TECH STOCKS: Facebook, Microsoft Lead Tech Sector Retreat

By Benjamin Pimentel, MarketWatch

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Technology stocks tumbled Friday as the Nasdaq Composite Index shed 110 points with shares of Microsoft Corp., Facebook Inc and Google Inc. leading the retreat.

The Nasdaq (RIXF) dropped 2.6% to close at 4,128, its lowest level in eight weeks. The benchmark also turned negative for the week with a fractional loss, and was down 1.2% year-to-date.

Microsoft (MSFT) fell 2.8% to close at $39.87, one of the worst performers on the Dow Jones Industrial Average(DJI), which was off 159 points. Cisco(CSCO), also weighed on the Dow. The stock shed 1.6% to close at $22.71. Facebook (FB) dropped 4.6% to close at $56.75.

Shares of Micron Technology (MU), which rose early in the session a day after the semiconductor company beat Wall Street's earnings and revenue estimates, turned negative, shedding 6% to close at $22.58.

Newly split Google stocks were in the red after posting gains on their first day of trading on Thursday. The Class A Google shares (GOOGL) were down 4.6% to close at $545.25, while the nonvoting Class C shares (GOOG) were off 4.7% to close at $543.14.

On the upside, shares of GrubHub (GRUB), the online food delivery company, jumped 30.8% to close at $34 as the company began trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

The session began on an upbeat note for Micron as executives at the Boise, Idaho-based chip company painted an upbeat picture of the memory-chip market and reported a sharp gain in sales.

"We've seen pretty good demand signals on the memory side," Micron President Mark Adams said. "We feel pretty bullish for the memory market for consumer and client devices," he added, as he also pointed to strong demand in the server and networking market.

Micron has been going through a transition following its acquisition of another memory chip company, Elipida, which was widely expected to strengthen its market position, and a fire that damaged the plant of rival Hynix, which limited supply of DRAM chips.

On the call with analysts on Thursday, Adams said the DRAM market "has normalized following the recovery of one of our competitor's fabs in China." Still, he added, "DRAM market conditions remain favorable. And inventories in the channel remain relatively tight below normal levels."

Topeka Capital analyst Suji De Silva raised his price target for the stock to $27 from $25. "With healthy supply-demand balance and pricing, Micron margins improved and we expect the company to sustain these higher margin levels going forward," he told clients.

"We also believe Micron demand is firming across multiple end markets, supported by the company's product development efforts," he added.

The Morgan Stanley High Tech 35 Index (MSH) and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) were each down more than 2%.

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