By Rex Crum
Tech stocks took to the high ground in early trading Thursday,
led by gains from online retailer eBay Inc. and video-rental and
streaming technology company Netflix Inc. following upbeat reaction
to those companies' quarterly results.
The Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) rose almost 20 points to
2,477, while the Morgan Stanley High Tech 35 Index (MSH) edged up
by about 1%. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) dipped into
the red.
EBay (EBAY) shares climbed $2.13, or more than 8%, to $27.80.
Late Wednesday, eBay said its third-quarter earnings rose 23% from
a year ago, mostly due to strength in its PayPal business. For the
quarter, eBay earned $432 million, or 33 cents a share, on $2.25
billion in sales.
Netflix (NFLX) shares flexed their muscles, climbing $20.34, or
more than 13%, to $173.70. After the market closed Wednesday,
Netflix reported a third-quarter profit of $38 million, or 70 cents
a share, on $553.2 million in sales, up from earnings of $30.1
million, or 52 cents a share, on revenue of $423.1 million in the
year-ago period.
Netflix said its results were helped by an increase in new
subscribers, more of whom are using the company's online
video-streaming services for longer lengths of time.
Gains also came from Oracle Corp. (ORCL), Google Inc. (GOOG),
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) and Texas Instruments Inc. (TXN).
Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) shares rose $5.63, or 3.6%, to $164.35
ahead of the online retailer's quarterly results, due after the
market close.
Seagate Technology (STX) shares shed 21 cents to trade at
$15.01. Late Wednesday, the hard-disk drive maker reported a 17%
drop in its fiscal first-quarter earnings, amid reports that the
company could soon be taken private.
Apple Inc. (AAPL) rose $2.65 a share to $313.14 a day after the
company unveiled new MacBook Air laptops and gave a preview of
Lion, the next upgrade to its Mac OS operating system.