By Rex Crum, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Tech stocks claimed the high
ground Tuesday as Sprint Corp. and CommVault Systems Inc. shares
rose following quarterly results.
Sprint (S), the No. 3. mobile-phone carrier in the U.S., rose
3%, to $5.92 a share, after the company reported a quarterly loss
that grew from the year-ago period due to costs associated with
closing down its Nextel network. Sprint, which also sold almost 80%
of its shares to Japan's Softbank Corp., said it lost more
customers in the quarter than several analysts had forecast.
CommVault (CVLT) posted one of the tech sector's strongest
gains, as its shares rose more than 10% to $85.56. Before the
market opened, the enterprise data storage provider reported a
quarterly profit of 40 cents a share, on $134.4 million in revenue,
to top the estimates of Wall Street analysts, who forecast
CommVault to earn 35 cents a share on sales of $132.2 million.
Facebook Inc. (FB) continued its gains in the wake of last
week's earnings results, as its shares rose 3% to $36.45. Among
other social-networking and Internet stocks, advances also came
from Groupon Inc. (GRPN), eBay Inc. (EBAY), Yahoo Inc. (YHOO) and
LinkedIn Corp. (LNKD). See commentary: Facebook continues to
disappoint.
Harris Corp. (HRS) climbed almost 7% to $56.44 a share after the
communications-equipment maker reported better-than-expected
quarterly results prior to the start of trading.
The Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) rose 23 points to 3,622, while
the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) rose 1% and the Morgan
Stanley High Tech 35 Index (MSH) also advanced.
Declines came from PMC-Sierra Inc. (PMCS), which fell 7.5% to
$6.48 a share. After Monday's market close, the chipmaker reported
a second-quarter loss that grew from the year-ago quarter and its
sales fell below Wall Street analysts' forecasts.
Corning Inc. (GLW) shares gave up 4%, to trade at $14.75. Before
the market opened, Corning reported a 35% increase in
second-quarter earnings as it said it benefited from increased
sales of its Gorilla Glass for smartphones.
Sandisk Corp. (SNDK) was off by 2.5%, at $54.01. Goldman Sachs
analyst James Schneider cut his rating on the flash memory
chipmaker to neutral, saying that "greater NAND supply may be added
in the next few quarters than we previously assumed, which could
drive meaningful near-term price declines."
Symantec Corp. (SYMC) was up by 1%, and Carbonite Inc. (CARB)
edged up by a penny a share, while Take-Two Interactive Software
Inc. (TTWO) shed 3 cents a share to $16.94. All three companies are
scheduled to report quarterly results after the close of
trading.
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