By Rex Crum
Much of the tech sector rose Tuesday, with Hewlett-Packard Co.
among the advancers as the world's largest technology company is
set to deliver its second-quarter earnings report after the market
close.
H-P (HPQ) shares rose 53 cents to $48.02 to lead a slate of
gainers that included Apple Inc. (AAPL), IBM Corp. (IBM), Microsoft
Corp. (MSFT), Dell Inc. (DELL) and Yahoo Inc. (YHOO).
Analysts surveyed by FactSet Research estimate H-P will earn
$1.06 a share on $29.86 billion in sales for its fiscal second
quarter.
The Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) added to its Monday gains by
rising more than 12 points to 2,366. The Morgan Stanley High Tech
35 Index(MSH) edged upward, but the Philadelphia Semiconductor
Index (SOX) slipped into the red.
Other gains came from RightNow Technologies Inc. (RNOW), which
rose 86 cents a share, or 5.6%, to $16.26 after FBR Capital Markets
analyst David Hilal raised his rating on the software company to
outperform from market perform. Hilal said that he expects RightNow
to get more deals involving contact centers for businesses'
customer service operations and sign more bookings in the coming
months.
Decliners included EMC Corp. (EMC), Seagate Technology (STX) and
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO).
QAD Inc. (QADI) shares fell 44 cents, or almost 8%, to $5.27
after the maker of software for manufacturers gave a
weaker-than-expected quarterly forecast. The company now expects to
lose 4 cents to 5 cents a share on $50 million to $51 million in
sales, down from earlier estimates of a profit of 3 cents a share
on $54 million in revenue.