Tech stocks end Thursday trading session higher

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) —Tech stocks shrugged off losses by Qualcomm Inc. and AOL Inc. to close Thursday with broad gains.

The gains helped lift the Nasdaq Composite Index

























COMP, +0.38%





















 by almost 18 points to close at 4,638. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index

























SOX, -0.89%





















however, fell almost 1%.

Tech Gainers

Tech advancers included Apple Inc.

























AAPL, +0.29%





















which rose 31 cents a share to close at $108.70. Apple's gain came despite a report from security-technology company Palo Alto Networks Inc.

























PANW, +3.50%





















 that said a new malware program called WireLurker could be a threat to about 800 million Apple devices.

Zynga Inc.

























ZNGA, +0.43%





















 shares added a penny apiece to close at $2.36 ahead of the social-gaming company's third-quarter results, due after the close of trading. Wall Street analysts say Zynga Chief Executive Don Mattrick may be on the hot seat due to the slow pace of the company's turnaround efforts

Microsoft Corp.

























MSFT, +1.76%





















Facebook Inc.

























FB, +0.57%





















Yahoo Inc.

























YHOO, +0.99%





















Netflix Inc.

























NFLX, +0.77%





















 and Oracle Corp.

























ORCL, +1.32%





















all ended the day higher.

Tech Decliners

Qualcomm

























QCOM, -8.58%





















,which saw its shares fall 8.6%, to close at $70.58, proved to be the most notable loser in Thursdays trading after the communications chip maker reported weaker-than-expected third-quarter results late Wednesday. Qualcomm reported fiscal fourth-quarter results that fell short of Wall Street analysts' estimates.

AOL

























AOL, -3.74%





















 ended the day down by almost 4% at $42.23 a share. The online media company's third-quarter adjusted-operating income of $121.8 million fell short of the $125 million that analysts had expected.

Before the start of trading Thursday, AOL reported earnings of 52 cents a share on revenue of $626.8 million. Wall Street analysts had forecast the company to earn 52 cents a share on $623 million in sales.

Operating results are seen as one of the key factors for AOL, as it continues with a long turnaround strategy launched by Chief Executive Tim Armstrong.

Online real estate information company Zillow Inc.

























Z, -4.24%





















 shed more than 4% to close at $99.37. Before the market opened, Zillow reported a third-quarter loss that widened from the same period a year ago due to expenses related to its $3.5 billion acquisition of Trulia Inc.

























TRLA, -4.06%





















 

 

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