By Rex Crum
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- A strong earnings report helped
send Google Inc. shares above the $600 mark, and talks about
Seagate Technology going private led to big gains for the hard-disk
drive maker as those companies' shares helped to lift stocks across
the tech sector on Friday.
Google (GOOG) shares climbed more than 11%, to as high as $601,
after the Internet giant said late Thursday that it earned $2.17
billion, or $6.72 a share, on $5.5 billion in revenue for its third
quarter. During the same period a year ago, Google earned $1.64
billion, or $5.13 a share. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters had
forecast Google to earn $6.69 a share on $5.3 billion in sales.
It was the first time Google's stock breached the
$600-a-share-level since January.
The company said its results were helped by growth in online
advertising, as paid clicks, or the number of times users clicked
on ad and generated sales, rose 16% over the year-ago quarter.
Seagate Technology (STX) rallied as much as 20% to $15.22, after
the maker of hard-disk drives said late Thursday that it was in
talks with an unnamed party about taking the company private.
Western Digital Corp. (WDC), Seagate's top rival, saw its shares
climb 8% to $31.82.
Apple Inc. (AAPL) continued to gain more ground, rising $7.75 a
share, or 2.6%, to $310 ahead of quarterly results to be released
Monday.
Other advances came from Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), Hewlett-Packard
Co. (HPQ), Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) and Yahoo Inc. (YHOO).
The Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) rose almost 21 points to
2,456, while the Morgan Stanley High Tech 35 Index (MSH) and the
Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) edged upward.
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) shares shed 10 cents to trade
at $7.04. The semiconductor company said late Thursday that for its
third quarter, it lost $118 million, or 17 cents a share, on $1.62
billion in sales. During the same period a year ago, AMD lost $128
million, or 18 cents a share, on revenue of $1.4 billion. Excluding
one-time items, AMD lost 15 cents a share.