TECH STOCKS: Angie's List A Rare Gainer Among Weak Tech Stocks

By Rex Crum, MarketWatch

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Angie's List Inc. flexed its muscles following a rating upgrade and proved to be a rare notable gainer on what is looking to be a negative day for the tech sector Thursday.

Angie's List (ANGI) shares pulled back a bit, but remained up by 6.4% at $14.58 after Raymond James analyst Aaron Kessler raised his rating on the online professional-services recommendation company to strong buy from outperform. In a research note, Kessler said that following a survey of merchants, he expects Angie's List's sales productivity and member additions to improve in the early part of this year.

Mild gains also came from Yelp Inc. (YELP), Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) and Pandora Media Inc. (P)

But decliners were in the majority, with Twitter Inc. (TWTR) down another 3% at $57.50 a share. Before the market opened, Cowen & Co. analyst John Blackledge initiated his coverage of Twitter with an underperform, or sell rating and a $32-a-share price target.

In a research note, Blackledge said a survey of advertising buyers suggested that they rate their return on their investments with Twitter below that of other social-networking sites like Facebook Inc. (FB) and LinkedIn Corp. (LNKD). Blackledge added that "the key investment controversy for Twitter centers on growing revenue rapidly."

Apple Inc. (AAPL) gave up $3.66 a share to trade at $539.60. Bloomberg reported that Apple rival Samsung is preparing for a spring release of its new Galaxy S5 smartphone, which may include eye scanning technology for the first time.

Graphics chipmaker Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) fell more than 3%, to $15.85. Canaccord Genuity analyst Bobby Burleson cut his rating on Nvidia late Tuesday to hold from buy on the grounds that there is limited potential for the company to exceed his earnings and sales forecasts this year.

Losses also came from Seagate Technology (STX), down 3% at $57.78; Arm Holdings Plc (ARMHY), off by more than 6% at $49.26 and Groupon Inc. (GRPN), which fell 3.4%, to $11.37.

Compuware Corp. (CPWR) shed 28 cents a share to trade at $10.82 after the business-software maker said it reached an agreement with activist investor Elliott Management Corp. Under the deal, Elliott will be eligible to nominate two directors to Compuware's board of directors and it will agree to forgo a proxy fight for control of the Compuware board.

The Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) gave up 5 points to fall to 4,160 and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) was also in the red.

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