By Rex Crum
Gains by Palm Inc. continued to highlight action in tech stocks
Thursday, as the company's shares climbed more than 25% after
Hewlett-Packard Co. said it would acquire the struggling maker of
smartphones such as the Pre and Pixi for $1.2 billion.
Palm (PALM) shares climbed $1.17 to $5.80 after H-P said late
Wednesday it would acquire Palm for $1.2 billion. The deal values
Palm at $5.70 a share.
The acquisition brings an end to months of speculation that Palm
was exploring options such as putting itself up for sale. The
company had recently banked much of its future on the success of
its webOS smartphone operating system, but lackluster sales of its
newest phones hastened the company's decline.
H-P (HPQ) shares gave up 45 cents to slip to $52.82.
Motorola Inc. (MOT) put in a decent performance, rising 21 cents
a share, or 3%, to $7.13 after the company reported a first-quarter
profit before the market opened. Motorola said its results were
helped by shipping 8.5 million handsets, including more than 2
million smartphones such as the Droid.
Akamai Technologies Inc. (AKAM) climbed $6.21 a share, or more
than 18%, to $38.70 after the provider of content delivery services
over the Internet reported strong quarterly results late
Wednesday.
Chinese Internet giant Baidu Inc. (BIDU) saw its U.S.-traded
shares climb $90, or more than 14%, to $712.11 after reporting an
increase in its quarterly earnings before the market opened.
Semiconductor equipment maker KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) rose 98
cents a share, or almost 3%, to $34.58, and security-software
company McAfee Inc. (MFE) gave up 2 cents to slip to $39.90 in
advance of those companies' quarterly results, due after the market
close.
Other gains came from Apple Inc. (AAPL), IBM Corp. (IBM), Cisco
Systems Inc. (CSCO), Yahoo Inc. (YHOO) and Google Inc.
The Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) rose 37 points to 2,508, while
the Morgan Stanley High Tech 35 Index (MSH) and the Philadelphia
Semiconductor Index (SOX) were each up about 1%.