TECH STOCKS: Facebook Closes In On IPO Price As Techs Gain

By Rex Crum, MarketWatch

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Tech stocks claimed the high ground Tuesday as shares of Facebook Inc. jumped after the company announced a new program for publishing mobile games -- bring the stock close to its IPO price from over a year ago.

Facebook (FB) shares were up 4.6% to $37.08 by Tuesday afternoon, within reach of the $38-a-share price the company set for its IPO in May 2012. The stock has been on a tear since reporting quarterly results on July 24 that exceeded Wall Street analysts' forecasts.

In less than a week since that report, Facebook's stock has risen more than 41%.

In a blog posting on Tuesday, Facebook said it was launching a pilot program called Facebook Mobile Games Publishing, in an effort to aid small-and-medium sized mobile-game developers, in exchange for a cut of the revenue generated from those games.

"Through the program, we will work with select game developers and provide promotional support for their games in placements across our mobile apps," Facebook said in the blog post.

Sprint Corp. and CommVault Systems Inc. were also having a good day in the wake of those companies' quarterly results.

Sprint (S), the No. 3. mobile-phone carrier in the U.S., rose 2.4%, to $5.88 a share after the company reported a quarterly loss that grew from the year-ago period due to costs associated with closing down its Nextel network. Sprint, which also sold almost 80% of its shares to Japan's Softbank Corp., said it lost more customers in the quarter than several analysts had forecast.

CommVault (CVLT) posted one of the tech sector's strongest gains, as its shares rose 9% to $84.25. Before the market opened, the enterprise data storage provider reported a quarterly profit of 40 cents a share, on $134.4 million in revenue, to top the estimates of Wall Street analysts, who forecast CommVault to earn 35 cents a share on sales of $132.2 million.

Harris Corp. (HRS) climbed almost 7% to $56.44 a share after the communications-equipment maker reported better-than-expected quarterly results prior to the start of trading.

The Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) rose 23 points to 3,622, while the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) rose 1.2% and the Morgan Stanley High Tech 35 Index (MSH) also advanced.

Declines came from PMC-Sierra Inc. (PMCS), which fell 7% to $6.52 a share. After Monday's market close, the chipmaker reported a second-quarter loss that grew from the year-ago quarter and its sales fell below Wall Street analysts' forecasts.

Corning Inc. (GLW) shares gave up 2% to trade at $15.05. Before the market opened, Corning reported a 35% increase in second-quarter earnings as it said it benefited from increased sales of its Gorilla Glass for smartphones.

Sandisk Corp. (SNDK) was off by 2.5%, at $54.01. Goldman Sachs analyst James Schneider cut his rating on the flash memory chipmaker to neutral, saying that "greater NAND supply may be added in the next few quarters than we previously assumed, which could drive meaningful near-term price declines."

Symantec Corp. (SYMC) was up by 1.3%, and Carbonite Inc. (CARB) edged up by six cents a share, while Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (TTWO) was at its breakeven point of $16.97. All three companies are scheduled to report quarterly results after the close of trading.

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