NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - U.S. technology stocks moved broadly lower Wednesday after a series of downbeat announcements dampened investors' hopes for a fast profit recovery in the sector.
The Nasdaq composite index, which is weighted heavily with technology names, ended the session 21.86 points lower at 1,982.9, a 1.1 percent decline on the day.
Semiconductor stocks led the way down. The Philadelphia Stock Exchange's semiconductor index, or Soxx, fell 29.48 points to 537.61, a 5.2 percent loss for the day.
Shares of communications chipmaker Triquint Semiconductor (TQNT: down $2.10 to $12.00, Research, Estimates) were among the biggest losers, falling sharply after it warned late Tuesday of a substantial shortfall in its fourth-quarter results. The company said it expects to report a shortfall ranging between a penny and 3 cents per share. Expectations had been for a profit of 4 cents per share.
Triquint, which makes chips primarily used in wireless communications products, blamed the shortfall on other product areas, specifically chips used for optical networking and satellite communications equipment.
Bear Stearns weighed in on Wednesday with a downgrade on Triquint's shares. The firm cut its recommendation to "attractive" from "buy," citing concerns about a series of industry and company-specific issues it says could weigh on the stock in the near term.
Shares of Motorola (MOT: down $0.85 to $15.76, Research, Estimates) also fell sharply. The company, which is the No. 2 maker of mobile phones as well as a leading wireless communications chipmaker, late Tuesday said it is cutting 9,400 more jobs, the bulk of which are in its semiconductor products business.
The company said the job cuts were needed if it is to achieve its goal of returning to profitability in 2002 amid a continued slowdown in capital spending by its customers for telecommunications infrastructure equipment in the wireless, broadband and wire-line markets.
Meanwhile, shares of computer memory-chip maker Micron Technology (MU: down $1.71 to $30.10, Research, Estimates) sank after it reported its latest quarterly results.
After Tuesday's close, Micron - a top supplier of dynamic random access memory, or DRAM - logged a quarterly loss of 44 cents per share, which was wider than expected. Micron executives also gave mixed signals about demand in the current quarter, but they did not provide specific financial forecasts.
Other chips stocks on the decline Wednesday included: Intel (INTC: down $0.76 to $33.05, Research, Estimates); Advanced Micro Devices (AMD: down $0.62 to $16.96, Research, Estimates); Rambus (RMBS: down $0.40 to $7.76, Research, Estimates); LSI Logic (LSI: down $0.75 to $15.71, Research, Estimates); Altera (ALTR: down $1.97 to $22.30, Research, Estimates); and Xilinx (XLNX: down $2.27 to $39.24, Research, Estimates).
The stocks of data-networking and telecommunications equipment makers also moved mostly lower. The American Stock Exchange's networking index fell 5.01 points to 316, a 1.6 percent decline on the day.
Shares of Cisco Systems (CSCO: down $0.27 to $19.35, Research, Estimates), a top supplier of the hardware used to route data over the Internet, were the most active on Nasdaq, falling 1.7 percent. Shares of Cisco competitor Juniper Networks (JNPR: down $0.33 to $22.93, Research, Estimates) also were on the decline.
Elsewhere, shares of telecom equipment maker Sonus Networks (SONS: down $0.61 to $5.03, Research, Estimates) fell after some cautious comments from UBS Warburg. The firm said in a note to clients Wednesday that short-term visibility remains challenging for Sonus due to problems at Global Crossing and XOXO Communications, two top customers. The firm also was skeptical about Sonus' potential to win a big contract with Sprint.
Shares of Nortel (NT: down $0.54 to $6.86, Research, Estimates) and Lucent Technologies (LU: down $0.24 to $6.00, Research, Estimates) also declined.
On the upside in networking, shares of 3Com (COMS: up $0.78 to $6.09, Research, Estimates) rose after it reported a quarterly loss that was much narrower than expected and said it hopes to return to profitability by the end of May. 
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