Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Pulls Tech Lower, Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) Outperforms – QCOM, MXWL, APKT, AMCC, VRNG

After opening slightly higher, the tech sector came under selling during late morning session as all of a sudden Apple Inc.(NASDAQ:AAPL) turned sharply lower after the company’s earnings came below analysts’ target late Thursday and the company’s earnings forecast were disappointing too. NASDAQ Composite(INDEXNASDAQ:.IXIC) was down 0.75% at 2,964.27.

The company posted EPS of $7.67 on revenue of $35.97 billion, compared to analysts’ estimate of $7.65 on revenue of $35.81 billion.

However, the key disappointment came from the company’s lackluster guidance as the company projects to earn $11.75 with revenue of $52 billion in the first quarter, well below analysts’ estimate of $15.75 on revenue of $55 billion.

Unlike every other time, this morning at least 3 brokerages downgraded the stock price’s target by up to $50 stating lower forecast on weak margin.

Analyst at Evercore Partners trimmed its PT by $25 to $775, Nomura Equity Research lowered $50 to $660 and Raymond James lowered by $30 to $700.

However, few analysts project gross margins to improve by June next year as rising volumes trim manufacturing and component costs.

Shares of AAPL are trading now trading near to session’s low of $593, down 2.75%.

Amazon.com, Inc.(NASDAQ:AMZN) is trading higher by 3% to $229.35 despite the company posted wider than estimated loss late Thursday. In afterhours session, initially the stock was down about 95 just after the results.

 the online retailer posted wider than estimated third quarter loss and revenues lagged Wall Street’s estimate. Moreover, the company projected below target revenue for the fourth quarter.

The company posted net loss of 23 cents a share on an adjust basis, well below analysts’ target of a loss of 8 cents a share.

Revenue came in at $13.81 billion, missing analysts’ estimate of $13.92 billion. The company has revenue of $10.88 in a year ago quarter.

The company projects to generate revenue of $20.25 bln-$22.75 bln in the fourth quarter, again missing analysts’ target of $22.85 billion. 

QUALCOMM, Inc.(NASDAQ:QCOM) added 1.86% to $58.50 after analyst at BMO argues the Q3 results (I, II) of mobile phone OEMs suggest the company's December and March quarter EPS will be well above expectations. Apple's iPhone beat matters more to Qualcomm than its iPad miss - though designed into the 3G/4G iPad, Qualcomm's iPhone exposure is easily higher.

Maxwell Technologies Inc.(NASDAQ:MXWL) shares slumped 23% as the company now projects to generate revenue of $39.20 million in the first quarter, well below analysts target of $52.20 million.

Acme Packet, Inc.(NASDAQ:APKT) shares soared 14% as the Street is relieved to see Q4 guidance for revenue of $270M-$275M and EPS of $0.43-$0.47 (consensus is for $272.2M and $0.47). The VoIP infrastructure provider noted on its earnings call European service provider demand is "a bright spot," even as North American demand (long a problem) remains weak.

Applied Micro Circuits Corporation(NASDAQ:AMCC) added 25% following it FQ2 report. Though results were ho-hum, the beaten-down telecom chipmaker guided on its earnings call for FQ3 revenue to rise 8%-12% Q/Q (consensus is for a 7% increase). It also announced a partnership with Red Hat (RHT) and ARM (ARMH) to develop server designs based on AppliedMicro's ARM CPUs.

Vringo, Inc.(NYSEAMEX:VRNG) continued to move higher and rose another 1.57% to $3.88 after surging over 10% in the prior trading.