By Rex Crum, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Tech stocks closed Thursday with
broad losses, led by big declines from networking-equipment giant
Cisco Systems Inc.
Cisco (CSCO) shares ended the day down by more than 7% at
$24.48. On Wednesday, the networking-equipment giant gave a
less-than-enthusiastic earnings report and forecast, and said it
would cut 4,000 jobs, or about 5% of its workforce. Chief Executive
John Chambers said Cisco was having to adjust to a "challenging"
and "inconsistent" economy
Cisco ended up putting in its worst single-day performance since
May 10, 2012, when its stock price fell 10.5%
NetApp Inc. (NTAP) retreated more than 3% early, but came close
to erasing its losses and ended the day down by 0.7%, or 30 cents a
share, at $42.03. NetApp's losses came after the data-storage
technology company reported on Wednesday a first-quarter profit
that rose 28% from the year-ago quarter, but gave a second-quarter
outlook that was potentially below the estimates from Wall Street
analysts.
Dell Inc. (DELL) shares fell 0.1% to close at $13.71 as the PC
company said it would release its second-quarter results after
Thursday's market close. Analysts expect Dell to report earnings of
24 cents a share.
Dell said it wouldn't be holding a conference call to discuss
its results. Dell shareholders are scheduled to vote on Sept. 12 on
a proposal by Chief Executive Michael Dell to take the company
private.
The Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) took a beating, falling 63.16
points, or 1.7%, to 3,606.12, while the Philadelphia Semiconductor
Index (SOX) fell more than 2%.
Other notable decliners included Yelp Inc. (YELP), off by 6%;
Seagate Technology (STX), which fell nearly 4%; Groupon Inc.
(GRPN), down more than 4%; Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ), which fell
4.5%, and eBay Inc. (EBAY), down by almost 2%.
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