By Rex Crum
Technology stocks turned mixed in late trading Tuesday, but the
tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index remained above the 2,000-point
mark and the market awaited quarterly results from video game
publisher Electronic Arts Inc.
The Nasdaq (RIXF) gave up its gains, and was down 6.5 points at
2,002. The Morgan Stanley High Tech 35 Index (MSH) and the
Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) were also in negative
territory.
Decliners included Apple Inc. (AAPL), Microsoft Corp. (MSFT),
Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) and IBM Corp. (IBM).
Semiconductor stocks continued with their erratic ways. Gains
came from Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD), Texas Instruments Inc.
(TXN) and Nvidia Corp. (NVDA). Decliners included Intel Corp.
(INTC) and Micron Technology Inc. (MU).
Electronic Arts (ERTS) shares rose 33 cents, or 1.6%, to $21.89
ahead of the company's first-quarter earnings report. Analysts
surveyed by Thomson Reuters estimate EA will lose 14 cents a share
on almost $724 million in sales for the quarter.
However, those results would be an improvement over the same
period a year ago, when EA lost 42 cents a share on revenue of $609
million. EA's results are expected to be helped by strong sales of
games associated with Nintendo's Wii video game console.
Other tech companies scheduled to report results after the
market close are BMC Software Inc. (BMC), Glu Mobile Inc. (GLUU)
and Molex Inc. (MOLX).
Gains also came from Dell Inc. (DELL), NetApp Inc. (NTAP), Yahoo
Inc. (YHOO) and Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE).