ech stocks made mild gains Tuesday morning despite notable declines for two key names in the group -- Apple Inc. and Netflix Inc.
The Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) fell slightly to 2,969 while the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) edged down fractionally.
Apple (AAPL) shares were down by nearly 2% to $560.72 at last check, ahead of the company's second fiscal quarter results, due after the closing bell. Wall Street expects strong earnings growth for the period, driven mainly by the iPhone.
Apple's shares have sold off more than 12% over the last two weeks as a result of several factors, including technical pressures as well as concerns about a shortage of key chipsets used in smartphones as well as worries about the subsidies that wireless carriers pay for the iPhone.
"We believe the recent decline in Apple shares are a result of concerns surrounding shortages in 28nm product manufacturing at Qualcomm (QCOM) and the sustainability of iPhone subsidies at major carriers," wrote Ben Reitzes of Barclays in a note Tuesday, adding "we still believe it is not time to give up on Apple's stock right now since we are likely still within 6 months of a major iPhone upgrade cycle."
Netflix (NFLX) shares fell more than 12%, to $89.17 after the company reported better-than-expected first-quarter results late Monday, but gave a forecast for new U.S. video-streaming customers in the second that fell below many analysts' expectations. Netflix also said it expects to add about 7 million customers to its U.S. streaming base, equaling about the same growth rate in 2010.
The issue many investors and analyst had with that is that Netflix is operating from a larger customer base this year, and there is more competition on the video-streaming front.
International Business Machines ( IBM ) was up 1.5% to $201.54 after the tech giant raised its quarterly dividend by 14%.
Printing and imaging services company Lexmark International Inc. (LXK) was down by more than 5% at $30.69 . Before the market opened, Lexmark reported first-quarter results that were in line with earlier estimates, but gave a second-quarter forecast that fell short of Wall Street analysts forecasts.
Symantec Corp. (SYMC) shares gave up $1.62 , or almost 9%, to fall to $16.46 after the security software company cut its fiscal fourth-quarter estimates due to the effect of higher deferred revenue during the period.
Chipmaker Texas Instruments Inc. (TXN) shed 16 cents a share to slip to $31.73 after the company on Monday reported a 60% drop in its first-quarter earnings, but gave a second-quarter revenue outlook that topped Wall Street estimates.
Among leading tech stocks, losses came from Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) and Applied Materials (AMAT) , while Google Inc. (GOOG) , Oracle (ORCL) and Amazon.com (AMZN) made gains.
- Rex Crum ; 415-439-6400; AskNewswires@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
04-24-12 1200ET
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