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Techs regain bullishness
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January 13, 2000: 6:05 p.m. ET
Optimism on Intel's earnings moves most tech stocks to plus column
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Technology stocks staged an impressive rally Thursday with Internet shares and software firms posting the biggest gains.
Dot-coms staged something of a comeback, although Web portal Yahoo! (YHOO) continued to slide for the third day in a row.
Shares of Yahoo! fell 10-11/16 to 346-7/8, a 3 percent decline on the day.
Meanwhile, bullish analysts comments helped lift shares of Real Networks, which ended the session 20 percent higher, gaining 26-1/4 to 152-1/2.
Deutsche Banc Alex. Brown analyst Lawrence Marcus initiated coverage of the company, which provides software and services used to deliver streaming media content over the Internet, with a "strong buy" rating and set an18-month price target of 250.
He called the company "a true media network and portal with a reach akin to Yahoo!"
Shares of Internet advertising firm DoubleClick (DCLK) inched up 7-9/16 to 115-3/4 after the company announced that it would take a stake in ValueClick, a privately-held Web ad firm.
ValueClick, whose ads reach 25 percent of U.S. Internet users, according to Internet traffic measurement firm Media Metrix, has itself filed for an initial public offering of 5 million shares in the $9 to $11 per share range.
America Online (AOL) stopped its mutli-day decline that came after the initial enthusiasm that followed its planned acquisition of Time Warner (TWX). Shares of AOL edged up 4-1/4 to 64-5/16, leaving them almost 10 points below their closing price of 73-3/4 last Friday.
The Dow Jones composite Internet index added 22.74, or 6.2 percent, to 390.76.
Chips mixed ahead of Intel's earnings
Chipmakers advanced ahead of the release of Intel's (INTC) fourth-quarter earnings results.
Shares of Intel dipped slightly to 91-1/16 in regular Nasdaq trade, but headed higher after the company posted fourth-quarter operating earnings that were well ahead of analysts forecasts. By 5 p.m. ET, Intel was trading at 95-5/8.
After the closing bell, Intel reported earnings of 69 cents per share, before one-time items. Revenue increased 2 percent to $8.2 billion. Analysts polled by earnings tracker First Call had expected 63 cents per share.
Other chipmakers also ended Thursday's session slightly lower.
Shares of AMD (AMD), Intel's main rival in the market for PC microprocessors, edged ¾ lower to 35-1/2. ING Barings analyst Peter Wolff started coverage of AMD on Thursday with a "strong buy" rating and an 18-month price target of 60 to 65.
Texas Instruments (TXN) added 1-3/8 to 102-3/8. Motorola (MOT) advanced 4-15/16 to 138-3/4.
Analog Devices (ADI) inched up 5/16 to 93-13/16. Micrel (MCRL) edged up slightly to close the session at 66-11/16. Linear Technology (LLTC) moved 2-1/4 higher to 86.
Etec Systems (ETEC), which makes the equipment used to print the complex circuit patterns onto semiconductor wafers, surged 52 percent, ending the day 25-15/16 higher at 75-13/16.
The company on Wednseday agreed to be acquired by Applied Materials (AMAT), the world's largest supplier of equipment used in semiconductor wafer manufacturing. Applied Materials declined 2-9/16 to 124-1/2.
The deal got mixed reviews on Wall Street. Some analysts saw the move as a good way for Applied Materials to broaden its business.
Others, including Merrill Lynch's Mark Fitzgerald, pointed to the high average selling prices of Etec's products as a potential drag on Applied Material's financial planning. [276K WAV or 276K AIFF]
The Philadelphia Stock Exchange's semiconductor index ticked up 7.39 to 748.98.
Equipment makers on the ups
Computer equipment makers ended the session mostly higher, led by Apple(AAPL), which soared 11 percent on the day, finishing up 9-9/16 at 96-3/4 after Morgan Stanley raised its rating on the stock to "outperform" from "neutral" and pegged a 12-month price target of 120.
Shares of Sun Microsystems (SUNW) added 2-7/8 to 77-1/4, and Cisco (CSCO) jumped 2-3/8 higher to 106-3/16. Dell advanced 1-5/16 to 43-1/8. Shares of Gateway (GTW) added 1 point to 59-1/2.
On the downside, Hewlett-Packard (HWP) inched up 3/8 to 112-3/4. Compaq (CPQ) shares gained 1/16 to 29-11/16. Shares of Unisys (UIS) fell 5/8 to 29-5/8.
Meanwhile, shares of software giant Microsoft (MSFT) staged a late-day comeback after trading in negative territory most of the day.
Microsoft finished up 2 at 107-13/16 after sliding on news that the Justice Department had proposed a plan to split the company up as a remedy for its allegedly anti-competitive behavior.
After the closing bell, Chairman Bill Gates announced he was handing day-to-day management of the company to Steve Ballmer so he could focus more of his time on long-term strategies. 
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