By Rex Crum
Technology stocks appeared headed for a day of erratic trading
Thursday as the sector hunted for direction in a session
highlighted by losses from Ciena Corp. and gains from TiVo Inc. and
Take-Two Interactive Software Inc.
Ciena (CIEND) shares fell $1.19, or more than 8%, to $13.38
after the networking-equipment company reported a quarterly loss
that widened to $53.3 million, or 58 cents a share, from a loss of
$24.8 million, or 27 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Revenue
rose almost 5%, to $175.9 million.
Ciena said the growing losses were mostly due to the company's
purchase of assets from bankrupt Canadian networker Nortel
Networks. Ciena recorded a one-time expense of $27 million related
to its purchase of Nortel's optical and Ethernet technology
assets.
In addition to Ciena, losses also came from Microsoft Corp.
(MSFT), Dell Inc. (DELL), IBM Corp. (IBM), Cisco Systems Inc.
(CSCO) and Seagate Technology (STX).
However, those losses were countered by gains from TiVo and
Take-Two.
TiVo (TIVO) shares climbed $4.80, or 47%, to $15 after a report
that a U.S. District Court had affirmed sanctions against Echostar
(DISH) in a case involving TiVo's DVR technology.
Take-Two shares rose 70 cents, or almost 8%, to $9.73 after the
video-game publisher reported first-quarter results late
Wednesday.
Take-Two (TTWO) said it cut its loss to $33.9 million, or 43
cents a share, from $50.4 million, or 66 cents a share, in the
prior-year period. Revenue grew 9% to $163.2 million.
The company said its results were helped by strong sales of its
"NBA 2K10," "Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City" and
"Carnival Games" titles. Take-Two also gave a better-than-expected
outlook for its current quarter, due in part to strong initial
sales of its "BioShock 2" game, which has already shipped more than
3 million units since launching in early February.
In addition to Take-Two, gains also came from Apple Inc. (AAPL),
Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) and Google Inc. (GOOG).
The Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) rose 2 points to 2,282, but
the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) and the Morgan Stanley
High Tech 35 Index (MSH) dipped into the red.