Tech Stocks: Apple, Facebook lead drag on tech stocks

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) � Many leading tech stocks ended the day with gains Tuesday, but it was declines from the likes of Apple Inc., Facebook Inc. and social-gaming company Zynga Inc. that weighed on the sector.

Dell Inc., however, got a lift after another big shareholder said it opposed a planned privatization deal led by its founder and CEO.

Reuters Enlarge Image Apple CEO Tim Cook, shown here at a company event last year, addressed a Goldman Sachs conference Tuesday.

The Nasdaq Composite Index COMP �ended the day on a down note, giving up 5.5 points to close at 3,186. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index SOX �eked out a small gain, but the Morgan Stanley High Tech 35 Index MSH �closed just below its break-even point.

Apple AAPL �shares gave up 2.5% to close at $467.90 after Chief Executive Tim Cook addressed a Goldman Sachs technology conference in San Francisco Tuesday. Cook dismissed a recent suit launched against Apple by activist investor David Einhorn. See: Tim Cook: Apple is not a hardware company.

Facebook FB �shares shed more than 3% to close at $27.37 after Bernstein Research analyst Carlos Kirjner cut his rating on the stock to market perform, or neutral, from outperform. Kirjner also took down his price target on Facebook�s stock to $27 a share from $33.

In a research note, Kirjner said that mobile inventory and exchange issues were at the heart of his rating downgrade. See: Facebook falters, down 11% so far in February.

Qualcomm Inc. QCOM �shares gave up 1.3% to fall to $65.89. J.P. Morgan analyst Rod Hall cut his rating on the communications technology company to neutral from overweight over the chances that smartphone adoption rates will begin to slow down by 2014.

Dell DELL shares rose 9 cents to $13.79 after T. Rowe Price announced that it will oppose the buyout deal led by Michael Dell and Silver Lake for $13.65 per share.

�We believe the proposed buyout does not reflect the value of Dell and we do not intend to support the offer as put forward,� wrote Brian Rogers, T. Rowe Price�s chairman, in a statement. �

Click to Play Apple investors could see cash coming their way

Here�s how a plan from billionaire hedge-fund manager David Einhorn could create a windfall of cash for Apple investors. Photo: Getty Images.

Netflix Inc. NFLX �shares edged up 6 cents to close at $177.95 after the company said it signed a deal with DreamWorks Animation DWA �to create its first original series for children. The show, �Turbo F.A.S.T.� will debut in December and is based on the DreamWorks movie �Turbo,� which premieres in theaters this summer.

Netflix�s newest content deal came one day after it lost out to cable TV network Starz STRZA �for the exclusive right to movies from Sony Pictures SNE . See: Netflix gains stalled as Sony extends agreement with Starz.

AOL Inc.AOL �posted one of the tech sector�s bigger gains of the day, rising 4.5% to close at $37.85 and adding to Monday�s gains, which came after RBC Capital Markets analyst Mark Mahaney raised his rating on the online media company�s stock to outperform from sector perform.

Gains also came from Hewlett-Packard Co. HPQ , Microsoft Corp. MSFT �and Amazon.com Inc. AMZN .�