03:50 PM EDT, 04/02/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Tech stocks were higher late Thursday afternoon, with the State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK) up 0.5% and the State Street SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF (XSD) adding 1.2%.

The Philadelphia Semiconductor index increased 0.2%.

In corporate news, Ciena (CIEN) shares climbed past 7% after Citic Securities initiated the networking system and software company's stock at buy.

Penguin Solutions ( PENG ) shares jumped past 13% after the firm reported better-than-expected fiscal Q2 results.

Microsoft ( MSFT ) is looking to develop large, state-of-the-art AI models by 2027 as part of an effort to build in-house alternatives to OpenAI and Anthropic, Bloomberg reported, citing an interview with Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman. Separately Microsoft ( MSFT )-backed OpenAI acquired TBPN, an online talk show seeking to compete with CNBC and Bloomberg on tech news coverage, The Wall Street Journal reported. Microsoft ( MSFT ) shares were up 0.9%.

Amazon.com ( AMZN ) is in talks to acquire satellite company Globalstar ( GSAT ) , the Financial Times reported late Wednesday. Discussions are ongoing and complex due to Apple ( AAPL ) , which owns a 20% stake in Globalstar ( GSAT ) and must be involved in the negotiations. Amazon ( AMZN ) shares were down 0.7%, Globalstar ( GSAT ) shares jumped past 12%, and Apple ( AAPL ) was shedding 0.1%.