Ações de tecnologia: Microsoft, NetApp ocasionar ganhos para ações de tecnologia

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By Benjamin Pimentel and Dan Gallagher, MarketWatch

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Microsoft Corp. got a boost on Thursday on positive comments from a hedge-fund manager, while NetApp Inc. made strong gains following its most recent earnings report.

Reuters A hedge-fund manager said Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, left, is the “biggest overhang” on the company’s stock.

The action led the Nasdaq Composite Index /quotes/comstock/10y!i:comp COMP +0.78%   up 0.8% to close at 2,783. The Morgan Stanley High Tech 35 Index /quotes/comstock/10t!msh.x MSH +0.77%  was also up by 0.8%.

Microsoft /quotes/comstock/15*!msft/quotes/nls/msft MSFT +1.98% shares rose 2% to close at $24.67. The gains came after hedge-fund manager David Einhorn made bullish comments about the company at an investment conference, though he also had highly critical comments about Chief Executive Steve Ballmer.

“Microsoft’s business has been much stronger than the average company in the S&P in the past five years,” Einhorn said at the conference, according to a report by Dow Jones Newswires. Regarding Ballmer, he said it is time for Microsoft’s board to say, “we’ve seen what you can do.”

In addition to discussing the recent Skype deal as well as software piracy issues in China, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer says Google has taken a "failed approach" to tablets so far and says Microsoft is planning something unique.

“His continued presence is the biggest overhang on Microsoft stock,” Einhorn said, adding that Ballmer has allowed Microsoft to lag in areas like search and social networking.

NetApp /quotes/comstock/15*!ntap/quotes/nls/ntap NTAP +6.92%  traded up 7% to close at $55.31 after the data-storage-systems company reported upbeat results and issued a better-than-anticipated forecast.

“Consistent with our channel checks into the quarter close, NetApp product momentum accelerated throughout the quarter, concluding with what we believe to have been a record bookings month in April,” Canaccord Genuity analyst Paul Mansky said in a note.

On the other hand, shares of Computer Sciences Corp. /quotes/comstock/13*!csc/quotes/nls/csc CSC -12.95%  fell 13% to close at $38.38 after the information-technology-services company reported a sharp drop in quarterly earnings. Computer Sciences was the leading decliner on the S&P 500 /quotes/comstock/21z!i1:in\x SPX +0.40% , which fell 0.4%.

Yahoo /quotes/comstock/15*!yhoo/quotes/nls/yhoo YHOO -1.05%  slipped 1% to close at $15.98, as brokers issued mostly lukewarm reactions to the company’s analyst meeting held on the previous day.

On the IPO front, Freescale Semiconductor Holdings /quotes/comstock/13*!fsl FSL +1.83%  saw its shares gain 1.8% to close at $18.33 on its first day of trading. The stock priced Wednesday night at $18 per share — below the expected offering range of $22-$24. Analysts said investors were concerned about the company’s high levels of debt.

Other chip stocks were mixed, with Intel Corp. /quotes/comstock/15*!intc/quotes/nls/intc INTC -0.79%  down 0.8% to close at $22.50 and Nvidia Corp. /quotes/comstock/15*!nvda/quotes/nls/nvda NVDA +2.51%  up 2.5% to close at $18.82. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index /quotes/comstock/10y!i:sox SOX +0.95%  was up 1%.

Gainers included Cisco Systems Inc. /quotes/comstock/15*!csco/quotes/nls/csco CSCO +0.37%  , Oracle Corp. /quotes/comstock/15*!orcl/quotes/nls/orcl ORCL +1.24%  , Dell Inc. /quotes/comstock/15*!dell/quotes/nls/dell DELL +1.87%  , Hewlett-Packard Co. /quotes/comstock/13*!hpq/quotes/nls/hpq HPQ +1.50%  and Amazon.com Inc. /quotes/comstock/15*!amzn/quotes/nls/amzn AMZN +1.43% , while Google Inc. /quotes/comstock/15*!goog/quotes/nls/goog GOOG -0.30%  and Apple Inc. /quotes/comstock/15*!aapl/quotes/nls/aapl AAPL -0.53%  closed in the red.

/quotes/comstock/10y!i:comp /quotes/comstock/10t!msh.x /quotes/comstock/15*!msft/quotes/nls/msft /quotes/comstock/15*!ntap/quotes/nls/ntap /quotes/comstock/13*!csc/quotes/nls/csc /quotes/comstock/21z!i1:in\x /quotes/comstock/15*!yhoo/quotes/nls/yhoo /quotes/comstock/13*!fsl /quotes/comstock/15*!intc/quotes/nls/intc /quotes/comstock/15*!nvda/quotes/nls/nvda /quotes/comstock/10y!i:sox /quotes/comstock/15*!csco/quotes/nls/csco /quotes/comstock/15*!orcl/quotes/nls/orcl /quotes/comstock/15*!dell/quotes/nls/dell /quotes/comstock/13*!hpq/quotes/nls/hpq /quotes/comstock/15*!amzn/quotes/nls/amzn /quotes/comstock/15*!goog/quotes/nls/goog /quotes/comstock/15*!aapl/quotes/nls/aapl Benjamin Pimentel is a MarketWatch reporter based in San Francisco. Dan Gallagher is MarketWatch's technology editor, based in San Francisco.

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