The broader markets mostly flat-lined Wednesday after the previous day�s monster rally, but wildly skewing from the trading day�s normality were tech stocks, which bombed after Oracle (NASDAQ:ORCL) reported its first earnings miss in more than a decade.
Oracle took its worst beating since 2002, shedding close to 12% and practically cementing a double-digit percentage decline for 2011. ORCL shares are down 17% year-to-date, a mirror image of early May, when the stock was up about the same amount.
Oracle�s adjusted earnings of 54 cents per share missed Wall Street estimates of 57 cents, though the company did increase net income by 17% over the year-ago period. A particularly troubling piece of news was Oracle�s shortfall in new software licenses. The company previously had predicted a 16% increase, but reported a mere 2% gain.
Oracle�s earnings merely continued a recent string of disappointing forward-looking news from companies like Red Hat (NYSE:RHT) and Texas Instruments (NYSE:TXN), and the tech sector bowed to the weight Wednesday, with big losers including VMware (NYSE:VMW, -9.93%), NetSuite (NYSE:N, -7.34%), SAP (NYSE:SAP, -6.26%), Salesforce.com (NYSE:CRM, -5.07%) and Redhat (-4.89%).
Also Wednesday, Exelon (NYSE:EXC) got one step closer to finalizing its purchase of Constellation Energy Group (NYSE:CEG) when it got the OK from the U.S. Department of Justice. The DOJ insisted that, as part of the nearly $8 billion deal, Exelon must divest three electric plants in Maryland for competitive purposes. EXC shares got a 2.7% boost on the news.
Three Up- Cobalt International (NYSE:CIE): Up 10.97% ($1.52) to $15.37.
- Research In Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM): Up 10.06% ($1.26) to $13.78.
- Clearwire (NASDAQ:CLWR): Up 7.98% (15 cents) to $2.03.
- KB Home (NYSE:KBH): Down 6.72% (52 cents) to $7.22.
- CarMax (NYSE:KMX): Down 5.54% ($1.72) to $29.35.
- Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU): Down 4.32% (25 cents) to $5.54.
As of this writing, Kyle Woodley did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned stocks. Check out our list of previous IP Market Recaps.
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