By Rex Crum, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Tech stocks ended up putting in a
mostly upbeat session Thursday ahead of the quarterly earnings
reports from Oracle Corp. and Research In Motion Ltd.
Oracle (ORCL), however, failed to join in the gains, slipping 22
cents to close at $30.27 with its fiscal second-quarter report on
tap. Analysts surveyed by FactSet Research were looking for Oracle
to post quarterly earnings, excluding one-time items, of 46 cents a
share on $8.3 billion in revenue. During the same period a year
ago, Oracle earned 39 cents a share on sales of $5.9 billion.
Improvements in corporate spending on information technology, as
well as growth in Oracle's hardware business, are expected to help
boost Oracle's results.
RIM (RIMM) shares added 6 cents to close at $59.24 in advance of
the company's third-quarter results. Analysts estimated RIM will
report income of $1.64 a share on sales of $5.4 billion, with
smartphone shipments of 14 million units in the quarter.
Also, Dell Inc. (DELL) shares rose 4 cents to $13.33 as
Compellent (CML) -- a data-storage firm being acquired by the PC
maker -- adopted a shareholder-rights plan that lowers the odds of
another expensive bidding war similar to one Dell fought earlier
this year.
Videogame publisher Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (TTWO)
fell 6 cents a share to close at $11.94 ahead of its fourth-quarter
report, due after the market close.
Other gains came from Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), Cisco Systems Inc.
(CSCO), Netflix Inc. (NFLX) and Intel Corp. (INTC)
(INTC)The Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) rose 20 points to 2,637,
while the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) rose slightly and
the Morgan Stanley High Tech 35 Index (MSH) closed with a gain of
1%..
Apple Inc. (AAPL) shares gained $1.07 to $321.49. Federal
investigators arrested an executive at electronics manufacturer
Flextronics (FLEX) for allegedly divulging information about the
popular iPad before the hit product was introduced to the
market.