By Benjamin Pimentel, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Salesforce.com shares jumped
Friday, a day after the business software company blew past Wall
Street estimates, but the tech sector was weighed down by sliding
shares of Microsoft Corp. and Hewlett-Packard.
Salesforce (CRM) was up 13% at $49.22 after the San
Francisco-based provider of cloud-based business applications also
put out a stronger-than-anticipated outlook.
"The force is still strong with this one," Credit Suisse analyst
Phil Winslow quipped in a note raising his price target to $60 from
$52.50.
Salesforce "remains by a wide margin the fastest growing company
of its size," Canaccord Genuity analyst Richard Davis said in a
note.
"With the addition of marketing automation functionality and
still nascent adoption of its platform capabilities, we believe
Salesforce should be able to keep its impressive growth trajectory
relatively intact for at least the next six to eight quarters," he
wrote.
Also in rally mode were shares of Splunk Inc. (SPLK) which were
up 8%. On Thursday, the data analysis company raised its revenue
outlook.
FBR Capital analyst Daniel Ives raised the stock's rating to
outperform from market perform, citing "increased confidence in the
business as we believe the company's strong product cycle, healthy
secular trends, and a ramping sales force will translate into
larger deal sizes over the coming years."
But despite the Salesforce and Splunk rallies, technology stocks
were mostly lower as Microsoft (MSFT) and H-P (HPQ) each slipped
about 1%.
On Thursday, IDC pointed to signs that PC sales are now also
slowing in emerging markets, which had been a bright spot for the
struggling industry.
Shares of OmniVison Technologies (OVTI) were also down 14% after
the chip company reported a disappointing forecast.
The Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) shed 18 points, or 0.5%, to
3,603. The benchmark was poised to end the week down more than
1%.
The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) was off 0.7%, while
the Morgan Stanley High Tech 35 Index (MSH) was up 0.1%.
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