The tech sector is trading lower today, trailing narrower losses in the broader market. Semiconductors are showing relative weakness as well with the SOX trading 0.8% lower. Within the chip index, CRUS (-3.5%) is a notable laggard. Among other major indices, the SPY is trading 0.2% lower today, while the QQQ and the NASDAQ are trading 0.5% lower on the session. Among tech bellwethers, VZ (+1.9%) is showing strength, while FB (-1.9%) is showing notable weakness.
In tech earnings last night, MLNX (-21.2%) posted a Q3 beat, but issued downside guidance. LRCX (+6.3%) and XLNX (-1.0%) reported quarterly beats, but guided below consensus. This morning, NOK (-2.4%) posted a Q3 beat and VZ (+1.9%) reported an inline qtr. Elsewhere, ADS (+2.7%) and NTCT (+6.3%) reported quarterly beats and raised guidance, FCS (+1.4%) posted a mixed Q3 and guided below consensus, and CY (-5.7%) reported an line qtr and guided below consensus. In news, PANW (-5.0%) priced a 4.8 mln shares of common stock at $63.00 per share. VZ (+1.9%) on its conference call said it activated 3.1 mln AAPL (-1.0%) iPhones in the quarter. Among rumors, there is JNPR (+3.0%) takeover chatter making the rounds.
In notable analyst upgrades this morning in the tech space, Macquarie upgraded TIBX (+1.3%) to Outperform. Among downgrades, ASML (+2.8%) was downgraded to Sector Perform from Outperform at RBC and LLTC (-2.1%) was downgraded to Neutral at Nomura. Also of note, BWS Financial initiated ELLI (-5.2%) with a Sell. AMD (-1.8%), FLEX (-1.2%), GOOG (-0.4%), MSFT (-0.5%), and SNDK (-0.3%) are the notable names in tech scheduled to report quarterly results today after the close.






