TECH STOCKS: Tech Stocks Continue To Climb In Late Trading

By Rex Crum

Technology stocks flexed their muscles Wednesday as the sector turned its back on an early decline that had been led by investors initially reacting negatively to Hewlett-Packard Co.'s drop in quarterly earnings.

In late trading, the Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) rose 15 points to 1,971, while the Morgan Stanley High Tech 35 Index (MSH) and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) both climbed into positive territory.

Gains came from IBM Corp. (IBM), Texas Instruments Inc. (TXN), Intel Corp. (INTC), Apple Inc. (AAPL), EMC Corp. and Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO).

Shares of storage-technology company NetApp Inc. rose 48 cents to $23.33. Analysts at Bank of America and Avian Securities raised their ratings on NetApp ahead of the company's quarterly results, due after the Wednesday close.

Even H-P (HPQ) crawled closer to positive territory. H-P lately trimmed its losses to just a penny, leaving its shares at $43.95.

Late Tuesday, the company reported third-quarter earnings declined by 19% from the same period during fiscal 2008.

However, H-P's results still topped the estimates of analysts, many of whom said the blue chip's profit margins remain strong and were impressed by its fourth-quarter earnings outlook, which exceeded analysts' consensus forecasts.