Apple boosts techs, but Pandora (NYSE: P) plunges

Chicago, IL 3/7/12 (StreetBeat) -- Shares of Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) supported tech sector gains Wednesday as the Silicon Valley giant geared up for the roll-out of its new iPad tablet.

The tech sector also joined a broad market rally spurred by data showing growth in private sector jobs.

Apple’s stock rose nearly 1% to $533.26 in early trades ahead of the expected launch of what is being referred to as the iPad3. Apple has remained the dominant player in the relatively new category.

The Nasdaq Composite Index edged up 0.4% to 2,923. The Morgan Stanley High Tech 35 Index and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index were each up a fraction. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up about 7 points.

Gains also came from shares of Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD), Yahoo Inc (Nasdaq: YHOO) and Applied Materials (Nasdaq: AMAT).

On the downside, shares of Pandora Media (NYSE: P) plunged more than 20% after the online music company posted a weaker-than-expected forecast. Read more on Pandora.

Citigroup analyst Mark Mahaney cut his rating on the stock to neutral from buy, citing “mobile monetization challenges.”

“As a speculative buy, with no profitability track record and no near-term profitable outlook, Pandora always carried very little margin for error,” Mahaney wrote. “And now there’s error.”

He argued that “with content costs constantly rising, monetization of mobile usage has to keep rising. But the fiscal 2013 guide implies that this monetization will be flat.”

Raymond James analyst Aaron Kessler also downgraded the stock to market perform from outperform saying in a note, “We believe the shares are likely to be range-bound until we see greater traction with mobile monetization, particularly local radio advertising, and improved operating margins.”

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Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD) Gains in After-Hours Trading

Tallahassee,FL 10/28/11 (PennyPayDay) -- Shares of Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD) jumped in premarket trading Friday after the chip maker's strong quarterly results, and an analyst said it had the opportunity to gain share in the notebook market.

It posted 3Q earnings and revenue growth that beat analyst expectations thanks to increasing demand in China, India and other emerging markets, and demand for its laptop chips. The notebook numbers were the real surprise for the quarter, said Citi Investment Research analyst Glen Yeung in a note to investors. AMD's notebook revenue grew 35 percent growth compared to the second quarter despite recent manufacturing problems, which had led it to cut its outlook last month. Yeung said he was worried that AMD's "mis-execution would cause irreparable damage" to its opportunities in the notebook computer market.

"But AMD made the right strategic decision to aggressively divert resources to (notebooks) and thereby keep the window of opportunity to gain share open," Yeung said. He kept a "Buy" rating on AMD's stock and raised his target price to $8 from $7.

The company said Thursday that it expected fourth-quarter revenue to increase 1 to 5 percent, a range that straddles the average analyst estimate. Shares rose 57 cents, or 10.7 percent, to $5.90 in premarket trading Friday. The stock closed at $5.33 on Thursday before the earnings report. Shares have dropped 35 percent this year.

AMD is the No. 2 maker of microprocessors, the "brains" of computers; making about a fifth of the world's supply.

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LargeCap Stocks to Keep an Eye on Today

Tomahawk, WI 10/4/2011 (PennyPayDay) – Acme Packet, a Bedford, Mass.-based provider of network services, gave a disappointing third-quarter forecast, citing a delay in securing a deal with a large customer in North America.

The company said it now sees non-GAAP earnings of 20 cents to 22 cents a share in the third quarter on revenue of around $70 million, well below the average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters for a profit of 30 cents a share on revenue of $82.8 million.

Shares were plunging 16.1% to $35.94 in premarket trading Wednesday.

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and the city of New York are suing Bank of New York Mellon for nearly $2 billion, for allegedly defrauding clients in foreign currency exchange transactions.

Shares were tumbling 3.8% to $18.11.

Shares of Advanced Micro Devices were tumbling 2.1% to $4.62 after the chipmaker was downgraded to market perform from outperform at Sanford C. Bernstein.

Yum! Brands reiterated its full-year earnings-per-share forecast for growth of at least 12% after meeting quarterly profit expectations as continued strong performance in China drove year-over-year revenue growth of more than 14%.

The parent company of Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut said it earned $383 million, or 80 cents a share, in its third quarter, up 7.3% from a year-earlier profit of $357 million, or 74 cents. Excluding one-time items, earnings came in at 83 cents a share, in line with analysts' consensus call.

Shares were down 1.9% to $48.48.

Internet services provider Akamai Technologies may finally be cheap enough to lure International Business Machines or Verizon Communications as the most speculated U.S. takeover target since 2005 approaches its lowest valuation on record, Bloomberg reported.

Akamai shares were rising 1.9% to $20.95.

Samsung, a day after Apple unveiled the new iPhone 4S , is seeking to block the sale of the new device in France and Italy. Samsung is alleging the iPhone 4S infringes its patents on wireless technology.

Apple shares were falling 1.3% to $367.52.

Internet search giant Google has been downgraded to hold from buy at Stifel Nicolaus.

Shares were down 0.8% to $498.

Bank of America could face fraud claims after its Countrywide unit submitted faulty borrower data for federally-insured mortgages, according to Bloomberg.

Shares were down 0.4% to $5.74.

Costco, the warehouse retailer, said net income in the fourth quarter rose about 10.6% as sales jumped 17%.

Net income in the fourth quarter was $478 million, or $1.08 a share, compared with $432 million, or 97 cents, a year earlier. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected Costco to earn $1.10 a share.

Shares were trading sideways at $81.70.

Shares of Monsanto were rising 2% to $64.50 after the agricultural products company forecast mid-teens earnings growth for the new fiscal year and reported a fourth-quarter loss of 22 cents a share vs. the Wall Street consensus target of a loss of 27 cents.

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