A few bright spots in tech stock gloom
Despite the Dow falling to 12-year lows, Ciena and Leap Wireless were among a handful of tech stocks trading higher.
Red ink flowed throughout the broader markets Thursday following unsettling news that General Motors auditors are casting doubt on the company's ability to survive..
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 281.40 points, or 4 percent, to 6,594.44, a low it hasn't seen since 1997.
The Nasdaq closed down 54.15 points, or down 4 percent, to 1,200, and the CNET Tech Index dropped 27.34 points, or 2.76 percent, to close at 962.74.
A few tech companies managed to swim against the tide.
Leap Wireless stock rose 4.47 percent to $28.27 a share. The company announced its wholly owned subsidiary, Cricket Communications, struck a deal with Samsung Telecommunications America, in which Samsung's SCH-r211 bar-style phone would be available to customers using Cricket's unlimited wireless services.
And Chinese Internet search company Baidu jumped 2.66 percent to $161.51 a share, after a Citi Investment Research analyst upgraded the company to a "buy" from a "sell," according to an Associated Press report. The analyst upgraded the stock based on weekly improvements to traffic on its site since January, according to the report.
Networking gear maker Ciena saw its stock jump 11 percent to $5.93 a share during the regular trading session Thursday, after announcing it would cut 200 positions, or 9 percent of its workforce, and close its research and development facility in Massachusetts.
That news apparently pleased investors, despite the company also reporting a 26-percent revenue drop in the first quarter over year ago figures and a net loss of $24.8 million, compared with a net profit of $28.8 million, during the same period.
Adobe Systems was another company that posted share price gains, despite issuing a first-quarter warning after the markets closed Wednesday. The software maker said it would miss its earlier revenue forecasts, but expected to remain on target with its profit projections.
Shares of Adobe advanced 3.68 percent to $16.92 a share on Thursday.