VALLEY AREA COMPANIES RIDE TECH REVIVAL.Byline: Brent Hopkins Staff Writer Tech stocks, beaten up badly in recent months, caught the general markets rise on Thursday and climbed steadily. As Nasdaq, the most tech-laden of the major indices, rebounded 146.20 points, a number of local firms enjoyed a quick boost. Markets did well across the board, but technology was especially strong, bolstered by industry leader Dell Computer's positive earnings announcement early in the day. Westlake Village's HomeStore.com, an online real estate site, shares rode the rising tide Noun 1. rising tide - the occurrence of incoming water (between a low tide and the following high tide); "a tide in the affairs of men which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune" -Shakespeare flood tide, flood $4.31 to close at $26. This bucks the trend of many of its tech contemporaries in the past year, which were obliterated o·blit·er·ate tr.v. o·blit·er·at·ed, o·blit·er·at·ing, o·blit·er·ates 1. To do away with completely so as to leave no trace. See Synonyms at abolish. 2. when the stock market turned sour. ``They're above the dot-com crowd,'' said Heath Terry, an analyst for CS Boston. ``A big part of it is the financial health of the company despite all the difficulty in the tech sector in general. HomeStore has continued to grow revenue and be profitable.'' Terry pointed to a steady advertising pool and unflagging customer base as keys to HomeStore.com's continued success. Since real estate has held up in spite of stock market woes, he said, HomeStore has been able to endure many of the drops that killed off other online ventures. Another tech firm that grabbed hold of the surging market was Newbury Park's Semtech Corp., which manufactures semiconductors and integrated circuits Integrated circuits Miniature electronic circuits produced within and upon a single semiconductor crystal, usually silicon. Integrated circuits range in complexity from simple logic circuits and amplifiers, about 1/20 in. (1. . When the markets closed, Semtech had jumped $4 to finish at $27. Its sector had been whacked particularly hard in recent months, with its customers flailing, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. semiconductor analyst Louis Gerhardy of Morgan Stanley. ``There's been a sharp deceleration deceleration /de·cel·er·a·tion/ (de-sel?er-a´shun) decrease in rate or speed. early deceleration in the capital spending capital spending Spending for long-term assets such as factories, equipment, machinery, and buildings that permits the production of more goods and services in future years. plans of service providers worldwide,'' he said. The recent revival of semiconductors may prove to be a slow, but sure, sector turnaround. ``The worst is behind us, but a recovery is going to be a multiquarter affair,'' he said. ``The stock performance will take several quarters, as well.'' Semtech's commercial kin Vitesse Semiconductor Corp. also enjoyed a strong climb, ending at $19.13 in after-hours trading after-hours trading The trading of securities after the exchanges are closed. After-hours trading often refers to trading a listed security in the over-the-counter market after the exchanges have been closed for the day. , an increase of $3.19 over the day's opening. The firm is still rebounding from a drubbing in recent months, which has dropped stock prices from the low $40s as recently as March. Other firms with significant local presence that enjoyed the boost included AOL (A division of Time Warner, Inc., New York, NY, www.aol.com) The world's largest online information service with access to the Internet, e-mail, chat rooms and a variety of databases and services. Time Warner Inc., which closed at $39.70, a rise of $4.55, and Northrop Grumman Corp., which completed its purchase of Woodland Hills' Litton Industries on Tuesday. Northrop Grumman edged up $3.59 to $93.09 after hours. MiniMed, which opened its new world headquarters at California State University, Northridge CSUN offers a variety of programs leading to bachelor's degrees in 61 fields and master's degrees in 42 fields. The university has over 150,000 alumni. It's also home to a summer musical theater/theater program known as TADW (TeenAge Drama Workshop) that leads teenagers through an , earlier this year, rose $3.25 to $29.38. It, too, is in need of a resurgence, having fallen from the $90s in October. Chatsworth's MRV Communications Inc., a manufacturer of network components, surged 19 percent up, closing at $6.41. |
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