A little news blurp onETYS...FTRL...NETO..ETYS...Yippeeeee!!
Nasdaq sputters ahead of earnings
By Mike Tarsala & Chris Kraeuter, CBS.MarketWatch.com
Last Update: 1:28 PM ET Jan 16, 2001
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NEW YORK (CBS.MW) - Technology investors readied for bad news amid a crowded earnings calendar, with semiconductors and networkers noticeably stalling.
The Nasdaq Composite ($COMPQ: news, msgs) lost 31.6 points, or 1.2 percent, to 2,595.5 moving through Tuesday's second half. Technology bellwethers seemed to lead the selling, as the Nasdaq 100 Index lost 2.3 percent.
Among the Nasdaq's most heavily traded stocks, Intel (INTC: news, msgs) , Cisco (CSCO: news, msgs) , WorldCom (WCOM: news, msgs) Microsoft (MSFT: news, msgs) and Oracle (ORCL: news, msgs) declined. Internet retailer Etoys (ETYS: news, msgs) also made the most active list by doubling. The move comes on the heels of Etoys' 15 percent rise Friday on heavy volume of 9.24 million shares.
A compacted earnings week due to the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday is likely to keep investors jumping this week. Wall Street is awaiting quarterly results from market-movers Sun Microsystems (SUNW: news, msgs) and EMC (EMC: news, msgs) , among the other heavy-hitters.
What, if anything, investors will have to celebrate from this week's earnings remains to be seen. Stock strategists aren't expecting blow-away results.
"For most companies, meeting the numbers will be a positive surprise," said Bill Meehan, chief market strategist at Cantor Fitzgerald.
The earnings picture overall seems to be dimming for the next few quarters. First Call said fourth-quarter 2000 earnings are likely to show growth in the 3 percent to 4 percent range. The earnings compiler said first-quarter 2001 earnings growth could be as high as 2 percent but could also show a decline from the same period last year. And second-quarter 20001 earnings are likely to show a decline.
The earnings doldrums Tuesday affected all major tech sectors sectors.
Chip stocks, in particular, were weak, as the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index ($SOX: news, msgs) gave up 5.6 percent. KLA Tencor lost 6.3 percent to $37.44 ahead of its earnings report Wednesday, while AMD, which also reports midweek, gave up ground.
Not to be left out of the pre-earnings sell-off were Altera (ALTR: news, msgs) , sliding 8 percent, and Novellus (NVLS: news, msgs) , sliding 9.5 percent. Novellus' financials are expected after today's closing bell.
The networkers handled their fair share of negative energy. The Amex Networking Index ($NWX: news, msgs) fell 4 percent, with Adpatec (ADPT: news, msgs) leading the way by losing 7.3 percent. Also down strong: Lucent (LU: news, msgs) , Nortel (NT: news, msgs) , ADC Telecom (ADCT: news, msgs) and 3Com (COMS: news, msgs) . Ciena (CIEN: news, msgs) is the lone member stock hanging on to gains. Its financial results are not due out until February.
Internet stocks gave back nominal early gains, with AOL a prime example. Shares of AOL (AOL: news, msgs) rose as much as 3.5 percent to above $48 before retreating back to the sub-$46 level. The company announced that it's surpassed 27 million subscribers to its Internet-access service. The company added that users are averaging more than 65 minutes per day on the service. |
