The tech sector is trading higher today, along with gains in the broader market. Semiconductors are showing slight relative weakness with the SOX trading only 1.2% higher. Within the chip index, CRUS (+7.0%) is a notable standout. Among other major indices, the SPY is trading 1.5% higher today, as are both the QQQ and the NASDAQ on the session. Among tech bellwethers, INTC (-1.8%) is showing notable weakness, while AAPL (+4.0%) is a leader.
There were no earnings of note in the tech sector this morning. In news, CSCO (+1.2%) announced intent to acquire privately held Meraki for ~$1.2 bln. ARUN (-3.6%) is under pressure on the news. Elsewhere, INTC (-1.8%) CEO announced his plans to retire. Alibaba plans to purchase a 15-20% stake in SINA's (+10.0%) Weibo. Also, EBAY (+1.8%) is being sued by the Justice department over INTU (-0.8%) agreement, according to reports. Among rumors, PAY (+3.8%) may be an attractive takeover target for GOOG (+1.8%), according to reports. In notable analyst upgrades this morning in the tech space, IFNNY (0.0%) was upgraded to Hold at Jefferies, RMBS (+6.1%) was upgraded to Overweight at JP Morgan, A (+4.1%) was upgraded to Buy at Goldman, SAP (+2.3%) was upgraded to Outperform at William Blair and CSC (+4.8%) was upgraded to Buy at Deutsche Bank. Also, SWKS (+2.6%) was added to US 1 list at BofA/Merrill. There were no notable downgrades in the tech sector this morning. A (+4.1%), NUAN (+2.8%), and BRCD (+1.9%) are the notable names in tech scheduled to report quarterly results today after the close.






