By Benjamin Pimentel
The tech sector dipped Friday, as shares of McAfee Inc.
plummeted a day after the security-software company posted a drop
in third-quarter earnings.
The Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) slipped 0.6% to 2,085. The
tech-heavy benchmark also was poised to close the week down more
than 3%.
Leading the decline was McAfee (MFE) shares, which lost 7% after
the company reported a 25% drop in profit.
"We think the street will view these results as disappointing,"
Deutsche Bank analyst Todd Raker said in a note. "It appears the
macro has muted some of this momentum near-term, but remain
encouraged that results will improve as the PC market and IT
spending rebound."
Barclays Capital analyst Ben Reitzes affirmed the upbeat view of
the PC space in a Friday note, saying, "checks ... still indicate
rather healthy consumer PC unit demand trends in the back half of
2009."
But tech investors were taking a breather as the week drew to a
close, and most major tech issues retreated. The Morgan Stanley
High Tech 35 Index (MSH) fell 0.6%, while the Philadelphia
Semiconductor Index (SOX) was off 1.4%.
A bright spot came from BMC Software Inc. (BMC) shares of which
gained more than 2% a day after the company posted a higher
quarterly profit.
Meanwhile, shares of RealNetworks Inc. (RNWK) fell more than 1%,
after posting gains earlier in the session. Late Thursday, the
digital media company swung to a third-quarter profit.
Shares of KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) lost more than 2%. On
Thursday, the semiconductor capital equipment company reported a
higher quarterly profit.
Shares of chipmaker Maxim Integrated Products Inc. (MXIM) also
sank more than 3% after the company reported lower quarterly
profit.