adding to the previous day's losses, as large-cap players
such as Facebook Inc., Oracle Corp. and Intel Corp. came under
pressure.
Apple Inc. (AAPL) shares dropped $2.79 to close at $446.06 as
hedge-fund giant David Einhorn held a conference call to discuss
the company. Einhorn is waging a campaign to press the company to
consider issuing special preferred stock.
In an interview with AllThingsD, Einhorn said his proposal
offers a "win-win" for both Apple and its shareholders. "We have a
solution that allows shareholders to see that value and Apple to
keep that cash," he added.
Apple's retreat set the tone for a downbeat trading session,
which saw the Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) drop almost 33 points,
or 1%, to close at 3,131.49.
The Morgan Stanley High-Tech Index (MSH) gave up 1.2%, while the
Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) fell 1.8%.
The tech sector retreat followed Wednesday's broader market
selloff sparked by investor concern over the Federal Open Market
Committee's January meeting minutes that revealed differences over
monetary policy.
Among large-cap tech names, Oracle (ORCL), SAP AG (SAP), Intel
(INTC), Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) and Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) all
closed in the red.
Facebook (FB) fell more than 4% to end the day at $27.28.
However, Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) shares rose 2.4% to close at
$17.10 ahead of the Palo Alto, Calif.-based company's fiscal
first-quarter report.
But shares of VeriFone Systems Inc. (PAY) were slammed,
plummeting almost 43% to close at $18.24 after the company
drastically cut its estimates for its fiscal first quarter.
On the upside, Google Inc. (GOOG) shares rose $3.07 to close at
$795.53 The Internet powerhouse's stock hit an all-time high
recently, rising above $800 for the first time in its history.
And the stock will probably go higher, Bernstein Research
analyst Carlos Kirjner argued in a note, raising the price target
to $1,000. "We believe mass adoption of smartphones, tablets and
the mobile Web is a large value-creation opportunity for Google,"
Kirjner wrote.
Groupon Inc. (GRPN) rose almost 4% on a Piper Jaffray
upgrade.
Shares of Home Away Inc. (AWAY) rallied more than 13% after the
company posted upbeat results.
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