Technology stocks saw modest gains Monday morning as sector leaders Apple Inc. (AAPL) and Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) got a boost from post-Christmas trading.
The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 5 points to 2291, while the Morgan Stanley High Tech 35 Index was up less than 1 point to 581.
Shares of Apple rose 1.9% to $213.16. Analyst Brian Marshall of Broadpoint AmTech raised his price target on Apple’s stock to $260 based on high sales estimates for the company’s iPhone in the December quarter.
In a note to clients, Marshall admitted that his forecast for quarterly iPhone sales was about 30% higher than consensus estimates. He said his estimates are driven by assumptions of “normal seasonal declines” in the U.S. offset by “significant international expansion,” growing more than 100% quarter over quarter to a record 8.8 million units.
“Despite the enormous success of the iPhone since inception in July ’07, we strongly believe the device is still in its infancy with respect to penetrating the global post-paid subscriber market,” he wrote.
Amazon.com shares were up 2.2% to $141.53. The online retail giant issued a statement over Christmas weekend, saying that sales on the company’s peak holiday-shopping day topped 9.5 million items. The company also said customers purchased more books on its Kindle electronic-reader device than physical books on Christmas Day, the first time that has taken place.
“Amazon likely had another very strong holiday season (as expected), partly fueled by the Kindle, and we believe the stock could outperform in the very near-term in likely thin overall holiday trading,” Doug Anmuth of Barclays Capital Markets wrote in a note to clients.
Other tech gainers included International Business Machines Corp. (IBM), Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO), Google Inc. (GOOG), Yahoo Inc. (YHOO) and eBay Inc. (EBAY). Dell Inc. (DELL), Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) and Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) were trading at modest declines.
In the chip sector, trading was mixed. Sector leader Intel Corp. (INTC) was up 0.4%, while memory-chip maker Micron Technology Inc. (MU) gained 1.4%. But the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index had a fractional loss, with players such as Texas Instruments Inc. (TXN) down more than 1%.