NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / January 27, 2017 / The Technology sector was the largest gainer in the S&P 500 Index in 2016 and that rally has continued into 2017. The tech-focused Nasdaq Composite Index has risen approximately 5.05 percent year-to-date, compared to a gain of 1.71 percent for the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The S&P 500 Index has gained 2.58 percent in 2017, with the S&P 500 Information Technology Sector up 5.5 percent.

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What Some Analysts' Are Saying:

"The tech rally is firmly in place," said Tim Bajarin, principal analyst with Campbell-based Creative Strategies, a market researcher that tracks the technology sector. "Wall Street is coming to grips about how technology impacts every aspect of our lives and is critical to the success of business."

"Technology is becoming the fundamental architecture of next-generation growth, artificial intelligence, streaming movies and television, vehicles, communication, mobile, databases," Bajarin said. "Technology is vital to growth. Tech is not just a passing fancy, and Wall Street recognizes that."

"Tech will continue to lead almost all sectors in terms of revenue, profit and customer growth," said Stephen Levy, director of the Palo Alto-based Center for Continuing Study of the California Economy. "Tech makes products and services for homes, schools, offices, retail, cars, and those are needed worldwide."

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT)

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Microsoft's shares gained 0.93 percent to close at $64.27 a share Thursday. The stock traded between $63.55 and $64.54 on volume of 43.55 million shares traded. The company reported non-GAAP earnings of $0.83 per share for the second quarter of fiscal 2017, which topped analysts' consensus estimates of $0.79 per share. Non-GAAP revenues totaled $26.1 billion for the fiscal second quarter, topping consensus estimates of $25.3 billion, according to analysts' surveyed by FactSet. The increase in revenues was driven by a strong performance from Microsoft's cloud business which totaled $6.86 billion in revenues for the quarter.

Paypal Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: PYPL)

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Paypal's shares declined 0.50 percent to close at $41.50 a share Thursday. The stock traded between $41.28 and $42.50 on volume of 11.84 million shares traded. The company reported a net income of $390 million, or $0.32 per share, in the fourth quarter of 2016, compared to a net income of $367 million, or $0.30 per share, in the year ago quarter. Revenues totaled $2.98 billion for the fourth quarter, up from $2.56 billion a year ago. Paypal forecasts revenues to be between $2.9 billion and $2.95 billion for the first quarter of 2017. Average analysts' expectations called for revenues of $2.95 billion for the first quarter of 2017, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

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