Technology stocks continued their market-leading advance Thursday, with the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLK) rising 1.5% while the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index was gaining 2.5%.
In company news, Microsoft (MSFT) was 1% higher in late trading after the Federal Trade Commission Thursday filed suit seeking to block the tech giant from buying Activision Blizzard (ATVI), contending that the $69 billion acquisition would suppress competitors to its Xbox gaming consoles and its rapidly growing subscription content and cloud-gaming business. Activision shares were 1.4% lower this afternoon.
8x8 (EGHT) added 6.7% after the Irish communication
testing technologies firm Spearline said it bought 8x8's Callstats subsidiary for an undisclosed amount.
HashiCorp (HCP) rose 8% after the infrastructure software firm late Wednesday reported an adjusted Q3 net loss of $0.13 per share, beating the Capital IQ consensus expecting a non-GAAP loss of $0.31 per share. Revenue grew 52% during the quarter ended Oct. 31 to $125.3 million, exceeding the $111.1 million analyst mean. The company also raised its fiscal 2023 outlook above Wall Street expectations.
Ciena (CIEN) gained over 19% after the networking equipment company blew past Wall Street estimates with its fiscal Q4 results and said it was expecting "outsized revenue growth" during fiscal 2023. Excluding one-time items, it earned $0.61 per share during the three months ended Oct. 29 on $971 million in revenue compared with the Capital IQ consensus looking for a $0.07 per share adjusted profit on $847.8 million in Q4 revenue.