By Rex Crum, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Tech stocks closed with mixed
results Thursday, with Amazon.com Inc. among those slipping into
the red, while troubled smartphone maker BlackBerry Ltd. managed
some big gains after reporting better-than-expected quarterly
results.
Amazon (AMZN) fell by 2.2% to close at $327 a share a day after
the company unveiled its Fire smartphone at an event in Seattle.
The new device will be available July 25 and come in two models
costing either $200 or $300. AT&T Inc. (T) will be the
exclusive carrier of the Amazon Fire.
Analysts that follow Amazon have already begun to weigh in on
the potential impact the Fire may have on just the smartphone
market, but how people shop in the future, and what it means for
the ongoing re-shaping of Amazon from just an online-retailing
giant.
"This is yet another device by Amazon that aims to tie consumers
tighter to its ecosystems and drive sales growth," said Jeffries
analyst Brian Pitz, who has a buy rating and $450-a-share target
price on Amazon's stock.
BlackBerry (RIMM) was one of the day's biggest gainers, with its
shares climbing almost 10% to close at $9.09.
Before the market opened, BlackBerry reported a fiscal
first-quarter profit of $23 million, or 4 cents a share, on revenue
of $966 million. Excluding one-time items, BlackBerry would have
lost 11 cents a share. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had forecast
BlackBerry to lose 35 cents a share on $961.7 million in sales.
BlackBerry Chief Executive John Chen, who is working a cutting
costs and placing less emphasis on hardware products, told analysts
that the company is close to breaking even, and possibly making a
profit on its hardware devices.
Oracle Corp. (ORCL) shed 30 cents a share to close at $42.51
ahead of the software giant's quarterly results. Oracle ended up
reporting earnings that fell short of Wall Street analysts
forecasts.
Among other leading tech stocks, declines came from IBM Corp.
(IBM), Apple Inc. (AAPL), Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) and
Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ).
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) shed 3.5 points to
close at 4,359, but the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) eked
out a small gain.
More must-read tech news from MarketWatch:
Amazon looking toward Apple-like ecosystem with Fire phone
Amazon's Fire phone is born to shop
Possible Micros buy may spice up Oracle's earnings
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