The Battle Road Tech Index™ continues its streak of gains for a seventh straight week, rising 0.25 percent for the week ended April 24, 2009, closing at 1219. Year-to-date, the index is up 21.9 percent, having started at a value of 1000. For the week, 12 of the 25 Index components were in positive territory.

This week, the Index components reacted to earnings reports for the period ending March 31. The following companies were notable movers for the week:

The biggest gainer for the week was eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY), which rose 16.6 percent for the week. The company reported its first quarter 2009 earnings on Wednesday, April 22. EBay posted slightly better than expected revenues and EPS was $0.05 above consensus expectations, $0.39, instead of the expected $0.34. The profits generated this quarter have been taken by the investment community as an affirmation of management’s cost reduction strategies. This comes on the heels of last week’s announcements that the company will acquire GMarket, a Korean internet retail site, and spin out Skype in an IPO in early 2010.

Microsoft (MASDAQ: MSFT) rose by 8.9 percent for the week, following earning results that were in line with analyst expectations on Thursday, as the company proved capable of managing costs in the downturn. The company announced its first ever layoffs when reporting December quarter earnings. Despite weakness in its transactional business, recurring revenue remained strong, establishing some of its products as resistant to technology spending cutbacks. Microsoft is positioning itself for a long, painful recovery process, and is handling its capital more conservatively than other tech giants.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) rose by 8.2 percent for the week, both in anticipation of solid earnings, and the Street’s reaction to a solid quarter, reported on Thursday afternoon, in which revenue rose by 18 percent, and earnings by a like amount. Amazon’s solid –yet expected– results contrast markedly with many brick and mortar retailers, such as Sharper Image, Circuit City and others, who are experiencing the anguish of managing physical inventory in many retail locations, amidst a weak consumer spending environment. Amazon is also demonstrating modest gross and operating margin expansion, demonstrating that it can beat down its suppliers as effectively as Wal-Mart, and continue to wring savings out of its own operations.

EMC (NYSE: EMC) fell by 6.6 percent over the last week, as a result of disappointing earnings results, and diminished expectations for the remainder of the year. EMC announced that it would seek to reduce operating expenses by $100 million in the next year, on top of its existing plan to reduce $450 million in annual expenses. Additionally, EMC now expects Q2 revenue to be consistent with Q1. This resulted in a reduction in analyst estimates for the second quarter. EMC acknowledged further that its outlook had deteriorated since the company’s last conference call. That said, CEO Joe Tucci is hopeful that a bottom has been found, and that enterprise storage systems, the company’s core business, is more insulated from the current IT downturn than servers or networking.

The biggest loser for the week was Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX), down 12.5 percent. The company released quarterly results on Thursday, April 23, after the market closed. Despite experiencing strong earnings and top-line growth, the results fell short of analysts’ expectations. There were also concerns about increasing competition from DVD rental kiosks. Chief Executive Reed Hastings told analysts Netflix expects DVD rental kiosks from Redbox, owned by Coinstar Inc. (NASDAQ: CSTR), to be its main competitor by the end of 2009, surpassing video stores. The kiosks, which charge $1 per day for rentals, have sprung up at supermarkets, Wal-Mart, 7-Eleven outlets, and many other places with significant foot traffic.