By Benjamin Pimentel
The tech sector dipped early 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 0.4% to 2,088 early in
the session. The tech-heavy benchmark also was poised to close the
week in the red.
Leading the decline was McAfee (MFE) shares of which lost 7% in
the opening minutes of trading after the company reported 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) and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index
(SOX) were each down a fraction.
A bright spot came from BMC Software (BMC) shares of which
gained more than 3% a day after the company posted a higher
quarterly profit.
Meanwhile, shares of RealNetworks (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 (KLAC) lost more than 2%. On Thursday, the
semiconductor capital equipment company reported a higher quarterly
profit.
Shares of chipmaker Maxim Integrated (MXIM) also sank more than
2% after the company reported lower quarterly profit.