Tuesday January 25, 5:45 pm Eastern Time
After the bell - Qualcomm falls, eBay rises
NEW YORK, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Wireless phone equipment maker Qualcomm Inc. (NasdaqNM:QCOM - news) slid in after hours after releasing fourth-quarter earnings, while eBay Inc. (NasdaqNM:EBAY - news) rose sharply after exceeding Wall Street's expectations, traders said.
Qualcomm, the leading gainer on the tech-laden Nasdaq last year, was trading on Instinet at 137 in after-hours trading, down from its closing price of 149. On the flip side, eBay's better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings powered that stock up to 143 from its closing price on the Nasdaq at 137-1/2.
Qualcomm, whose shares are noted for volatility, beat the official first-quarter earnings estimate by a penny when it said it had earned 25 cents. But investors paid more attention to Qualcomm's warning that shipments might drop during its second quarter. The company also fell short of its so-called whisper number of 28 cents a share, an unofficial earnings figure that travels through the ranks of analysts tracking the stock.
eBay, another Nasdaq super, enjoyed positive investor response to its fourth-quarter earnings of $0.04 a share, some two cents higher than the official estimate.
Compaq Computer Corp. (NYSE:CPQ - news) , the world's No. 1 personal-computer maker, lost some of its footing in after-hours to trade on Instinet at 31-7/8, down slightly from its closing price of 32-1/4 on the New York Stock Exchange. The PC maker said it earned 19 cents a share, higher than the 16 cents analysts had predicted, according to tracking agency First Call/Thomson Financial. Compaq Chief Executive Michael Capellas did warn that the company's first-quarter profits would dip due to seasonality.
