Nervous Nellies ride tech stock roller coaster
Investors maintained their bullish outlook Monday, pushing the broader markets up as technology stocks posted mixed results.
The Dow closed up 61.64 points to 8100.22 while the NASDAQ composite inched up 6.04 points to close at a new all-time high of 1721.91.
Shares of Digital Equipment Corp. shot up $4.31 per share to $49.06 after officials announced it was in negotiations with Intel Corp. to sell its Alpha technology for $1.5 billion. Intel's stock was basically flat, gaining 13 cents per share to $94.44.
Silicon Graphics Inc. got a merciless spanking from investors after announcing that first-quarter earnings and revenues would fall far below analysts' estimates. The First Call consensus predicted SGI would post a profit of 20 cents per share, but company officials on Monday said SGI would likely lose about 20 cents per share.
One quarter ago, the company beat Wall Street's expectations by 65 percent. After turning in disappointing numbers for seven consecutive quarters, this was viewed as good news by investors, whose hopes were raised that SGI had turned the corner. Earlier this quarter, in fact, SGI executives painted a bright picture of the company's prospects during a meeting with analysts.
Following the disclosure of its earnings shortfall warning, SGI's stock lost $9 per share, or 33 percent, to close at $17.88.
Internet and telecommunications stocks enjoyed a solid day with Internet search firm Yahoo! Inc. gaining $2.63 per share to $29.69. GTE Corp. rose $1.44 per share to $48.88 while AT&T gained 63 cents per share to $43.81.
Networking stocks were mostly up led by 3Com Corp. which jumped $2.81 per share to $53.88. Cisco Systems picked up $1.38 per share to $79.88 while Ascend Communications Inc. slid back 50 cents per share to $32.19.
Among software vendors, Microsoft Corp. gained 31 cents per share to $134.94, Adobe Systems Inc. was up $1.13 per share to $50.63 and Oracle Corp. rose 25 cents per share to $37.13.
On the big board, Compaq Computer Inc. lost 31 cents per share to $75.50. Gateway 2000 slid $1.19 per share to $29.31 and Micron Technology Inc. gained $1.06 per share to $35.