Monday, February 4, 2013

Tech Stocks: Oracle, Facebook fall, but BlackBerry rises

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) � Technology stocks were mostly lower Monday, and shares of Oracle Corp. slipped after the corporate-software giant announced it was buying Acme Packet Inc. in a $1.7 billion deal.

Oracle ORCL �shed 3% to close at $35.13 after the company said it was acquiring Acme Packet APKT �for $29.25 a share. Shares of the Bedford, Mass.-based networking-technology company soared 23.7% to $29.59.

Click to Play Amazon, Google and Microsoft battle for the cloud

Microsoft and Google are increasingly trying to unseat Amazon in the fast-growing area of technology known as cloud services, Spencer Ante reports. (Photo: Getty Images)

In a note, Nomura Equity Research analyst Rick Sherlund wrote that Acme Packet�s technology can help Oracle �better enable communications across service-provider and enterprise networks, as well as across different devices.�

�This likely bolsters Oracle�s positioning in the mobile space, as well as helping to build out offerings around the company�s cloud application deployments,� he said.

The sector also got a lift from shares of BlackBerry BBRY , formerly known as Research In Motion Ltd., which began trading under a new ticker Monday. BlackBerry was up 15% to close at $14.98.

The handset maker was bolstered by a Bernstein Research upgrade. Analyst Pierre Ferragu raised his rating to outperform from market perform, saying: �We have grown more confident in the likely success of the BlackBerry 10 launch, supported by low channel inventories, strong operator support and material pent-up demand.�

But tech stocks were mostly down, with the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP �giving up 48 points, or 1.5%, to close at 3,131.

Among the decliners were Google Inc. GOOG , which was off 2.1% to close at $759.02. BMO Capital downgraded the stock to market perform, arguing that �investor sentiment has changed materially� given worries about declining cost per clicks and the impact of the Motorola Mobility acquisition.

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Also down were shares of Facebook Inc. FB , which gave up 5.5% at $28.11.

Dell Inc. DELL �shed 2.6% at $13.27, while Apple Inc. AAPL �was off 2.5% to close at $442.32.

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