By Rex Crum, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- A big executive shake-up at
online social-gaming company Zynga Inc., and gains from Apple Inc.
and Brocade Communications Systems Inc., claimed the attention of
tech investors Wednesday.
Zynga (ZNGA) edged up 4 cents a share, or 1.4%, to $2.95, after
Chief Executive Don Mattrick said David Ko, the company's chief
operating officer, had resigned. Mattrick wrote in a memo to
Zynga's employees that Chief Technology Officer Cadir Lee and Chief
People Officer Colleen McCreary are also leaving the troubled
gaming company.
It was the latest in a string of management shake-ups at Zynga
over the past year, but the first for Mattrick, who became CEO in
July after running the division at Microsoft Corp. (MSFT)
responsible for the Xbox videogame console and other gaming
products.
Apple (AAPL) shares climbed 2.6%, to reach $502, and climb above
the $500-a-share mark for the first time since Jan. 23. On Tuesday,
Apple's stock rose 5% after activist investor Carl Icahn after he
tweeted he had taken a "large position" in Apple, and that he
believes the company should expand its stock buyback plan.
Brocade (BRCD) shares surged more than 14%, to $7.90, after the
networking-technology company reported a surge in its third-quarter
results late Tuesday. Brocade said it earned $118.7 million, or 26
cents a share, on revenue of $536.6 million.
Excluding one-time items, Brocade said it would have earned 19
cents a share, while Wall Street analysts had forecast the company
to earn 12 cents a share on $519 million in sales.
Other gains came from Netflix Inc. (NFLX), IBM Corp. (IBM) and
Oracle Corp. (ORCL).
But enough decliners emerged to drag the tech-heavy Nasdaq
Composite Index (RIXF) down by 7 points to 3,677 and the
Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) gave up almost 1%.
Cree Inc. (CREE) put in one of the tech sector's largest
percentage declines, falling more than 20% to $60.36. On Tuesday,
the LED lighting technology products company gave a
weaker-than-expected forecast for its fiscal first quarter, saying
it expects to earn 36 cents to 41 cents a share on revenue between
$380 million and $400 million. Analysts had forecast Cree to earn
43 cents a share on $398.4 million in sales for the quarter.
JDS Uniphase Corp. (JDSUD) was off by 2.3%, a t $14.46 after the
optical-networking equipment company on Tuesday reported sales that
fell from a year ago due to weak demand for optical components from
telecom customers.
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO), which reports quarterly results after
the close of trading, was down by 14 cents a share at $26.18.
Sector leaders also in the red included Google Inc. (GOOG)
Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ), Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), Yahoo Inc.
(YHOO) and Pandora Media Inc. (P).
(ORCL)
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