TECH STOCKS: Microsoft, Dell Slip; Netflix Leads Tech Gains

By Rex Crum, MarketWatch

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Tech stocks saw mild gains Friday morning, though Microsoft slipped following mixed Wall Street reactions to its wide reorganization the day before, and Dell shares traded down on the lastest plan from billionaire activist Carl Icahn.

Icahn, who along with Southeastern Asset Management is opposing an effort led by Dell (DELL) Chief Executive to take the PC company private, on Friday proposed an offer that would value Dell at between $15 and $18 a share. Michael Dell's current offer to take Dell private values the company at $13.65 a share.

Investors didn't immediately rally behind Icahn's offer, as Dell's shares slipped by 0.2% to $13.31.

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) shares pared back by almost 1%, to $35.40, one day after Chief Executive Steve Ballmer unveiled a major realignment of the software giant's business operations.

"While we understand that the company's changes have the potential to improve efficiencies, we believe Microsoft is in need of innovation, not a more streamlined operating structure," wrote David Hilal of FBR Capital, who maintained a market perform rating on the stock. "Furthermore, we believe a company of Microsoft's size, as well as where it sits in the sluggish PC environment, faces considerable execution risk and a significant lag time before any material impact."

Other declines came from Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ), Oracle Corp. (ORCL) and Google Inc. (GOOG).

But enough advancers emerged to help boost the Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) by 0.1% to 3,583. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) was up 0.6%.

Advancers included Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN), which continued to reached a new high of $304.75 a share after climbing above $300 for the first time on Thursday.

Yelp Inc. (YELP) shares rose more than 5%, to $39.49. Before the market opened, Needham & Co. analyst Kerry Rice initiated coverage of the online review and recommendation company with a buy rating and $45 a share price target.

In a research note, Rice said he took his position on Yelp because the company "has successfully established itself as a key online marketing and lead generation platform for small-and-medium-sized businesses in North America and is taking strides in becoming a necessary advertising medium for local businesses worldwide."

Online medical-information company WebMD Health Corp. (WBMD) saw its shares surge more than 30%, to $35.09 after it raised its full-year forecast following better-than-expected second-quarter results.

Netflix Inc. (NFLX) shares rose more than 4%, to $254.28 following reports that the company was in talks about producing another season of the series "Arrested Development."

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