By Rex Crum, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Tech stocks took in on the chin
Wednesday, with broad declines across the sector following negative
reaction to the earnings reports and outlooks from Juniper Networks
Inc. and Broadcom Corp.
Juniper (JNPR) shares fell 6% to $19.15 after the
networking-technology company reported better-than-expected
third-quarter results, but gave a fourth-quarter outlook
potentially below Wall Street analysts' estimates. Juniper said it
would cut 3% of its workforce amid slowing demand for telecom
equipment.
Broadcom (BRCM) shares were down more than 8% at $24.97 after
the communications chipmaker also gave a quarterly forecast that
disappointed investors. Analyst Betsy Van Hees, of Wedbush
Securities, cut her rating on Broadcom to neutral, and took down
her price target on the stock to $27 a share from $33, saying the
company is facing a "much choppier than anticipated mobile market"
and 2014 will be a year of rebuilding.
Chip company Altera Corp. (ALTR) on Tuesday reported a 24% drop
in its third-quarter earnings and a weaker-than-expected
fourth-quarter outlook. As a result, Altera's shares fell 12% to
$32.88.
Cree Inc. (CREE) shares slumped by more than 18%, to $60.50,
after the LED-lighting technology company reported fiscal
first-quarter sales that missed expectations and gave a
second-quarter forecast that fell short of Wall Street analysts'
outlooks.
LinkedIn Corp. (LNKD) gave up almost 3% to fall to $237.72 as
the business social-networking company prepared to hold an event in
San Francisco to give details about its mobile strategy.
Other declines came from Yelp Inc. (YELP), Microsoft Corp.
(MSFT), Intel Corp. (INTC), Facebook Inc. (FB) and Amazon.com Inc.
(AMZN).
A few gainers managed to emerge, with Corning Inc. (GLW) up 13%
at $17.33. Before the market opened, Corning said it would buy out
Samsung Electronics' stake in the company's LCD panel joint
venture, and that Samsung could take a 7.4% stake in the maker of
Gorilla Glass.
Apple Inc. (AAPL) rose by almost $3 a share, to $522.94, a day
after the company unveiled the new iPad Air tablet, and gave
updates on its line of Mac computers.
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) shares rose 1.3% to $326.57. On Tuesday,
investor Carl Icahn said he sold almost 3 million shares of Netflix
stock, or more than half his stake in the video-streaming
company.
The Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) fell more than 34 points, or
almost 1%, to 3,895, while the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index
(SOX) was off by 3.7%.
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