|
Techs spring back to life
|
 |
February 11, 1999: 5:01 p.m. ET
Internet issues, chip-sector players and PC makers get back into gear after slump
|
NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Technology stocks surged Thursday, as investors showed new appetite especially for Internet issues that had been punished in earlier sessions this week.
Analysts attributed the gains to an overdue bounce for the sector, which had been stuck in a big down draft in previous sessions, amid doubts about Internet stock values.
"The sector was deeply oversold," said Tony O'Bryan, a stock market strategist at A.G. Edwards. He said remarks by Federal Reserve Chief Alan Greenspan to Congress didn't dissuade investors from buying.
"Greenspan made comments that didn't shake anybody up, so people rushed back in to their favorites - the high-techs," he said.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index surged 96 points, or 4.2 percent, to 2,406, in its biggest one-day point gain in history.
'Net stocks back in the saddle
Getting a boost from analysts and leading the pack of Internet issues, the online news provider CNET (CNET), rose 38-3/16 to 129-1/2, or 42 percent. On Wednesday CNET reported a fourth quarter operating profit of $3.3 million, or 18 cents per share, on revenue of $19.2 million. The profit beat Wall Street estimates by 8 cents a share.
CNET, which is owned in part by the television network NBC, attributed those gains to a successful launch of e-commerce site Shopper.com. The company also said it would carry out a two-for-one stock split.
The investment bank NationsBanc Montgomery Securities raised its rating on CNET to "buy" from "hold" Thursday.
Elsewhere in the sector, search engine maker Inktomi (INKT) rallied 13-13/16, or 25 percent, to 68-5/16, a day after what money managers called a solid presentation at a Goldman Sachs Technology Conference in New York.
Among the top search engines, Yahoo! (YHOO) rose 16-1/8 to 158-1/2, Infoseek (SEEK) climbed 11-9/16 to 65-9/16, and Excite (XCIT) rose 15-3/8 to 105-1/4.
Despite hesitations from one of its key investors about its planned merger with TV network USA Networks (USAI), Lycos (LYCOS) gained 16 to 103-1/4.
CMG Investment, which owns 20 percent of Lycos' outstanding shares, said it is weighing its options leading up to a vote on the deal. CMG (CMGI) rallied 19-15/16 to 112.
Also moving higher were the online brokerages, which have been battling a host of technical glitches: Ameritrade (AMTD) rose 15-3/16 to 98-1/2. E*Trade (EGRP), which unveiled its first investment in its online investment bank, climbed 5-1/2 to 48-1/4.
Big tech players lumber ahead
The bellwether technology companies, which first got back in stride Wednesday, stepped up their pace of gains Thursday.
Leading some microprocessor makers out of their recent gloom was the towering chip maker Intel (INTC), rising 4-7/16 to 133-1/4.
Intel on Thursday geared up its public relations machine for the launch of its new Pentium III chip, expected as early as next week.
Among other chip players moving higher were Maxim Integrated Products (MXIM) up 4-13/16 to 48-7/8, Linear Technologies (LLTC) - which Prudential Securities opened with a "strong buy" rating Thursday, up 9-1/2 to 104-1/2, and Applied Materials (AMAT), climbing 6-1/4 to 67-1/16.
Big PC makers also were in the groove: Dell Computer (DELL) rose 4-7/8 to 101-7/8, Dow issue IBM (IBM) soared 9-5/8 to 178-1/2, and Compaq Computer (CPQ), which said it foresees annual revenue of $50 billion by the year 2000, rallied 2-3/8 to 44-3/4. 
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
