The tech sector is trading higher today, along with gains in the broader market. Semiconductors are showing relative weakness, however, with the SOX trading only 0.7% higher. Within the chip index, AMD (-3.0%) is a notable laggard. Among other major indices, the SPY is trading 1.0% higher today, while the QQQ is up 1.0% and the NASDAQ is trading 0.9% higher on the session. Among tech bellwethers, FB (+3.5%) is a standout, while MSFT (-1.9%) is showing notable weakness. In tech earnings, ALVR (-7.2%) lowered FY12 guidance below consensus. In news, Workday set an IPO range of $21-24, which values the company at ~$3.6 billion. Among rumors, we are hearing TWTC (+4.2%) M&A chatter making the rounds.
In notable analyst upgrades this morning in the tech space, RTEC (+3.4%) was upgraded to Outperform at Credit Suisse and BCOV (+7.0%) was upgraded to Top Pick at RBC. Among downgrades, SYNA (-0.9%) was downgraded to Sector Perform at Pacific Crest, QSII (-2.5%) was downgraded to Underweight at Morgan Stanley, MSFT (-0.3%), RP (-1.8%), FTNT (+0.2%), CVLT (-1.4%), CHKP (-0.9%) & VMW (+1.0%) were downgraded at RBC, CCOI (-0.6%) & S (-2.9%) were downgraded to Mkt Perform at Raymond James, MRCY (-4.7%) & BIDU (-2.4%) were downgraded to Hold at Jefferies, ALU (-3.5%) was downgraded to Sell at UBS, NOW (-3.4%) was downgraded to Sell at UBS and BRKS (-2.4%) & NOK (+5.6%) were downgraded to Underperform at Credit Suisse. There are no notable names in tech scheduled to report quarterly results today after the close.






